Wednesday 11 August 2021 Ride

 
 
  10 + 4 riders (being mindful of Covid restrictions on group sizes!) congregated at Maccas carpark to take part in this shorter mid week winter’s ride, including Pete on his Spyder and Stan, riding in from Colac. For winter the weather was vaguely warmish, (top of 16 forecast) with a strong gusty north westerly wind and a promise of rain for the early afternoon. After a briefing and photo 10 + 3 riders headed out of the carpark with Gentle bringing up the rear – unfortunately John q on his Yammie was experiencing a distinct lack of air pressure in one of his tyres and so had to call it quits!




We headed out through Highton and up to Ceres and across to the Hamilton Hwy via Merrawarp Rd, then across to the Midland Hwy via Friend in Hand Rd. On the Hwy we turned down Russells Bridge Rd and then on to Parker Rd which took us eventually to Maude. For most of this first leg of the ride I was following a big Trumpy which clearly did not possess self cancelling turn indicators – really! Ya got to be kidding me! - even my 35 year old Beemer is adorned with such technology – given the fact that the Triumph company was originally started back in the early 1900s by a German, this lack of Tuetonic thoroughness on their bikes has me somewhat perplexed!
 
At Maude we turned onto Thompsons Rd cutting across to the Anakie Rd and then up to Anakie, our morning coffee stop – apart from the odd pothole and gravel patches the Thompson/Pringles Rd is quite an enjoyable little stretch of road, made a bit more interesting than usual today by the strong side winds that were keeping us company throughout the day. The Anakie general store provided us with a fairly long relaxed coffee break, sheltered in their outdoor area from the wind – Being a shorter ride we had plenty of time up our sleeves to enjoy the stop.












 
 From Anakie we headed north onto the Staughton Vale Rd, then Granite Rd taking us to the Bacchus Marsh road where we turned left and on up to the Little River/Ripley Rd, where we turned right. Along this road we encountered some roadworks involving repainting white lines on the road surface – I thought these days this would be carried out by hundreds of Indians with paint brushes and a cans of paint – however it involved a nifty little motorised vehicle being driven by someone who is clearly very good at driving in a straight line! Successfully negotiating this obstacle we made our way into Little River via Kirks Bridge Rd and Edgars Rd. We wound our way through Little River township finding the Old Melb. Rd just before it crosses the river, on the old bluestone Rothwell bridge. (I always thought this bridge was built by aliens, then I realised I’m confusing it with a bridge in Roswell, New Mexico!)
 
The Rothwell bridge was built in 1866/7 and would have to be one of the oldest road bridges still in use in Victoria – I did a bit of “Googling” and was not overly surprised to learn that even back in those days local government and shire councils were as dodgy as they are today. The contractor who was awarded the construction job, on completion, was under paid by £400 by the local council – the council claimed “fault with the manner and quality of the materials used”. The contractor eventually took the matter to court, with the council consequently being ordered to pay £606 in damages to the contractor. From such humble beginnings, our local government has blossomed and grown!!
 
We followed the Old Melb. Rd down into Lara, turning into McIntyres Rd, then crossing the railway line and turning left into Mill Rd and down to the Lara Sporting Club, our lunch destination. Our number increased to 10 + 4 at lunch as Bob (sans Goldilocks) joined us  - he lives in Lara so didn’t have far to come. I believe everyone enjoyed their meals, which were reasonably well priced with a good menu selection and attentive staff looking after us.


 



In summary, a pleasant shorter ride on a mid winters day thoroughly enjoyed by all that participated – thankyou Mark for the planning and the leading and thankyou Gentle for the sweeping of the tail – and thankyou to everyone else for coming along. Not surprisingly, Mark managed to find a few roads behind the You Yangs and in the Little River area that I, and probably a few others have never been on before!




 
We might have slightly stretched the Covid allowable limit on group size, we might have slightly strayed over the Covid “No Go” Melb. metro boundary (Little River – the actual river is the boundary!)  - and I might even have strayed slightly over the speed limit once! So, all in all, quite a constructive, rewarding and accomplished day!!
 
Did I hear you ask what happened with the rain that was forecast? Well it hit just as I left Lara and I got wet!
 
                 Peter t.

I feel inadequate! My 2011 Honda ST doesn’t have self-cancelling indicators and yet a 35yo BMW does!

Thanks for a great report Peter.

Excellent ride report Peter - thankyou.
It was a good half-day out, at a nice leisurely pace.
I think everybody enjoyed lunch - $15 Senior's menu with many nice options. 
In fact if we all hadn't stayed as long as we did we may have got home dry...
Leaving just 15-20 minutes earlier might have done it!

Thanks everyone for coming along, and for the photos, Gentle for going TEC, and Peter for the report.
See you on the next one!

Graeme, sounds like it's time to trade "down" to a more modern bike!!