Beaufort Ride, Sunday 21st November 2021

Report & pics: Peter Townsend

 Nine riders gathered at Waurn Ponds Maccas car park for the start of this ride and those using the “Nicollian” ride calendar turned up for a 9:00am start, and those using the “Kluzekian” ride calendar, including myself, turned up for a 9:30am start – the good news was that both calendars had the same day and the same starting point!  The weather forecast was predicting a cool day with our ever present cold south westerly breeze to keep us company, but more importantly it was going to remain dry – a bit unusual given the wet Spring we’ve endured so far. So, after a briefing from ride leader and planner Mark, and a happy snap we made our way out of the car park with John G volunteering for TEC duties. Time was precisely 9:29am, so Mark, you did indeed get your early start!




 
 We headed out through Highton and Ceres and across to the Hamilton Hwy via Pollocksford Rd, then up through Inverleigh taking a righty on the Teesdale Rd and into Teesdale. Here we had an unscheduled stop as Mark had a mobile call from TEC John alerting him to a problem with Mike’s big black Indian – apparently an oil warning light lit up on its flight deck so he pulled over by the side of the road to investigate. After some head scratching by Mike, John & Gentle, Mike decided to check oil level in the engine and removed the dipstick, wiped it clean, put it back in and lo and behold the warning light went out – There ya go – those big Indians even have a warning light to let you know when the dipstick gets dirty!! Geez – ya can’t beat modern technology!
 
 After regrouping, we then continued on through Shelford and turned right onto the Mt Mercer Rd, past the huge wind farm at Mt Mercer and on into Buninyong, our morning coffee stop. Along this road the temperature took a bit of a nose dive alerting us to the fact that we were getting uncomfortably close to Ballarat! We parked in the Buninyong pub car park and wandered across the road in search of hot coffee, sustenance, stretch of legs etc.












 After our break we headed out on the Sebastopol road, turned left before Sebastopol and eventually found Bells Rd and then travelled through Smythes Creek and on up to Cardigan Village (It’s near Ballarat – hence its name!) Here we turned left onto Remembrance Drive which is part of the Ballarat Avenue of Honour commemorating local servicemen and women who enlisted during WW1. This memorial stretches for 22 Klms with a tree planted for each person – 3771 trees – it’s the longest roadside memorial in Australia, if not the Southern Hemisphere! We passed under the Ave of Honour overpass on the Western Hwy and commenced to wind our way along minor country roads that service local farming communities, with names like Weatherboard, Addington and Ercildoune, eventually finding a very long Racecourse Rd which brought us onto the Western Hwy and into Beaufort, our lunch destination.
 
We pulled up just off the main street near the park with the rotunda and some of us attacked a local bakery to enjoy a “pie in the gutter” – OK – there were tables and chairs for the more civilised amongst us! By this stage the sun was even trying to make an attempt to join us, so all was well with the world – however, the wind was still chilly but.  After a relaxed and enjoyable break, in dribs and drabs we made our way to the local servo to fuel up and regroup for the homeward bound leg of our journey.
 
We headed South out of Beaufort, passed Lake Goldsmith and then East onto the Carngham road and on into Snake Valley, where we turned South again and found the Glenelg Hwy and Linton. From Linton it was ever Southward (like Scott of the Antarctic) – and like Scott it was getting colder the further we went and our cold wind had gained a few knots! We travelled down through Happy Valley and into Cape Clear, where we stopped near the lighthouse for a toilet break and stretch of legs. Yes, Cape Clear has a lighthouse even though it is currently 60 Klms from the sea! – some time ago the good people of Cape Clear obviously decided to be proactive, faced with the reality of global warming and rising sea levels!!
 
Our number had reduced by one – Gentle apparently had some “business” to attend to in Linton so left the ride there – he was last seen heading off with purpose in his strides. The remaining 8 of us headed out to Rokewood Junction, Dereel and Mt Mercer, then down to Shelford and across to Inverleigh, the planned end of the ride. Jim, on the big white Indian also left the ride at Shelford leaving 7 of us to mull over the day’s events at Inverleigh. Even though the weather was decidedly cool there was no shortage of insects and bugs to add colour to the day, however I found that if I positioned myself behind either of the big, wide Indians I would encounter relatively “clean” air, as I was copping only the odd insect that had avoided the Indian massacre. I also think this is the 1^st ride I have been on where we’ve had 2 Indians in the mix – a black one and a white one – If I was ever inclined to buy one I would probably go non PC and get a “red” one – I believe they go faster!










 
In summary, a brilliant days ride (by the time I got home I had clocked up 350 Klm) – Mark had weaved his usual magic over the whole route finding any amount of interesting and occasionally challenging country roads, meandering through picturesque rural settings in and around the Dividing Range. Apart from maybe 5 degrees warmer, what more could you ask for! Well done – a great ride to hopefully celebrate the end of the Covid blues! Thanks to John for keeping us together and thanks to all for a thoroughly enjoyable day out on 2 wheels. 


Did I hear someone say “there were not enough chiefs and too many Indians” – It wasn’t me!
 
 
                 Peter t.

Another great Ride Report, and I am happy to say I had a successful out come to my mission. But I missed you guys at Inverleigh, as I waited there 15 minutes and thought that you had left without me. I was crying to myself that you didn't like me anymore, until John G called me and asked me to wait so that he could pass back the Defrib.

Ron, it's good to know that "All's well that ends well"!

It was certainly a good day out and about with the group.
At the start, with so few there by 9:00am, I had a hunch it would be worth waiting...
Now the only clue to the origin of the Cape Clear lighthouse is a small plaque which says -
"Every Cape needs a lighthouse".    That's it.

Thanks for the great ride report Peter, love the humour.
But... is a joke about an Indian racist...?


And a photo at the "lighthouse" to prove Peter WAS there. He is on the right, hiding behind his hand.

Glad you got a photo of the lighthouse Mark - I still prefer my version of why it's there - never let the truth get in the way of a good story!!