This was the perfect conditions for a motorbike ride: sunny and 27 degrees. Members seemed to disagree, as only 5 starters gathered at Hazelwood Park. There was a 6th, Rod Bailey on his Ariel Square Four, but he only came to watch the off.
Participants were David Saint (BMW R90S), Ray Hill (BMW R90/6), Campbell Blaney (Harley Davidson XR1200), Phil Allen (BMW F800GT) and myself Suzuki GSF1250 Bandit. I led the first part of the ride, having dispensed with marshalling and headed up Greenhill Rd, turning off at Summertown for Piccadilly and Stirling, then onto the Road to Echunga. We then headed down the Strathalbyn Rd to Macclesfield and turned right to Meadows, then left onto Bull Creek Rd entering Strathalbyn via Ashbourne Rd. We were on the speed limit the whole time encountering very little traffic.
We stopped for morning tea at the old Railway Station and before heading off, Ray Hill volunteered to lead, as he knew a route to Harrogate. Again, there was very little traffic on the road, as we rode towards Wistow, before turning right circumnavigating the Mt Barker sprawl and continuing through Nairne & Dawsley until we arrived in Harrogate. There we parked up at the tennis club where Campbell Blaney had a lump of wood dropped on his head by a cockatoo/galah which was sitting in a large pine tree under which we were sheltered. Obviously it was time to go, now we had angered the local avian population.
From Harrogate the ride dispersed, all riders making there own way home. Great conditions for a ride in the hills, just a shame that more people didn’t join in. I must say that a small ride is far easier for all concerned and that the traffic was pretty non-existent for the whole ride. Midweek riders who think that Sunday rides are too busy on the road, need to think again.
Charles Oliver.