DISCLAIMER: I take no responsibility for the attached photos.  I left my camera at home and am relying on Pete's photographic skills!)

SATURDAY:

The weather-girl said it was gonna be hot...then she changed her mind.  Then suddenly it was gonna be hot again! 

I ummed and arred about this ride, but when the hottest day was forcasted for Monday, I though..."what could possibly go wrong?"  We met at Mernda Maccas at the prescribed hour for a quick 2nd brekky and departure time of 9:00.  The morning was cool and I was wearing a jumper for the run across from the Eastern suburbs.  I dumped it as soon as I arrived!  We said our hellos, signed the contact sheet and then we were off.  



We headed down Plenty Road and before we knew it, we were onto the gravel.  As expected, it was dusty and we suffered this for the whole weekend.  The pace was good from the get-go, with Uncle Ted bringing up the rear for the whole ride.  People got most of their sillies out over the first couple of stretches (nah, that's bullsh!t. The sillies stayed for the entire ride!)  Dennis D (who joined us just for the Saturday ride) was so keen he didn't even wait for me to move, he just ran up my ar$e!  Seems you can't wait too long for a break in the traffic before someone gets impatient and just goes!

Before long, we were riding through the familiar terrain of Mt Dissapointment.  It seems odd piloting these camels through an area where I used to take a trail bike.  Sometimes I wished I was on the smaller/lighter steed, but once your out on the more open road, these big girls come into their own.  We had a number of regroups early in the day, just making sure everyone was having a break and doing OK.





Onion even took time to scope out Pete's bike for spare parts!



From Dissa, we headed toward Yea and up to the Onion Patch.  Thought we might stop for lunch, but decided to head into Euroa via Strathbogie instead.





Euroa was full of bikes.  Turns out it was the lunch point for the Doncaster BMW run and there were Panzers everywhere!  The weather was hotting up and standing in the bakery under the aircon was a welcome relief.  We had pies, sweeties and drinks and said good-bye to Dennis as he decided to head home.  We continued on, getting hotter and sweatier as we headed towards Whitfield.



From here, Pete consulted his hand written notes and with input from Onion and (new member) Craig, worked out a 'back way' into Myrtleford via Gentle Annie and Edi.  The dirt/gravel roads were starting to get a bit tedious (for me) by now and I was looking forward to a feed and a (light) beer at the pub.  Ted too, was looking rather knackered so we continued on and eventually hit the Snow Road for the cruise into Myrtleford.  We refueled and went on to the Myrtleford Hotel for dinner.  Well, to say this was a disappointment would be an understatement!  Peter confirmed that they put on meals (before we left Melbourne), but all they had on offer was deep fried finger food and not the hearty meal we were all looking forward too!  We ate nonetheless, and had a few drinks but it was a pretty sad affair!



After 'dinner', we headed to the supermarket for a few supplies, then steeled ourselves for the final push into Abbeyard.  Pete and I decided we had to leave Myrtleford no later that 7:30 and we were bang on-time.  It was still 35 degrees as we crossed the dam wall, but once we got into the shade on the other side, the temp dropped down to sub-30.  Popping out into the sunlight again it shot back up to 32 and was still there when we had our final re-group at Dandongerdale.







Tony, Craig and Gavin were all Abbeyard virgins, so we tried to explain to them what to expect on the Abbeyard Road, but can you really explain that?  I hate that road, however I travel it, but this was the 'best' condition I have ever ridden it.  Its still long (22.4ks) and rough and dusty and long and rough and dusty and long, but the temperature was steadily dropping as we went along and fortunately we didn't encounter any livestock en-route.  Turning into the Yard is always a relief and knowing that Pete had arranged with Rob C to have some coldies waiting for us made that arrival even sweeter.  The AMTRA newbies were very impressed (rightly so) with the place and after a beer and a shower, it got very comfortable.  We talked crap and drank till around midnight.  Some (most) opted to sleep in the shed.  Pete and I however, are smart (been there/done that) and opted for tents far away from the snoring crowds!  By the time I put my head down, I was toast.  500ks in that heat was just draining and a good sleep was well earned.

More to follow.

SUNDAY:

I was woken at about 5:30, by a bang from an expanding drum somewhere.  I went back to sleep and was woken again by Robby rattling on my tent and saying Pete wanted me to get up...so I did.  The crew were all up and dressed and having a light brekky.  The plan was to get an early start and get a jump on the heat.  So we packed up and rolled out at 7:30.

The ride/drive out always seems shorter to me and coupled with the cool morning temperature, we hit the tar quickly.  we turned up the Carboor road and headed toward Whitfield, where we had a proper breakfast.  The decision was made to basically make a straight run home, staying primarily on the bitumen all the way.  It was already starting to warm up and the cooler conditions of the early morning were long gone.

We cruised into Tolmie and as we left the township, I rounded a bend and saw the crew stopped on the 'wrong' side of the road, helmets off and a frantic pace.  When I pulled up, I was informed that Pete had seen a Harley rider go off the edge of the road.  I joined the others as we scrambled down the cliff to find 'Clair', lying on her back and moaning in pain.  Tony (a firey) took charge of the scene and got her comfortable, having performed all the usual checks.  Clair had already removed her helmet and wanted to get up, but we advised her not to and erected a shade over her head to keep the sun off her.  we had no phone coverage, so a passing car was flagged down and told to call the ambos as soon as they got reception.  before long we heard sirens and the Police arrived.  They asked the usual questions and soon after the fireies arrived.  the the ambos got there, along with SES and others, probably 8 units in all.  seems Clair had somehow 'missed' the corner and rode the Harley off the edge, dropping 10 meters or so before hitting the ground and coming off the bike.  the bike continued its fall and smacked up against a tree, debris everywhere.

When the ambos took over, they administered the green whistle and started to cut off Claire's new jacket, to reveal a broken wrist.  She kept complaining about a broken leg, but it didn't look like it from where I stood.  Clair's partner arrived soon after.  He was ahead and didn't see her go off.  It was very fortunate that Pete did, because there was very little evidence of the carnage.  The Police asked us to hang around in case they needed help with the stretcher, but by the time the rest of the services arrived, we were not needed so details were swapped and we headed into Mansfield for a re-group.

Having discussed and pontificated as much as we could, it was time for a fuel-burn home.  We hightailed into Yea for a final re-group and re-fuel and went our separate ways from there.  It was high 30's by now and everyone was physically and emotionally exhausted.  The final push back into Melbourne wasn't too bad, and I rolled into home at 2:30 with 808ks for the weekend.

It was a good, fun ride with the crew, all financial AMTRA members now.  And apart from the accident and the dodgy pub meal, we had no dramas over the trip.  Thanks to Pete for planning it all and to Teddles for bringing up the rear.

Thanks Serge for the report, looks like I missed a fun ride (went kayaking instead in the Yarra, far cooler!)
As you know it can all turn to shit very quickly.  Lucky for Clair that she was seen by Pete, otherwise a different outcome could have occurred. Hopefully she will mend & not be scared to get out on the bike again

UPDATE ON CLARE::
 Broken wrist
 broken Right leg
 broken Ribs
 Punctured Lung
 2 Fractured Vertebrae !!

THANKS Surge 

Great photos !!

Unlucky Clare with that damage, but soooo lucky to be seen and retrieved quickly.

Good luck to Clare for her recovery.