The Official Home of the Warby Ghost Riders

Site Sponsor:

• Home
• Info
  • About Us
  • Contact Info
  • Riding Nutrition & Safety (NEW)
  • Regular Thursday Rides
  • Riding Guidelines
  • Legal Waiver Form
• Rides
  • 2009 Ride Calendar
  • Previous Rides
  • Ride Info
  • Bookings
• Overseas Adventures
  • General Information
  • 2006 Great China Ride
  • 2007 Great China Ride
  • 2008 Guillin Adventure
  • 2009 Annapurna - Dhaulagiri Trek
  • 2009 Cycling the Blue Danube
• Stories/Cartoons
  • 2008 Ride Calendar
  • Weekday Ride Stories
  • Official Annals 2002- 2007
  • Gary's Cartoons
• Members' Area
  • Rider Details
• Resources
  • Rides Database
  • Northern Ghostriders
  • Bendigo Ghostriders
  • Weather Map
  • Cycling Links

"Life's Too Short to just be a Spectator!"

Mid Winter Dinner
Saturday July 11th - Everyone is Invited

It has been a long standing custom within the group to celebrate the passing of midwinter by going out and sharing a meal together. This year's dinner will be held at the Siam Terrace restaurant in Boronia on Sat July 11th. All Ghostriders, family and friends are invited to join us although bookings are essential. If you haven't yet reserved your space(s), please contact me without delay so that I can let the restaurant know.

Next Scheduled Weekend Ride
Belgrave to Jells Park and Back
Saturday July 4th (Note Change of Date)

Our next scheduled weekend ride will take the form of a social ride from Belgrave down to Jells Park Kiosk (and back again). This was originally scheduled for Sunday but has had to be changed to Saturday because of difficulty in finding a convenor. The ride will commence at Belgrave (near the CFA station) at 10.00 am sharp and will follow the bike paths all the way down to Jells Park where we will stop for coffee/lunch before the return ride.

The ride is best suited to mountain bikes or hybrids and would be OK for anyone of reasonable bike experience. Rated moderate. Total distance about 45 km.

Danube Training/Social Ride - Sat June 27th
A Thoroughly Enjoyable Ride

On our first designated Danube Training Ride it was encouraging to see EVERY one of our Danube team turn up to participate. We were blessed with blue skies and sunshine (at least for the major part of the day). It also gave us a chance to try out the fare at the new Valley Bakery in Warburton and everyone agreed that it was first rate - we may try this for a Thursday ride in the near future. Thanks also to Gary, Chris, Jim, Jon and Anne who also came along to lend support and join in the fun.

Shortest Day of the Year Ride - Sat June 20th
Reefton Pub - Thoroughly enjoyed by all

Sixteen riders participated in our Shortest Day of the Year Ride to Reefton Pub and back. With the conditions cool and still we were all able to thoroughly enjoy this delightful ride. It was fantastic to see several people completing this route for the first time and all agreed that it was a perfect way to spend a cool Saturday.

The first stop of the day was at Waburton for "morning tea", then we continued up to Reefon for a counter lunch, followed by a much quicker return ride back to Milgrove for (you guessed it) "afternoon tea". A big thank you to Gary and Bill for assisting with the ride and to all those who participated and helped make it so much fun.

We can now start to look forward to the gradual return of sunshine.....

Queens Birthday Ride
Monday 8th June - Inner City Bike Paths

Thrills, spills & punctures galore - this ride had it all. Fortunately the weather held off for most of the ride, enabling us to have a fun day exploring (and getting lost) in the myriad of bike trails that entwine the inner suburbs. It was also good to see so many riders come out for the day.

A delightful lunch was had at the Fairfield Boathouse before the ride back to Mullum Mullum Reserve. It was also fun to see Peter Johnson join us from the Adelaide group - this guy really is funny as well as being a very impressive rider. A big thank you to everyone who came out for the ride and for Ross who acted as convenor for the day.

****The 2009 Himalayan Challenge****
Read the Entire Story of this Epic Adventure

I am pleased to say that the story of our 2009 Nepal Adventure is now available for you to read and see some more pictures. You better get a cup of coffee because it's about 14,000 words.... You can follow the link HERE.

Nepal Group 1 making their way to Kopra Ridge Picture by Mike Litchfield Story and More Pics HERE
You can't be serious ? I can barely even see the path !
Rare archival footage of the Ghostriders 2009 Summit team (captured from video taken by Noel Wolstencroft - official film maker)
Heading into thin air - approaching the summit
Linda & Viv stop to admire the view - near Kopra Ridge

**Blue Danube Bike Ride***
August/September 2009
2 late vacancies now available

In late August of this year a group of Ghostriders and friends will be heading over to Europe to ride the famous bike trail from Passau in Germany through to Budapest in Hungary. Along the way we will be passing through Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. In order to assist with some sightseeing we will be spending 3 nights in Vienna in the middle of the ride. This trip was previously booked out but two of our riders have had to sadly withdraw due to one of them being diagnosed with a serious illness. One of these spaces has already been taken but we can still accomodate another 1 or 2 riders on this great European Adventure. The cost is about $5500, including accommodation, most meals, air fares and bike hire. At the end of the ride you can either head straight back to Australia or proceed to anywhere else in Europe to continue your own adventure. If any of our readers or their friends are interested in finding out more about this trip they should contact me without delay (Ph 5968 4706).

This is a fantastic way to enjoy an overseas adventure with the security of travelling with a group of good friends - just ask any of the people who have participated in one of our previous trips.

OVERSEAS ADVENTURE PROGRAM
2006 Tiger Leaping Gorge - completed
2007 - Tiger Leaping Gorge - completed
2008 - Limestone Trail - completed
Mar 2009 - Annapurna-Dhauligiri - completed
Mar 2009 - Annapurna-Dhauligiri - completed
Sep 2009 - Danube Ride (Europe) - 2 spaces

Our 2009 Himalayan Adventure is now a part of history. I doubt that anyone who participated in this amazing challenge will ever run out of stories to tell. How could we ever forget the thrill of climbing on the narrow ice ledges with a blizzard blowing and lightning cracking all around us ? Not to mention the death defying sheer drops that awaited us if we made a single false step ! I cannot imagine any way that you could feel more alive than when you are really put to the test. What a privelege we had of being able to explore such an amazing part of our planet and to meet so many fantastic people along the way.

I have already begun early investigations for 2010. Some of the possibilities under consideration include
(a) A return to Tiger Leaping Gorge
(b) Mongolia Ride
(c) Vietnam
(d) South America - The Andes
(e) New Zealand

Over the next 6- 9 months these will be refined and information will be issued once more details are known.

All overseas adventures are open to men and women who are fit and active with well developed senses of adventure and good sense of humour. You do not have to be an experienced cyclist but you will need to be prepared to complete a realistic training program to adequately prepare for the challenges ahead.

You can either stay at home and think of a hundred reasons why you can't go, or else you can take a step at fulfilling some of your dreams. Once the decision is made, the details have a way of taking care of themselves.

If you would like to read the story of the the 2006 ride then click HERE.
The story of the 2007 adventure can be found HERE
The story of the 2008 trip can be found HERE
The story of our 2009 trip can be found HERE

I can also arrange to meet with your cycling group to give them more information on these trips. Ring me on 03 5968 4706 for details.

In the interests of keeping this page to a manageable size I have archived some ride stories to another page. If you've got some time to spare you can read dozens of previous adventures by clicking here.This site is sponsored and maintained by Crossbow Computers - suppliers of all your computer hardware and software needs (established 1988) E-mail messages should be sent to Dennis.