With the days slowly starting to get shorter this was probably going to be our last chance for a Twilight Ride, so we had high hopes for a good sized peloton. We had already decided to drop the starting time back to 4 pm in order to make it easier for some of our working riders to attend.
When the disignated time arrived Mal and I were soon joined at Mt Evelyn by Ross on his Massey and Bob on the Bismark. The greatest shock, however, came when John and Pete also arrived and announced that they were ready to tackle the entire ride from Mt Evelyn to Warburton. This would give us the largest starting formation we had ever had.
By about 4.10 pm we bade our farewells to support crew members and headed off down the ever roughening track towards Wandin. Due to the extreme dry weather the track is rapidly approaching the consistency of talcum powder, interspersed with large sharp loose rocks - just about perfect for stuffing up expensive bikes and causing frequent blowouts and crashes (but then that's the way we like it !)
Surpringly enough the ride to Woori Yallock was accomplished without major mishap and there we met up with yet another new recruit. Nyall at 22 was the youngest rider yet to ride with the legendary champions of the trail, but he soon paired up with young Pete and the increased peloton (Septon ?) resumed its charge towards Warburton.
At Launching Place we took the back road to enjoy some smoother bitumen riding. The extreme folly of this decision soon became apparent when Mal was nearly cleaned up by a careless motorist turning out of his drive without looking. The brave members of the peloton rallied to the defense of our endangered colleague by emitting a spontaneous outburst of verbal abuse at the driver. I am not sure who got the bigger fright - Mal or the driver, but fortunately disaster was avoided by several centimeters and we were able to joke about how brave we cyclists really are.
A few km further along we were harassed by another nuisance driver however closer inspection revealed it to be none other than Spanner Billson in his limo, with no less than two bikes attached to the rear !
When questioned as to why he had brought along TWO bikes he explained that one was for riding and the other was for a "spare". While we had heard of riders sometimes bringing along a spare tube, we had never heard of anyone bringing along a SPARE BIKE, especially when he only rides about 2 or 3 km.
After a few minutes of vigorous seat and front wheel bashing Spanner Billson mounted up and the ever increasing peloton resumed its inexorable progress towards Warburton. With a total of EIGHT riders we had finally reached OCTON status - a milestone in anyone's language.
Since we were now only a few minutes from the awaiting "dinner by the river" the pace inevitably increased as our destination drew closer, and by about 5.50 pm the entire group had safely reached the edge of the river to recount (exaggerated) stories of the outward ride and to enjoy the waiting dinner prepared by the support crew.
It was at this time that I was able to belatedly present Warren (Spanner) Billson with the Award that he was not able to receive on our Awards Night. Warren is now officially recognised as our Most Promising New Recruit.
After the meal all the males were drawn to one side where I was able to present to them my grand vision for the Warby Riders. After all why should we restrict our adventures just to the Warby Trail ? Or even just to Australia for that matter ? Maybe the time is right for us to start dreaming bigger dreams and start working and planning towards a shared adventure that we will remember all our lives (or at least as long as our memories still work).
A glance at our watches showed the time to be almost 6.45 pm. If we were going to get back before dark we knew that we had to get going. At this stage Mal announced that he would not be able to continue any further and would have to return home by car (Will this guy EVER actually finish a ride ? Apparently not.) Nevertheless the remaining seven riders mounted their trusty steel horses and were soon galloping into the rapidly setting sun.
Although it was good to be a member of such a substantial peloton, by the time we reached Launching Place John and Pete announced that they could proceed no further and would be leaving us there. Ross also announced that his ageing bladder could take it no longer and so he disappeared in search of a nearby "comfort station".
The real dark horse of the afternoon was undoubtedly The Spanner. Obviously the Award he had received must have released some previously untapped primordial strength within him, for he was still cycling strongly and proudly announced that he was prepared to ride all the way back to Woori Yallock. This was amazing achievement for a guy who only a couple of months ago could only ride his bike from the Warburton coffee shop to his waiting car. Nyall, our youngest recruit, was also still pedalling keenly and swiftly.
By the time we reached Woori Yallock the rest of us helped lift Warren off his bike and back to his waiting limo and bade farewell to Nyall. Bob glanced at the disappearing sun and expressed his concern at the impending darkness (apparently he was worried about being attacked by wild rabbits in the forest at night).
The remaining three riders remounted and headed back into the gloom, but half way up the hill to Killara, Bob lost his nerve and bolted off into the distance. I guess at his age he should be eating more carrots to help him see better at night. Ross and I were obviously built of sterner stuff and pedalled onwards using our sense of hearing to determine where the trail was heading. Our concentration was broken by the ring of a mobile phone. It turned out to be Estelle telling us that she had got lost trying to find her way out of the Warburton carpark and seeking directions to help her find her way back to Mt Evelyn. I wondered if other great adventurers ever had to contend with such incompetence while Ross tried to relay simple driving instructions over the phone.
Twenty minutes later Ross finished his directions and we resumed our dark ride to Mt Evelyn. In spite of the nocturnal hazards we did manage to complete the ride safely and were "welcomed" back at the Mt Evelyn carpark by a psycho traffic cop who was enjoying himself booking and bashing drivers as they rounded the bend in the round. Each time he detected a speeding motorist he took off in a shower of flying stones, flashing lights and blaring sirens. This guy looked like he belonged in a Mad Max movie.
In case I had not had enough excitement for the day, about half way back to Emerald I almost hit a large kangaroo hopping in front of my car - just another typical ride for the Warby Riders I guess. Now let's start planning for our next ride........