Saturday 22nd May 2004
The Traditional Reefton Rush

One of the most satisfying rewards of cycling is when you can see a measurable improvement in your performance over a period of time. The first time our group rode up past Reefton to Upper Yarra Dam, most of us had no strength left to complete the return ride. I only made it back as far as the hotel before calling for the support crew to collect me. Now, after another eighteen months of regular riding, I was keen to see if I would really be able to make it all the way back to Lillydale.

At least the weather would be in our favour. In fact the Bureau had been promising us all week that Saturday would be the best day in the outlook period. For once their promises proved reliable and we awoke to find a clear, still Autumn Day - about as close to perfect cycling conditions as we could hope for.

I arrived at Lilydale at about 9.30 am and found Little John already there unloading his bike. It was nice to see that someone was so keen. Considering he had only been riding with us for the past few weeks I had to admire his guts at tackling such a long ride. We were soon joined by Richard and Bob. We noticed Johnny Come Lately driving past the end of the road but he seemed to look right through us and continued on into the distance. We waved and shouted but to no avail - he disappeared out of sight. By 10 am there was also still no sign of Ross. Keeping in mind the length of the planned ride and the shortness of the day, I was already starting to worry about getting back before nightfall.

Fortunately we did manage to eventually find John and Ross finally arrived, only about 20 minutes late. Knowing that the success of the ride depended on strict adherence to our timetable I finally managed to get the peloton underway. With only 40 minutes to get to Woori Yallock it was now going to be a significant battle against the clock.

We soon discovered that the man with the grader had been busy and many more kilometres of the trail had been scraped and converted to soft mud. As we slipped and slithered I began to foster a dream. Wouldn't it be so good if they found enough funds to seal the whole length of the trail to Warburton? I guess that is unlikely to happen unless we could recruit a couple of politicians into the Ghost Riders. On second thoughts I think I would rather ride with people I like.

Lex was already waiting for us when we arrived at Woori Yallock at about 11.05am. We had made good speed in the still conditions. It has been a great encouragement to see how quickly Lex has settled into our little group. Our next planned stop was Warburton and we were planning to be there by 12 noon.

Although Dennis Shepherd had originally indicated he would meet at us Launching Place I was informed that he had met up with Warren and was already riding along the trail somewhere ahead. We still had to meet Peter Warren and another new rider at Warburton, so the logistics were starting to sound rather daunting.

The outward sprint along Settlement Rd was again another hotly contested event, with Bob taking the points. We soon met up with Warren and Dennis Shepherd, meaning the peloton had swollen to 9 riders.

By the time we arrived at Warburton I was pleased to see that we were actually a little ahead of schedule. The only problem was that by the time the group was assembled there was no longer any sign of Little John. "Where did you see him last?", I asked. "Don't know", was the best answer I could get. "Was he looking OK?", I anxiously enquired. "Don't know", was the reply.

When Peter let us know that his riding companion had also disappeared somewhere along the way, I was starting to worry that the ride was degenerating into chaos. After 20 minutes of indecision we decided to send Bob and Peter back along the trail to look for the "lost sheep", while the rest of us proceeded on to Reefton (and lunch).

About 25 minutes later we had arrived at the final checkpoint - the red letter box. It was time to check on Bob and Peeter to see if they had found Little John. The only problem was that the mobile reception was absolutely zero. We were now completely out of touch. By this time they could have been back to Woori Yallock for all we knew. It was a tough decision, but one that I knew I had to make. "Let's forget about them and go get our lunch", I instructed the group. Since there was no objection to this suggestion we were soon on our way again.

Relaxing at the Reefton Pub - Sat 22nd May 2004

At 1 pm precisely we rounded the final downhill bend and rolled into the Reefton Pub. To our amazement we saw Little John calmly settled on the sunny verandah enjoying his (first) pint of the afternoon. "Where did you come from?", "Did you hitch a ride?", we asked. John looked up and replied that he had decided to bypass the checkpoint at Warburton to save time.

In spite of the shambles I was feeling very hungry and, after a look at the menu, ordered a Reefton Burger for lunch. It was also a good opportunity to study the inside of the bar area of the pub. With an eclectic variety of antiques hanging from the wall, including an old unicycle and a hand powered chain saw, I guess it epitomised the classic little outback Aussie pub. Back out on the verandah we settled down in the afternoon sunshine to discuss the ride and wonder if the missing riders would ever make it.

Just when we were starting to give up hope the remaining riders did arrive, including Peter's young mate Ben - just 17 years old. After they had finished abusing the daylights out of Little John, Peter told us about the near miss they had experienced back near Warburton. Apparently Bob had ridden straight into the path of a passing car and very nearly had a "close encounter of the worst kind". While we enjoyed our hot lunches, Peter and Bob had arrived too late to order theirs, so had to content themselves watching us. Fortunately we had a few spare chips so they didn't go completely hungry.

All too soon the clock indicated 2 pm. This was time to saddle up for the return ride. With 10 riders in our peloton we must have left quite an impression on the assembled Harley Davidson motorbike riders that were watching us leave. We might be the only real bikers they would get to see for some time.

The road back to Warburton is predominantly downhill so we made much better progress on the return ride, even arriving back at the coffee shop early enough to enjoy a coffee and cake. When a motorbike rider pulled in to tell us that one of our riders had broken his chain, we were relieved that Peter was still back there somewhere. (He pulled in about 15 minutes later with his hands covered in black grease from Richard's chain.)

By this time I think we were all starting to feel the lethargy that starts to creep in during the late afternoon. It really had been a memorable ride but we still had a considerable distance to ride before nightfall. The peloton again mounted and turned our bikes towards Melbourne for the final challenge. With the sun falling rapidly in the Western sky we tried to keep up a steady pace. Dennis Shepherd left us at Launching Place, along with Peter and Ben. Lex finished at Woori Yallock, proudly informing us that it had been his "longest ride in 47 years".

The remaining riders headed on into the increasing dimness. Bob and Johnny bolted to the lead, leaving the rest of us stretched out behind. At 5 pm I finally made it to the carpark at Mt Evelyn. We waited for the rest of the riders to catch up. Soon we were met by Richard and Little John, but Ross was nowhere to be seen. At 5.15 pm the light had almost gone. I decided to ring Ross on the mobile. "I had to stop for a leak", he replied. I figured that any leak that took 15 minutes must be something worthy of the Guiness Book of Records. Trying to envisage such a Herculean effort, I was not sure whether to feel sorry for the guy or to salute hime for such a remarkable achievement. In the meantime I encouraged him by telling him that we still waiting in the dark.

When we were finally ready for the descent to Lilydale we were rigged for night time riding with every light emitting device we could muster. Tail lights, head lights, head torches - every little bit helps. Fortunately we managed to survive without mishap and were all too soon back at the cars chatting about the events of the day. In spite of all the little hiccups I am sure we all agree it had been a great ride. I, for one, could not possibly think of a better way to spend a Saturday. I suspect that most of our riders are already looking forward to our next ride. It really is amazing how this activity is so addictive.

P.S. This added report was submitted by one of the other riders - Peter "Legs" Warren.

On our Club ride to Reefton I started from Emerald and arrived safely well ahead of the rabble that started at Lillydale. Finally most other riders also arrived at the Bakery. However two riders
were missing. There was much discussion about how anyone could get lost on the warby trail.
We agreed that "Hooters" was the only one of us who had any chance of loosing his way, but
he hadn't even started.

Someone suggested that one of the riders had turned back, great news to his wife standing next to me.

Anyway Crasher & I decided to head back toward Millgrove Just in case of mechanical breakdown,
while the rest of the group headed toward reefton with the promise of waiting for us at the Post Box
along the way.

As we rode toward Millgrove we both discussed the possibilities of what may have gone wrong.
We asked other riders if they had seen two really big blokes with mechanical problems, but recieved a negative reply each time. However as I later realised we were not really concentrating on our riding
or our surroundings.

This was not really important until we came to the small sideroad up to the sawmill. Now we never see cars going up that road - Do we ?????

I was a little behind Bob and saw it first. The noise of my yelling made him decide to stop - Quickly.
With much rearranging of hand position he was able to find his brake levers and bring his machine to
a magnificent sideways sliding halt - just before he landed on the bonnet of the car. I must also commend the driver, as he was more aware of us than we were of him.

The only damage done was to Crashers heart rate monitor - it had smoke coming from it.

Anyway a serious incident was avoided - I didn't have to drive Bob home to Fran.

However the whole thing could have been avoided by a little more concentration by both of us. We should both have been aware of the car in the first place, and warned each other as we normally do.
This applies whether we are riding or driving. If this can happen to Bob then it can happen to anyone.

Footnote - It was great to see his bike handling skills.

Footnote 2 - The rest of the mob did not wait for us at the Post Box as promised but when we got to the Reefton Pub one of the missing riders was already there waiting for us. He had bypassed the Bakery.
Sorry Hooters, You are not the only one that can get lost on the Warby Trail.

Peter Waren