I just about froze last night; I had to break out my sea rug and extra clothes as I kept waking up cold, brrrrr! I slept in as well as I only had a short distance of 154km today to get to Myrtleford. I looked at the Aussie Motorcycle Atlas and saw a few rides in the area so I decided to do them on the way, it would only be a smallish detour and I needed some fun after last night! The rides are number 50 and 49 between Euroa-Merton and Mansfield- Whitfield. These had some very nice scenery and had a lot of curves which I quite enjoyed even though I was loaded up. There were heaps of warning signs around the roads as well as bikes are a common thing around here apparently.
I eventually arrived in Myrtleford just after 11am.
I had not prearranged any accommodation as I was not sure if I was going to be here. The functions were to be held at the Railway Hotel, but they were booked out and I had missed registration by 15minutes, never mind I can do that later. I went down to the Myrtleford Hotel just down the road and managed to get a single room from a cancellation, good stuff, I was not going to camp out in this weather again. A few other travellers were also just booking in.
I had missed the early morning dirt ride, the itinerary had changed a bit, but there was to be an afternoon road ride, so after some lunch it was back up the road for that.
There was quite a gathering for this ride and we headed off with a ride leader and a tail end charley, we also were using a corner marker. This involved the rider behind the leader stopping at the entrance to a corner and they stayed there until the TEC showed up, this is so no one gets lost, it worked quite well.
At one stage we had to follow a herd of cows down a narrow road before we managed to get around them, they were quite skittish as well 🙂 Consequently it was a bit wiffy and very green and wet on the road, yucky! You can see the cows ahead of us in the above picture and then now a rear shot.
On we went until we arrived at a place for food and drinks for those that wanted them, I had had a larger burger for lunch and was not hungry, a good way to be. In fact, I am amazed at how cheap the food is now away from the west, at least half price. A burger with the works for $6, over in WA that would have been at least $12.50 or more 🙁 But, I digress, back to the ride. 🙂
We hit some very nice twistys on the way up Mount Buffalo and I had some fun! Without all the extra weight the bike was very responsive and I managed to scrub some of the edges off the front tyre for a change. I got ahead a clear section at one stage and managed to get off and take some action photos of some of the second batch of riders. If you recognise yourself and want a full size copy, just email me on the contact page at the top.
I missed a few as they were too close together and my camera is a 2 second delay between photos. We had a rest stop at the top lookout and the views were magnificent 🙂
Then we had to head back the way we came, more fun, although the bike was not as good on downhill corners as uphill, so I had to take it a bit easier. We got back after 5pm and I registered before parking the bike and headed back for the dinner. It was a set menu and was quite nice. A few drinks were had, Alf Lechner gave a welcome chat, but the main event was not until Saturday night. They had a bluegrass band but most people had an early night, by that I mean before midnight 😉
Day – 469km
Trip – 19,252km