The Buxton GP Ride: 18th May 2008

by Jamie Elliott

We were greeted by strongish cold winds first thing in the morning, and they pretty much lasted most of the day. Everyone was ready to go by about eight thirty, but by the time I rounded everyone up, and let it be known the way we were going, it was about eight forty before we left the car park. Dave and Veronica turned up at the last minute, Dave using the old excuse of having just done thirteen hundred plus kilometres in the last twenty four hours.

Being conscious of the last ride I led, I made sure I was doing at least one hundred kilometres per hour, trying to stay around 110. We headed off to Gin Gin with no dramas, although we did pass an old Holden with a learner at the wheel, and with around 22-23 bikes overtaking him, he did well not to freak out.

As we entered Gin Gin, Tony and Cathy joined in, and we stopped at the servo for multiple reasons: cigarettes, petrol, drink, and breakfast? Dale had to do a slight adjustment to his oil filler cap on his Vulcan.

We cut across to the Bruce Highway via Highway 15 (I think), nice smooth roads. Too nice for another Vulcan to ignore, and off went Dasher. I went in pursuit to make sure he was OK, which he most definitely was, then we both slowed down for everyone to catch up. After merging onto the Bruce Highway, we cruised through Childers and turned off at the Buxton exit twenty kilometres out of town. It’s at this stage that, for some mysterious reason, everyone’s fuel consumption went off the charts. More than a few of us had a fun time approaching the cattle gridded train tracks mid-bend. Some people crossed them less gracefully than others, though.

Upon reaching Buxton for a leg stretch, we were approached by a local wanting to sell a motorcycle bomber-style jacket. I don’t think she found a buyer, though, most of us remembered to rug-up.

On the return trip from Buxton, things got a bit out of plan. I was cruising along, and noticed Wayne was fast approaching. Not wanting to get in his way, I sped up, not realizing I was throwing stones at him. To avoid the stones, he overtook, and I, not wanting to miss out on a free slipstream, got right behind him into HIS stones. We stopped at the BP across the highway, so some could replace the fuel that went missing on Buxton road, only to find out that Kevin’s Hyosung decided it wanted to get something inspected before going any further; hopefully something simple. So Kevin and Sandy headed home with his bike in tow. The rumour had got around that maybe Kevin’s Hyosung had sung its last song. I’m sure it hasn’t.

A fairly sedate ride through Howard led us to the Burrum Heads Hotel just after 12 PM. A few members called it a day after lunch (same old excuse about having done a thousand miles that day, or something). The rest of us did a bit of sight-seeing of Burrum Heads.

One quick game of follow the leader later, we found a place to park and enjoy the views. One guest found a shady spot for a kip. After some photos were taken, and some yarns were told, we headed for home.

Warren was kind enough to take over as ride leader as I had to stop for fuel and a family visit at Childers. Thanks Warren. Some went their own way at Childers, and the rest followed Warren. Seeing as I didn’t get a phone call that night from him, I take it things went smoothly from that point on. Approximately 320 kms were covered, as we were inducted into our first chilly winter ride.

Thanks to Tony and Loll for being tail end Charlie and Charlene, and thanks also to Wayne for filling in during the “incident” with Kevin’s beast.