CMCCV Midweek Ride Tuesday 21st of January 2025.
“Get Your Spurs On for The First Ride of 2025”
A small group of bikers assembled at Chirnside Park, headed off to Warburton for a cuppa, rode around some corners to Marysville for lunch and then went home.
Well David, that’s not really good enough, so …..
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. A “cool cruise” over “The Spurs” is just what we need after the silly season. “Cool” hold that thought. Great to re-join mates again and ride out of Chirnside Park, mindful of Paul’s due-diligence briefing about safety and today’s roads. With Tail-End-Mez on the job, this magnificent seven use Edward Rd, Coldstream Rd and cross the Maroondah Highway to enjoy the “curvy” Killara Rd to the Warburton Highway. Most enjoyable cruising along beside the Yarra River into Warburton where we pull into the rear carpark of our go-to favourite 3 Sugars Café, and there are 3 bikes already resting in the shade of the large trees.
We know these bikes and sure enough (L-R) Mike Walker, Scott Oldfield and Peter Hansen then magically appear to join the party. 3 Sugars is perfect – off-street parking in the shade, a large Classic Club table on the deck, great service, coffee and delicious cakes and pastries. Unfortunately, we can’t stock up the tail-bag as the mercury is rising rapidly.
Here’s a shady group. Left is Peter Trathen’s classic 860 Ducati that handled the heat well, probably remembering the hot summers on the Italian Riviera. Right is Peter Hansen, Arthur Hampson and Paul Beukelman maybe comparing the huge bike design revolution in just 1 decade from Paul’s Triumph “Bonnie” twin to Arthur’s Honda 4 superbike.
Leaving Warburton, we ride the Woods Point Rd through McMahons Creek then the Reefton Spur through the scenic Yarra Ranges National Park. If you open a “Bag of Twisties”, you want more! Is 40K’s of corners enough, not quite. Marysville lunch was to be at the café up the lane off the main street, but the tables were in FULL SUN and the forecast temp of 38 degrees has arrived with another welcome party goer – Gary Moore on his Beema. Now we are 11 Senior Softies enjoying cool drinks inside the main Bakery.
Left are Bavarian Twins, nowhere identical, but 3 decades of evolution from Scott’s R90S to Mike’s 1200GS. Centre – well, it’s all smiles at the tail end.
Liquid cooled and with jacket linings removed, we’re back into the Bag of Twisties heading through Narbethong and over The Black Spur that was re-surfaced some years ago and has stood up well. There is little traffic and the hot sticky bitumen gives us a great ride all the way back into Healesville to get fuel for our various trips home.
My favourite bike on today’s ride
You will have to excuse my bias here – it’s a Triumph and “Immaculate”.
I have admired this bike on a few rides and I am sure they were never that good new out of the showroom in 1974. It’s Peter Hansen’s Triumph T140 750cc Bonneville. It’s a credit to Peter’s skills and persistence to conquer engine and other problems to achieve such a fine build. He even had to endure our smart remarks about him obviously forgetting to put oil in the engine as there was none coming out ANYWHERE, what the?
Thanks Paul, for one of the best rides in the east. Riders headed home in different directions and we went through Yarra Glen with Gary Moore and Peter Trathen, showing Peter the Lilydale bypass using McIntyre Lane back to Chirnside. The afternoon was bloody hot, not a “cool cruise” and older “Air Cooled” classics often don’t like the heat, but they all ran well. Special thanks to the resilient Tail-End-Mez for enduring the heat, thanks Mike for the “Walker Photography” gems, and thanks to all of you for a New Year great day out!
Ride Safe, David and Mez.
Participants List for the Midweek Ride on Tuesday 21st January 2025.
| Rider | Bike | Year |
| Paul Beukelman | Triumph T120R Bonneville | 1970 |
| Peter Hanson | Triumph T140 | 1974 |
| Scott Oldfield | BMW R90S | 1975 |
| Peter Trathen | Ducati 900 GTS | 1979 |
| Arthur Hampson | Honda CB900 Bol d’or | 1981 |
| Gary Moore | BMW R1100R | 2001 |
| Mike Walker | BMW 1200GS | 2005 |
| Paul Clayton (Ride Leader) | Honda VFR800 | 2014 |
| David & Mez McLennan (TEM) | Triumph Thruxton S | 2016 |
| Terry Hoare | Honda VFR800X Cross Runner | 2017 |
| Graham Boulter | Triumph T900GT | 2022 |