BeeEm Mar 2013 - BMW Motorcycle Club of Victoria

26 rides, ralliesand eventsMAR 13BeeEmunrolled his swag for one night. Pat and Katrina Bajraszewskirolled in with their impressive off-road caravan. Detlef andLynda Lamp were there too. I know there were others, to whom Iapologise for missing their names. I can offer only age as an excuse.With other business on the horizon, Ann and I struck campthe next morning and left for home. The venue had been aninspired choice. Excellent, well-managed camping facilities andenough resources in the little town of Omeo for everyone to eat,sleep and buy fuel and groceries, especially decent coffee, a musthavefor most club members. Although there are not many fullysealed roads in the area, those that there are make for great ridingfor those of us who like bitumen. The off-road riders were wellcatered for with many trails in the area. Great daytime weather,if more than a bit cold on a couple of nights, added to the recipeand the attendance of many congenial members provided theright seasoning. It is a sad thing that Jack Schmidt, who wasrecuperating after reconstructive surgery, could not be there to seethe results of his planning. But he will know it all went splendidly.By Brian MacdonaldMid Week Ride– 9th JanuaryBob and I got some odd looks when we arrived at theLittle River departure point wearing our wets becausethe weather was looking pretty good by then, 11.15am.The showers had cleared and we were in for a good dayas about 28 of us left the servo a little after midday.Straight roads can’t be avoided as you head west towardsBacchus Marsh, but Karl included just enough turns andundulations to keep us interested. Glancing around the countrysidethere are plenty of reminders that our summer can be a worryingtime for farmers when you see isolated houses and dry paddocksall around. We bunched up again as we rolled into Bacchus Marsh,where John Eacott joined us, but the locals remained unharmedas we made our way through town and continued west for Ballan.The townsfolk of Myrniong have managed to preserve somegreat old stone buildings in town which might warrant furtherinvestigation on another day, however, we were on a mission toBallan for a coffee or lunch break and after riding that lovely curvyroad into Greendale, we arrived there unscathed and enjoyeda leisurely stop. Well, it had to be leisurely, really, to allow thestaff at the bakery enough time to serve us all! There was nohurry and we all enjoyed the chance to catch up on holiday news.Father and daughter, Axel and Alexis Leonhardtthrough tiny Cobaw before we arrived at Lancefield for a stop.Nice old buildings with wide verandahs and big beautiful treesin the middle of the main street create a good look in Lancefieldand we enjoyed another relaxed stop. Axel and others sampled thedelicious homemade tucker available at the cafe and David Yee gota little excited about the number of girls on the ride so we weregathered together for a photo. It may be a record! Seven of us!A few people left the ride at this point and it must have beenafter 4 o’clock when we left Lancefield and headed for Kilmorethen south through Woodstock, Wollert and other places beforearriving at the RSL in Epping where we were to have dinnertogether. Some couldn’t stay for dinner but a bunch of about 20of us eagerly signed in and hit the pokies – no we didn’t! Mealswere delicious and the company was good too. Another great ride,thanks Karl, with a great bunch of riders and passengers. Thanksfor your company. It’s hard to beat a day out on the bikes with timefor a chat during the pit stops. We saw some lovely countryside,Riding behind Karl once again, and corralled by Detlefand Lynda at the rear, we spread out a bit as we made our wayto Trentham and on to Tylden. After the open, dry countrysideearlier on, we were treated to a ride through state forest and besidethe Lerderderg State Park on some great roads, up hill and downdale. Eventually we began heading east and I remember goingJohn Owe Young arrives on the “cow”.