Black dog ride - 2015

Sunday March 22nd marked the day for the Annual Black Dog ride - a ride I participate in each year, this year was no different.

The Black Dog ride provides awareness for depression and mental health and raises money to support integral services such as Lifeline. No more worthy a cause to pull on the boots, stuff my head into a helmet and throw a leg over the Ape......game on.

Like years in the past - I am riding as a corner maker to assist in the marshalling of the main bunch - this means the day starts early.

By the time I hit the road the sun is just up, the low-level fog is refusing to shift. The roads are damp. The tyres are cold. It's 9c and I have nearly an hour slab at free-way speed. Great!

The solution - base layers, thermal layers, wind-stopper layers and heated grips cranked. Slab done and done.

We meet at the official start point in Pakenham -  standard affair, corner marker briefing, then main bunch briefing, then go.

The corner markers head off, hitting the black stuff - most of the riders manage to follow most of the marshals, most of the time - most being the operative word.....

I'm dropped on a corner as we head into Yarra Glen - a marker-mate is dropped on the entry corner and I am on the exit. We're going to be here a while.

Ample time for me to remove my base layers and wind-stopper.

I get busy on the side of the road redressing myself.

I also take the opportunity to let some air out of the tyres - I'd been a little too generous with my set-up adding too much air when cold. The Ape was chattering around from both the front end and the rear - taking some air out, adds more give to the hoops, making her nice and compliant.

Done and done....




My marker-mate standing stoically - waiting for riders to marshal. The seriousness of it all is overwhelming. :))

And here comes a component of the main bunch - it did get quite spaced out this year......

We continue into Yarra Glen for a mid-ride regroup allowing any stragglers to catch up. A quick "splash and dash" for bikes with limited range and we're off again.

We point the bikes towards Toolangi then King Lake. Beautiful roads out this way - up the front, in the corner marker bunch we get a clear run through some pearler roads.

I'm dropped on another corner or two before the ride finishes up back in Pakenham - the local Lions club putting on a BBQ lunch with many hungry and deserving riders to feed.

All in all, another great run for a great cause.

See you all next year.
\BitSar
--getting redressed by the side of a road, marking his corner.

Chocolate Run - 2014

Sooooooooo!

It's been ages since I've posted - this is not due to a lack of riding, this is due to a lack of anything resembling free time......bah!

But alas, it's Saturday morning and I have a small window of time to smash out some blog pieces - so here goes.

Sunday 9th of March 2014 was the annual Chocolate Run to the Mt. Franklin Chocolate Mill. This ride is traditionally a fundraiser ride for someone/something within the community.

In the past we've raised money to send an Athlete to the Para Commonwealth Games, donated to families who've had rider down, rider out situations and needed all the help they can get, to this year's run - raising money for the Black Dog Ride for mental health......... a worthy cause indeed and a great excuse to hit the hills with some old riding friends........woot woot.....

We had a good turn-out this year with approximately 40 riders - no larger than last year, in fact maybe slightly smaller......no matter - just ensures the tempo is kept a little higher and ample throttle is the name of the game.

We met off the freeway out west of Melbourne and pointed the bikes north.......get that first boring slab out of the way.

The first regroup at Woodend - take on some fuel, get some lunch, empty the bladder.....continue.....pretty standard issue.





Heading out of Woodend on the way into Daylesford, Hepburn Springs I am near the front of the bunch - Suddenly a frantic sequence of tail-lights flicker from the riders ahead......something's up.....they're all on the anchors......I immediately back off.

As I hit the crest I see the culprit - one very scared, very skittish, juvenile skippy (eastern grey Kangaroo for the international readers).......as EVERY Aussie rider knows, skippys are a dangerous prospect, not only are they a heavy and powerful animal, they also have ZERO road sense or spatial awareness, making them extremely unpredictable.....

This little fella crossed the road through the bunch no less than 3 times before finally somersaulting itself over a wire fence and back off into the bush. Poor little skippy - no Riders or Roos were harmed.

NB** This is not my footage or my bike - this footage belongs to a rider who participated in the Chocolate Run - original link here: youtube
                  This was the first pass the Roo made through the group, you can see it on the left as this rider avoids it. It was closer than it looks - trust me on that one.

Continuing out to the Chocolate Mill the ride played out as expected on our familiar route......we arrive, park the bikes and take a load off.....

A lovely KTM SuperDuke 1290R came along this year.........damn.....I need a towel

The Ape made an appearance

The bikes parked in the shade at the Chocolate Mill

Another good run this year - we raised enough money for the soon to follow Black Dog Ride - but who needs and excuse eh?

\BitSar

--easy now skippy