Would-be riders obviously felt that the weather wasn’t to their liking and stayed away from this run. Granted, conditions did look fairly bleak early in the morning, but four brave souls met at the Caltex servo, Top of Taps. Ian Roddie was so eager that he turned up 30 mins early on his Yamaha FZ1; David Saint arrived on a Suzuki V-Strom; Alan Kernich on his 1974 Triumph T140V and yours truly on a 1959 BSA A10 Super Rocket.
We followed my normal route (South Rd, Panalatinga Rd, Coxs Hill Rd etc) to Clarendon and turned right at Bakers Gully Rd through Blewitt Springs and stopped at the Cottage Bakery, McLaren Vale for refreshments. Conditions had improved considerably by the time we departed the bakery, blue skies with clouds prevailed and even a spot of sunshine. We headed up Willunga Hill onto Victor Harbor Rd and then right at Pages Flat Rd, where we deviated around the Myponga Reservoir, through Carrickalinga and along the coast road to Normanville.
At this point, the two leading British bikes (one fire engine red with chrome, the other surmounted by a rider sporting a bright yellow fluoro jacket) turned right towards Delamere. How the following two bikes didn’t notice this manoeuvre is one of life’s great mysteries. Alan and I pulled over at Delamere and I remarked to him ‘we’ve lost them, haven’t we’. We decided to carry on, as everyone was aware we were headed for Yankalilla and I’m sure I uttered the word ‘Delamere’ earlier on. Only the local wildlife was witness to the symphonic sounds of two British twins hammering down Range Rd towards Victor. We turned left at Parawa Rd through Torrens Vale and headed back to Yankalilla via Inman Valley Rd.
At the Yankalilla bakery I received a message that David and Ian were enjoying pasties at Delamere. They had correctly surmised that we had headed that way and we eventually met up again in Yankalilla. Reunited, we returned through Myponga, Pages Flat Rd and back to Willunga Hill. This time I turned left at another Range Rd, which I’d never travelled before, and we wound our way down the hill through some tight bends into the McLaren Flat area. From there, we met up with the Kangarilla road and returned home along Chandlers Hill Rd through Flagstaff Hill.
Our next run is on Sunday July 2nd when we will ride to Birdwood via One Tree Hill (no shortcuts, please!). Meet at Civic Park, Modbury opposite Tea Tree Plaza shopping centre 9:30 for a 10am start.
Charles Oliver, Club Captain.
Great report Charles, it felt like I was there only warmer!!!
Lew
Great ride, I’m blaming David anyway we were still in the state.