by Noel Norris
A ride around Bendigo popped up on the MADCAT website and it sounded awesome. It’s a fair hike from home but I like nothing better than getting out on the bike and having the chance to explore a new region of the beautiful Victorian countryside.
Laziness got the better of me and I didn’t feel like driving the 2 hours each way on the freeway so I popped the 250 on the back of the car and cruised up there in comfort. When I left home it was raining but by the time I reached the meeting point at ‘Agnes Mudford Reserve’ in Redesdale, the sun was shining, and it had turned into a beautiful morning for a ride. The reserve had a cool little water tank with several murals, but the most striking one was a painting to mark Victoria’s 10th Anniversary of the ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires in Victoria.
Two riders had already arrived, one I hadn’t met before and the other was my old mate Jack whom I had met on several rides. It wasn’t long before the car park was full of bikes ranging in size from my little 250 to the mighty 1290 Super Adventure and everything in between.
Before departure, the ride organiser/lead rider and local legend Barry called everyone together to give the ride briefing and introduce the sweep rider, none other than Full Pelt Pete.
The ride departed on time and we rode a few km’s on bitumen before we hit the dirt. Barry took us through a series of gravel roads followed by some awesome single/double lane tracks with some ruts and small sandy sections before we stopped for a breather next to a small watering hole just before lunch.
Lunch was at the Strathfieldsaye Bakery. The owners were so happy that we popped in that they gave us a few bags of free donuts….country hospitality 😊 We chilled out for a while before we set off again for the second leg of the ride.
Barry had pre-planned some optional breakout side track rides with more challenging terrain which consisted of ruts and some log hops if you were up for it. A few of us took that option and it was fun having a bit more challenging sections before we stopped for another break. The rest of the ride consisted mainly of some single tracks and fast-flowing dirt roads. It was fun trying to keep up with Barry on his 1290, but I think, the 1040 cc deficit was not in my favour.
Near the end of the ride, we stopped at beautiful Lake Eppalock to chill out and chat before we headed back to ‘Agnes Mudford Reserve’ to finish the ride.
It was a great ride with great people and I think this photo sums up what everyone thought of it!! Nice one Barry…
When I got home, I kept telling my wife what a great ride it was over and over again. She eventually got sick of it and said “stop talking about that bloody motorbike ride again”……I think I was driving her Around the Bendigo 😊