Geelong RATS storm the Alpine Hotel - Bright - March 8-10

Well it was a big week-end and one that I'm still recovering from!! Even harder if you had to go to work on Tuesday after riding down the Hume Highway in 38c temperatures.
I reckon Bacchus Marsh was the hottest place on earth on Monday as we passed through on the way home on Monday.
But back to the beginning... we all set off on Saturday morning as planned making our way to meet Mal & Cheryl in Yea.
I thought it would be a good idea to go a more adventurous route through Hurstbridge, Kinglake to the Whittlesea/Flowerdale Road but the traffic on that narrow little pass over the mountain was horrendous and the Rockets must have struggled a bit on the tight stuff. Heaps of bikes and lots of passing on narrow bends trying to get past cars that just didn't want to pull over to let us past. A little white car over the side reminded us of how dodgy it was.
The ride along the Flowerdale Road to Yea made up for it - just the stuff for Rockets! After a regroup at Yea it was on to Mansfield on full alert for the police pursuit car that patrols this stretch - and we weren't disappointed when we saw him fully occupied booking a truckie!
Next thing the Coffin Cheaters were weaving in & out of the group getting past us in a hurry - I've heard since they were on a poker run with money going to the Royal Children's Hospital.
At one point I saw one of them trying to get past Stefan on the Bonnie and he wasn't letting him through - I was thinking to myself - this could get very ugly - let them thru!! Further up the road they were regrouping massed at a pub and it looked like hundreds of them!
We didn't stop until we reached the Mountain View pub at Whitfield - now there were 2 bikes missing - where were Leigh & Graeme/Tina! I forgot to mention that Stefan tried a bit of dirt riding on the Bonnie, or should I say ditch riding - luckily all was okay, just a few scratches on the bike! Anyway, after a nervous wait we found out that they had stopped at Powers Lookout to take in the view - buggers!
The Alpine Hotel's a great place to stay and a reasonable price - we were all welcomed and had great parking for the bikes. We all gathered at the pub (where else!) and started testing the local brews, giving Mal plenty of Happy Birthday wishes, kisses and a chorus of Happy Birthday To You.
Then it was off to the local micro-brewery and back to the pub - after a few of those beers at the brewery at 8% alcohol we rolled into the pub... or at least I did! The band would have been good except for the drummers ego - he was all we could hear! I had a polite word (turn the f..king drums down!) with the guy doing the mixing and even tried mixing it myself but he wouldn't have any of it! Good fun was had by all.
With a few sore heads we set off after breakfast for Mt Hotham - the road up the mountain was fantastic - even with a hangover and we stopped at Dinner Plain for coffee and plenty of water. A few of us decided to keep going and headed over to Omeo while the others headed back for a relaxing afternoon. Leigh headed back to Geelong on his own on Sunday as he could only stay one night.
I don't have words to describe that road to Omeo - it was f..king unbelievable - I thought the roads in Tassie were good but this ones on a par with the road from the west coast of Tassie up to Cradle Mountain - I still dream of going back to that one! The ambulance and cop car on top of the mountain were a bit worrying-but only for a second!
The hard part was the road back down the mountain on the way back into Harrietville - all downhill & 30km/hr tight corners - it was a good workout! Stefan was riding that Bonnie in front of me like a true champion! At one point we pulled over to admire the view and thought we'd stumbled across Ewan & Charlie!
While we up the mountain acting illegally - Graeme & Pete took the Rockets for a test-ride & had an appreciation of how much the boys would have had to work on those tight mountain roads.
Needless to say, most of us had a quiet night on Sunday except for the girls and a couple of blokes that shall remain nameless - especially the one standing on the table at the back of the pub calling me to come back to the pub and getting told off by the bouncer!
The journey back was long, tiring & hot. We split at Seymour with some taking the highway and others cutting across via Gisbourne & home. There were heaps of speed cameras and cops on the way back - hope we didn't get any tickets!
It was a great week-end with 10 bikes and 13 RATS - next one should be good to the All British on Anzac week-end. Get details from Warren or Mick at Peter Stevens Geelong.


Couldn't forget a photo of the girls!