Mountain Madness 2013 - The Double Helix Ride: January 2013

What is Mountain Madness?

Mountain Madness is a time when a somewhat eclectic group of like-minded motor cyclists from all walks of life head off to the highlands of Victoria and NSW to enjoy their bikes and doing it together.

The ride is in its 12th year - although in all honesty it is a bit like an old axe that has been around for years. The head has been replaced a couple of times and a new handle fitted every now and again - but it is still the same axe, sort of. Check www.mountainmadness2012.blogspot.com for some blurb on how it came about and whatnot (you may need to type it into your browser as I have given up trying to make the link work).

Mad persons - start your engines and come see me in Omeo!

This Year . . .

The task of organising the ride fell to me this year. It has been a bullet I have been ‘artfully dodging’ for many years as I have seen some grown men cry and others pushed to the limit of their sanity when dealing with the foibles of herding this lot towards the agreed route and destinations - let alone trying to keep everyone happy!

My objective was to keep it as simple as possible and to do just short of the right amount of work to make it work but also to ensure I would receive a FAIL for my efforts as the coordinator so as not to be asked to do it again next year.

Hence I 'planned' a (sort of) double helix route to Omeo, Cooma and back to Omeo. And of course I chose hotels of last resort . . . the infamous Hilltop in Omeo and the Royal in Cooma. Mind you, I did offer everyone the chance to sort better routes, destinations and hotels but no-one stepped forward - so my plan was 'accepted'.

‘Big Picture’ for MM 2013 . . .

It is sort of a double helix if you squint!

Monday 31st Dec (2012) – depart Melbourne for Omeo via Mansfield, Bright and Mt Hotham

Tuesday 1st Jan – Omeo to Cooma via Falls Creek, Tallangatta (via Kiewa Valley and others via Omeo ‘Highway’), Corryong, Cabramurra and that still unpronounceable Adaminaby

Wednesday 2nd Jan – Cooma back to Omeo via Dalgety, Bombala, Cann River, Orbost (others via Delegate), Bruthen and Omeo

Thursday 3rd Jan – Omeo to Melbourne (or Cape Paterson) – and others to Falls Creek

Friday 4th Jan – Falls Creek to Melbourne

Insolence in the Camp . . .

I could see no-one was taking my careful planning and detailed administration seriously at all when this rather disrespectful image was sent around . . . this of course was excellent news as someone was already poking fun at my pathetic attempts to plan things and I would be unlikely to be asked to do it again next year!

Mmm . . . looks about right to me!

Dropping Like Flies . . .

Perhaps it had something to do with the terrible organisation and shoddy administration, but regular MM participants started to drop off at an alarming rate as the event became closer.

For example:

Loyd – first, and most significantly, our founder, leader, mentor, fountain of knowledge on all things and source of merriment decided to give up motor cycling altogether. We of course respect his decision and immediately promoted him to the esteemed position of Patron! There was some talk of him jumping in the car and joining us in his newly found status, but it didn't happen. Thanks for creating this 'thing' Loyd and for all the memories and fun since last century – it certainly wasn’t the same on our first PL (Post Loyd) MM!

Rowdy – our quiet friend 'Rowdy' announced that he was heading off to the Philippines for a wedding and could not come. We really missed Dan's steadying influence and his ability to cut right to the core of any discussion on any subject! And I particularly wanted for his riding companionship as we somehow always seem to find ourselves riding in tandem on most roads.

Richard – third, our Pakeha friend sold his bike (for all the right reasons) and could not come - although he did refuse numerous offers of other bikes from quite a few people. I am afraid that the standard of organisation, food, accommodation and photography was much lower this year, Richard . . . we are just not in your league!

Roger & Julie – quite unexpectedly, Roger slipped on some Geneva black ice and broke his leg on the day he was due to come home for Christmas and of course MM! It was quite a serious break and we wish you a speedy recovery Roger. We also missed Roger being able to tweak a few dials on the master weather machine in the sky - and of course Julie's special 'on-bike camera' work!

Phil P – he sold his damned bike . . . but luckily it was acquired by Mark E. Mind you, it was a bit strange following ONYVA knowing that it wasn't Phil sitting on the rider's seat. We hope the headaches go away now you are not riding . . . were we really that bad company?

Mark H – the legal fraternity decided not to come. It is a very complex case - but we hope you can join us next year Mark. And we were delighted to see you for a while on the first day and we hope your business goes well in 2013.

The Combatants . . .

So, with so many retirements, injuries and non-starters, we were down to the core riders and participants . . . Phil C and Mel on their normal steeds, the enigmatic Tony also on his GS, that newly defined GS rider Mark E and (a much cooler) Josie, the newly 'retired' Ivan and his lovely and talented daughter Alex on the very slippery V-Max, that girl-racer Karen and of course Lorraine and me on our Triumph.

Tony headed up to Omeo from the south and of course last year's 'newby' Alf joined us from his home in Omeo.

'Everyone' in Bright - except for Tony (came the other way . . . as usual!)

Substitutes . . .

Being a resourceful bunch we managed to to pick up three more riders at short notice along the way for various bits of the ride.

Tim - Alf's son Tim joined us for the same stages on his brother's Suzuki SV 650 – albeit he was a little late due to his New Year's Eve partying.

The 'Stigs' - And there were two 'Stigs' . . . we met 'Stig' Graham for dinner at Omeo and discovered his blistering speed, composure and smoothness on the road the next day. And his is also good for some stories about the history of the area. The other 'Stig' was the very quiet and unassuming Biker Phil from Byron Bay. He arrived at the pub in Cooma for dinner and a few drinks (although he doesn't drink alcohol) and caused a lot of merriment when the cops nabbed him as he pulled out of the pub and of course he had a zero reading. He joined us all the way to Omeo and he and Karen seemed to ride well together.

Melbourne to Omeo

I don't know how many times we have done this route?

Big Picture . . .

The general idea for today was to get to Omeo by about beer o'clock and to keep out of the impending heat the best way we could . . . but of course we all had our own ideas about the best way of getting there.

Orderly Start . . .

By comparison with recent events, this year’s ‘departure’ was a reasonably orderly affair – perhaps because there were fewer participants thus removing considerable permutations and combinations for the amount chaos.

Karen departed the day before and spent the night in Mansfield so we never saw her until we got to Omeo . . . even though we all secretly think she has turned into a ‘girl-racer’ and simply stayed ahead of the pack all the way up the hill!

As for the rest of us, some six bikes and nine people met at St Andrews at the ‘agreed time’ and we headed up the Greensborough Highway (I didn’t know it was called that either) to Kinglake for our first jolly into the higher country. But that was as far as we got together as we split into two groups at Kinglake as some took the ‘best road in Victoria’ (the Eildon back road) and others took a more civilised route via Flowerdale and of course stopped for a coffee break at Yea and (as some say) the 'worst road in Victoria'.

Parked up at at Yea

The Worst Road in Victoria . . .

The road to Mansfield didn't seem so bad this time, perhaps it was because we were expecting the worst? Mind you, perhaps we were distracted by the fact that ONYVA was no longer being ridden by Phil P and that Mark E and Josie were aboard.

We of course enjoyed lunch at the 'normal' spot in Mansfield – even though our ‘normal’ garage has closed and we had to get fuel around the corner. Don't they know we have some traditions to maintain here! Some of us got chatting with the Vice President of the Satins Soldiers in Bendigo – he and his partner were sitting at the table next to us and they seemed like lovely people.

Police Alert . . .

Karen sent some dire warnings about three police bikes on the Whitfield road but none of us saw anything . . . and upon reflection I can now see she was in fact trying to delay 'the pack' so as to maintain her advantage and be the first to Omeo. And she succeeded!

Power Shopping . . .

We traversed the traditional route through Oxley and Myrtleford and on to Bright - confusing Phil in the process as I didn't know that he and Mel had arranged to meet at Myrtleford. Apart from Lorraine's power shopping (two pairs of shoes in 4 minutes and 33 seconds!), we all had a welcome cold drink after fueling up once again.

Drinks at Bright

A very kind passing photographer risked life and limb by stopping the traffic to take this!

And this!

The Hotham Way . . .

As things transpired we decided to head up the Mt Hotham road to Omeo - which turned out to be one of my favourite roads of the entire trip. I really like the fast (for me!) and flowing (for me!) open corners and the excellent surface.

I just love this view . . .

Good to see you both along again

Omeo Arrival . . .

We all pulled into Omeo at around 5:30pm and headed for the bar to find that girl racer Karen already showered and in evening wear ready for the NYE festivities. Naturally we guzzled quite a few beers in amongst fueling up for tomorrow (petrol that is) and having a welcome shower.

It is always a special time chatting on the first night in the bar - catching up on the year's news and events, goings on with absent friends and plans for next year. And there were some moments of reality - like when did Ivan's daughter Alex suddenly grow up to be a stunning and engaging young woman!

Bloody hell - when did you grow up?

That girl racer Karen greeting other guests for pre-dinner drinks!

Now look . . . I demand more beers than this!

Dinner . . .

Our 'traditional' table in the corner had been reserved for dinner and Alf, his son Tim and ' The Stig # 1' Graham joined us for the festivities. And we are a bunch of ragers these days . . . Josie and Mark were the first to crash at around 9:00pm and everyone was tucked up in bed by about 10:00pm as far as I know! I mean, I have an excuse (age), but as for the rest of you!!