Mike Fittall was our leader and published the route as containing a short dirt section. At the briefing he then said we would skip the dirt bit which made some of the dozen or so riders a bit relieved and a couple a little disappointed.

Anyway we headed off from Lilydale in nice weather through Coldstream and Yarra Glen and headed towards Hurstbridge with a turn onto the goat track to Kinglake to come.

In an effort to dodge his planned dirt section Mike took us onto a new road which he thought was sealed but soon turned into nice smooth gravel/dirt which lasted considerably longer than the few kilometers originally planned. Most of the group were happy with Anthony and I on our DR650s actually enjoying it and then Jack and Nick on their BMW 1250s roaring along happily and the rest of the group not complaining too much, we wound through the hills and back onto the Hurstbridge road. This where the problems started as Mike went left but some of the group went right back to Yarra Glen. We realised around Christmas Hills that there were a few missing and waited for a while and chased up a few on the phone. Eventually we all reunited at Kinglake via various routes and after a nice morning tea headed towards Kilmore.

The second half was uneventful with some nice roads traversed through Strath Creek etc. and on to the Bakery at Kilmore for lunch.

Most of us then rode together down through Wallan and Plenty Road to the Greensborough Ring road and home from there.

Thanks Mike for another interesting ride and of course to Jeff who wrangled the TEC role and ensured we all made it in one piece.