Lunch Ride to Brookton, 19 July 2020

A cool morning saw 12 machines & pilots, & 1 pillion, start off from Midvale a little after 9am.It was cloudy & did drizzle a bit, but no downpours - just enough to keep the chill on.Traffic was light along the Great Eastern hwy., & thinned out after turning onto the Great Southern hwy. The gum trees looked splendid in the red dirt when dampened a bit.Unfortunately, an inconsiderate cager got into the middle of the group & found it imperative to sit on the back tyre of any M/C in front of him! He eventually passed us only to be held up by a farmer trundling along in his ute, & a campervan sightseeing. Instant Karma!We pulled into the petrol station in York for a bit of a warm-up, & when departing, the ride leader decided (unwisely, as it turned out) to pull a tight U-turn in the station forecourt, resulting in his pillion demonstrating the laws of motion & gravity in quick succession. Finding her clutching her left leg, & the resultant “3rd knee” on her shin when checking on her condition, I was met with a few well chosen expletives & swings of the arm!Since “she’d be right”, & with other riders in our group immediately attending to My Lady (this being received in a much more pleasant manner, I might add), I returned to the lazy bike & with the assistance of other riders heaved the behemoth up onto its prop stand. A quick check over for damage showed the bumper strips do their job – the bike was ready to ride.The aforementioned demonstration is always appreciated by bigger crowds, so I waited until about 35 Dual Sport riders pulled in to the station & adjacent empty lot. Lesson learned!!We continued east on the York-Quarading rd., then south from Dangin on the ? Road, which has a few dips in the road (luckily signed for appropriate approach speed), then east on the Brookton-Corrigin rd. into Brookton.A warming wood heater greeted us at the Bedford Arms Hotel, where Jamie set aside the heated dining area for us – Top Guy!We enjoyed this venue, as the service & food selection was very good. After a great feed, much talking, & the generous proffering of various concoctions of pain relief to My Lady, we departed in two groups, & 1 on his own heading NOR, SOR, & VERY SOR (Mandurah). The NOR return trip took us up to Beverley, where we rode the West Talbot, Inkpen, GEH, Chedaring, Werribee, Gov’t., Mayo, Breeze, Lillydale, & Toodyay rds. (Great scenery & light traffic) popping back into the “city”.All in all, a good ride in the company of very good riders & conversationalists!