CHRIS AND MATES RIDE TO THE ISLAND

Phillip Island; the Mecca of bike racing in Australia. And every year it draws huge crowds for the events it hosts – like the “Island Classic”, the round of the World Superbikes, and of course the “big one”, the round of the MotoGP. Reader Chris has ridden to there twice. He tells us about his latest visit, in 2017, and about watching the race.

It was with some apprehension that I signed on for a second trip to Phillip Island for the MotoGP. The venue has to be one of the best circuits on the calendar and the racing is always spectacular, especially this year with it being such a tight contest. My reservations are not about the race, but the trip itself; and to be more precise – other riders.

There were four of us this year: an Indian Scout, H-D Electraglide, Triumph Speed Triple 955i, and a Kawasaki Versys 650; so a mixed bag. All the bikes performed faultlessly, although the Scout, with its 15 litre tank needed a drink regularly, so planning petrol stops became a priority.

The weather was also a mixed bag and taking the coast road south, we encountered very hot weather by the time we reached Bateman’s Bay, then surprise, surprise it became cooler and damper on reaching Victoria. Good wet-weather gear essential for this trip.

We broke the trip at Womboyn Lake near Eden and by that time the drizzle had settled in and was still around in the morning when we rode the final leg to the Island. This year we stayed in an AirBnB in Cowes and fellow rider Graham had his daughter Evie join us after flying down from Sydney.  She also hired a ‘people mover’ from the airport, which proved to be a godsend for the weekend, as we left the bikes behind and drove in comfort out to the circuit on both days.

The racing itself was great and watching these guys rocket by well in excess of 300kph on a damp surface really makes you understand just how high is their skill level. I’ve been riding bikes for over 50 years, so just how they manage to get the lean angles they do, combined with both spinning and sliding the rear wheel under full control, is beyond me. It doesn’t always work of course and considering their adhesion is right on the very edge, when they exceed that it can become pear-shaped very quickly indeed.

We took up a position at Lukey corner, a long left-hander on a rise, and saw three riders come down, with no chance of getting it back, although Marquez seems to save more than most with his exceptional reactions. There’s a theory that modern riders are more prepared these days to risk coming off, as they know with so many run off areas there’s far less chance of serious injury. Back in the days of the hay bale and other hard objects, getting the knee (and elbow) down wasn’t quite so attractive.

After experiencing fine Scottish weather – drizzle, rain, wind and sunshine, it remained dry for the big race and once more Marquez took it out with a fine well-judged win. He’s matured as a rider, but still tries to win every race with perhaps a little less risk.  Local hero Miller led for the first few laps, but we all know that wasn’t going to last and the sentimental favourite Rossi did his best, still recovering from a broken leg that must have hampered him, even with painkillers.

We set off early the next morning for the return trip and Dave and I decided to do it in one day. Our route took us to Cann River, where I swear there were 30 other riders stopping for fuel, so a big queue. On a whim we decided to head for the high country and go via Cooma, enroute to Canberra. Beautiful scenery up there and at one stage we encountered about 300 cattle in the long paddock and they were totally oblivious to us puttering our way around them.

We finally made it to Dave’s place in Bowral after some 12 hours in the saddle and well over 1000 kms on the clock. The last part of the trip from Goulburn to Bowral was made in the semi darkness and we were very mindful of the suicidal marsupials in this part of the world. We also discovered that the lighting on both bikes was very ordinary to say the least.  We ended up for the most part sitting behind a car with good lights until we took the Moss Vale turn-off.  Both of us now considering some after market illumination.

And my initial apprehension? Justified once more, as I spent as much time watching my mirrors as the road ahead. We sat on, or slightly above the prevailing speed limit and yet were continually being overtaken by bikes travelling at much higher speeds. The risk is when the herd-mentality kicks in and with a gaggle of bikes they tend to follow their mates, despite oncoming traffic. We saw a couple of close shaves, but fortunately no accidents.

Hate to admit it, but approaching 70 I suspect my next visit to ‘The Island’ will be by air or even rail and leave the road to the young guns. I suspect loss of ‘bottle’ goes hand in hand with the ageing process. But looking back on the entire trip – we had a good time and the odd fright didn’t do us any harm.

Thanks Chris. It’s funny how we become more concerned about safety issues as we get older, isn’t it. That’s a healthy way to be though, I reckon. It’s what I don’t like about crowds. I’ve been to The Snowy Ride a couple of times and I won’t go now. Apart from other aspects that make it difficult for me to go, there are just too many bikes and too many idiots there now. Anyway, it's great to have done that classic "ride-to-The-Island" that all motorcyclists probably dream of doing - and many do, of course. Thanks again for the story.  

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