The above clip is part of the actual route filmed last week in amazing "SHAKE-o-RAMA" - so real that you think you're there!
END OF AUTUMN CELEBRATION RIDE
The Dandenong Ranges
10.30am Sunday 3 May
Autumn came late this year and there is still plenty of colour around. This is a cut down version of our past Autumn Celebration rides through the Dandenong Ranges (no Alfred Nicholas Gardens or Emerald Lake this year). Rode the route with my brother last week and the autumn trees were stunning. The mix of native and deciduous trees in the Dandys always provides glorious scenery at this time of year.
This leisurely ride is suitable for all scooters including old classics. Our route looks like a drunken-twisted-pretzel as it criss-crosses the slopes of Mount Dandenong going as far southeast as Menzies Creek. But all this meandering will take us along some of the most beautiful roads in the Ranges past villages nestled in the hills with quaint names such as Sassafras, Olinda, Kalorama, Monbulk, Kalista and Sherbrooke. We'll delve off the main tourist roads whenever possible and ride through forests of towering Mountain Ash and Stringybark, buzz past 1920s guest houses and gracious homes with European gardens and plunge into verdant fern gullies all the while breathing in the fresh eucalypt-scented mountain air exquisitely blended with a cheeky twist of two-stroke oil. Hairpin bends, steep hills and thrilling descents will make us feel alive and invigorated. We may even bump into Puffing Billy along the way.
Our ride leaves promptly at 10:30am form our usual coffee spot in the east:
Britannia Mall, 485 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham shopping centre.
Veer into the left service road at the start of Mitcham shopping centre about 300 metres after an overhead pedestrian bridge but before Mitcham Road. You'll need to arrive earlier if you want coffee or breakfast beforehand. Please arrive with a full tank. Finding a petrol station in the hills is not an easy matter. The ride should finish around 2:30-3pm and we can have a late lunch or farewell coffee at Mailing Road Canterbury for those interested.
If you are coming from the west, try to include the entire length of Mont Albert Road in your route to the east. The autumn colours of this majestic tree-lined street will set the ambience for the rest of the day. Use Burke Road from either Cotham or Barkers Roads to get to the start of Mont Albert Road. Ride to the end and turn left at the T-intersection. Turn right into Whitehorse Road and continue along until you reach Mitcham shopping centre.
Comments
Hi Autumn Celebration Riders. Thank you for your comments and to everyone who attended the ride. Thanks corner markers for doing such a great job - we didn't loose anybody on a ride with 27 scooters and a route with lots of turns and intersections, remarkable, and especially to Julie at the back. My apologies for the unplanned stop in Monbulk in search of toilets and petrol which interrupted the flow of the ride. However the sun shone on us, the air was fresh and sweet with the smell eucalypt forests and the Dandenongs looked stunning dressed in her finest autumn colours. How lucky we are to have such beautiful places to ride through.
Thank you David for arranging today's ride. There was a wide variety of roads and experiences, 80kph 3-lane highways for letting out the throttle, densely-forested roads with lots of bends, roads skirting hillsides and offering great vistas, roads through rainforest, a 1 in 10? descent and lots more. A great day's riding in good company.
Hey Josh you missed a great ride today... and no scones or devonshire tea to be had just lots of riding the hills....
Sounds like you folks had a great day out. Any scones or Devonshire Teas?
Thanks Julie, had a nice ride on my bicycle instead.
Sorry you missed the ride Les, hope you get the problem sorted soon, today was sensational for our ride....sorry to rub that in....:)
Well done David, didn't expect that many bikes to turn up did you but hey the sun was out and what a perfect day for a ride up to the Dandy's to see all the beautiful autumn colors... Hope every is now home safe and warm....
Lovely to see so many new faces also, hope you all enjoyed something a little more exciting that city riding...
Cheers Julie
Fantastic ride in our beautiful Dandenong Ranges. Great roads David, thanks
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