What
Looks like some great riding weather coming up next weekend so let’s get out and enjoy it with a picnic in the hills. If you haven’t toured the cool green Dandenong Ranges on a scooter before, then you haven’t truly experienced it.
Description
This shortish leisurely ride is perfect for confident beginners. New members who have yet to get their Vespas out beyond city limits are especially welcome. Its also a great ride for older geared Vespas. We will be avoiding the main tourist roads as much as possible as we wind our way through the hills criss-crossing the slopes of the Dandenong Ranges. All this meandering produces a route that looks like a drunken pretzel but it will take us along some of the most beautiful roads in the ranges that hopefully some you never knew existed. We'll ride through forests of towering mountain ash and stringybark. We’ll buzz past charming villages, quaint guest houses and gracious homes with grand European-style gardens. We’ll delve into dark verdant fern gullies and emerge into bright sunny vistas, all the while breathing in the fresh eucalypt-scented mountain air.
Most of our riding will occur before lunch to build up an appetite. The chrome work on our beautiful Vespas will glint and dance like flickering fire under the dappled sunlight as we sail around the corners. Bliss.
It will be a warm ( some might even say hot ) sunny day so bring fluids to keep you hydrated. However the Dandenong Ranges are always a few degrees cooler than the lowlands and besides we’ll be riding beneath forest canopy for most of the day. Our picnic spot is very green and shady. A shorter ride after lunch brings us back to level ground again where a gelato or iced coffee awaits us in Upper Ferntree Gully.
Picnic Lunch
We’ll have a picnic lunch around 12:30 - 1 pm at a picturesque spot beside Sassafras Creek. So pack a hamper. Treats to share are always very welcome. Bring your own reuseable keep-cup if you want tea or coffee as we can boil water on the spot. We’re in no rush to finish lunch so just relax and enjoy the good company of your club mates. We will return you to the suburbs by mid afternoon.
Departure Point and Time
Our departure point is from Britannia Mall 485 Whitehorse Road, Mitcham which is our usual meeting spot in the east. Pull into the north side service road at the start of Mitcham shopping centre. Departure is at 10.00 am sharp but please arrive earlier if you need coffee or breakfast beforehand. You can also buy something to eat for lunch from the many cafes in the Mall.
IMPORTANT: Please arrive with a full tank as there will be no fuel stops during the ride. And remember to pack that lunch.
Comments
Fabulous ride today, thank you David and all those who braved the heat. It was lovely riding through the hills once again and stopping at your favourite little picnic area.
But Ants, those huge shady trees act like massive evaporative coolers. You'll probably have to put a jumper on.
Looks like its going to be a scorcher on Sunday! 38deg…eeek!