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s part of the Muresk Odyssey 2021, a group ride event was organised from the Muresk site to The Motor Museum of Western Australia, which is located at Whiteman Park, a unique recreation and conservation reserve that covers nearly 4,000 hectares of natural bushland and leisure facilities in Perth’s northern suburbs. The proposed ride, with discounted museum entry and guided tour, was very popular on registration with a total of 35 Odyssey participants ready to join in. With such a large group it was planned to break the ride into two groups, one setting off an hour or so before the other. This was to allow control of the museum tour numbers. A couple of Saturdays leading up to the Odyssey were spent by the two ride leaders plotting and checking interesting 100km routes that would take around 90 minutes through the Darling Rangers, the mountains overlooking Perth, to the lowlands. On the Odyssey weekend, the Friday and Saturday weather was fantastic, with many members spending their time riding the roads around the farmlands of Northam, York and Beverley. Late Saturday afternoon however, the forecast for
Sunday was very bleak, with a cold front and morning storms predicted to lash over Perth and hills. With that in mind, a few of the museum ride group decided to drop out, leaving around 24 hardy riders ready to face the elements, come rain or hail. Quick change of plans and the two groups were combined to make just the one Sunday ride event. Looking west early Sunday morning, we could see the dark weather approaching, with reports that it was bucketing down in Perth. Most of the group opted for their wet weather gear for as you know, if you put it on, it won’t rain. Leaving Muresk, the first stop was a 25km run to fuel a few bikes that had been left thirsty from the Saturday rides. All was well until around 500 metre from the service station the rain spots appeared on the visors, followed by a downpour as we just managed to get under cover. A ten minute wait, bike filled and everyone said lets go as the clouds parted and some blue sky appeared. With wet country roads a fairly cautious but enjoyable ride followed taking in some of the favourite roads used by WA Branches. By sheer luck, apart from the initial rain patch, the rest of the ride was dry, maybe there is something about wet
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