Olga Goes on an Outing

Continuing on our busy weekends theme, we had another early start on Saturday, this time heading up to Orange for the Classic Motorcycle Rally.  This was a great excuse to take “Olga” the old girl on an outing, not to mention that we enjoy the friendly rally.

It is based that the Scouts Camp at Lake Canobolas and we take the tent and camp overnight.

It was just the perfect morning to be out and about.  Do you think I am getting a bit of a thing for taking photos of the sky?

I love it when we get to see our shadow of the bike as we ride along.

There was a great roll up of bikes, ranging from a 1916 Harley sidecar to the latest models.

The green bike next to Olga is from our Club.  Her name is, surprisingly, “Kermit” and it was her maiden voyage to a rally.  She ran really well and drew a lot of attention.  There was quite a good roll up from Bathurst and from our Club.

Having travelled to Orange for the start of the Rally, we then proceeded to ride back to Bathurst via Blayney for lunch and a display of the bikes.  There was a good roll up of sidecars and also BMW R75s (the same as Olga), which was good to see (not that I am biased).

This beauty won the Best Bike in the rally.  It is a very early Rudge in totally unrestored condition, however it goes really well and is seen in several rallies. It is not at all showy, but a real workhorse.  A well deserved award.

After lunch we headed back towards Orange via the Ophir Road, which has only recently had the last little bit sealed.  Another great motorcycling route that has now been opened up. 

Doesn’t this stretch of road with the tunnel of elms just out of Bathurst remind you of an English lane, especially with the old British bike and MG car.

How the scenery changes…… this is only about a mile further on.  Check out the lovely sky.

Turn the next corner to then be greeted by this!!!  That doesn’t look too promising when  you are travelling on a bike.

Fortunately, we dodged the storms all the way to Orange.  We had a tiny sprinkle and went on some very wet roads, but didn’t need to get out the wet weather gear.

Unfortunately, Kermit didn’t have quite as good a run in the afternoon.  She had a puncture in the rear tyre.  Not to worry, once back at camp, the boys got in and put in a spare tube and she was ready to go again for the run on Sunday morning.

One of the most important events on a weekend like this is “Happy Hour”. Six of our group camped over, so we had a nice leisurely hour or so sitting in the afternoon sun.

The presentation Dinner is held outdoors, but in a big tin shelter shed, which was just as well, as didn’t we cop the biggest storm!  The thunder, lightning and torrential rain lasted for a couple of hours, but fortunately, stopped not long after we went to bed. After that it cleared up to a starry night and lovely morning.

On Sunday us girls decided not to go on the ride, so Mick found a substitute passenger.  They have a lot of fun.

While they were on the ride we strolled over to Lake Canobolas.  We sat and watched this little family for ages. There was another duckling as well, but it was a bit of a rebel and kept swimming off.

The lake has a wonderful setting and it was so peaceful early in the morning.

When it was time to head home a couple of us decided to ride along the Ophir Road again, as it really is lovely.  It is also amazing how different the scenery can be when ridden in the opposite direction.

There is one spot half way along where there is a little dirt road heading up to the very top of a hill and Mick wanted to go up there to see what he could see.  Well, he could see a lot.  You felt like you were on top of the world and once again, check out that sky.  We could have sat there for ages, but had to get on our way.

We had a great weekend, although Olga had a couple of little coughs along the way.  She is now in surgery, as Mick is going to have a bit of a look into her innards to see if he can’t get her running a little better.  Hopefully she won’t be in hospital for too long, as we do like riding her.

Our next bike adventure will be on “Snubby” in March.  I can’t wait.