Saturday 2 August 2014

Why We Went to Windsor on a Wet Weekend in Winter

Motorcycles of course.

And it wasn’t supposed to be wet.

After enjoying the Macquarie Towns Classic Motorcycle Rally so much two years ago, and missing out on attending last year, Mick and I made sure we were entered in the Rally this time. Our bike of choice was “Olga” the old BMW outfit.  Another couple also travelled down on Friday and then two other mates travelled across on Saturday morning.

We woke to heavy rain on Saturday morning. Not what was forecast. Our mates travelled down in torrential rain all the way. They decided that they would see if their bikes (they both took their old BSAs) would start first kick. If so, they would ride, if not they would stay on the trailer. They both started. I’m not sure if they were happy about that or not, as it was still raining, although not as heavily.

Poor lonely Olga, with all her friends.

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The morning’s ride took us all around the Windsor area on quiet, windy roads with little traffic. We had absolutely no idea where we were. We eventually called into a little school, where we had a delightful, home cooked morning tea. The weather was still showery, but not too bad. It was quite foggy though.

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We arrived at a little hall for lunch, where the local RFS catered for us and we had a good look at the bikes. By now the sun was shining, and it was turning into a beautiful day.

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Numbers were down on last time we were there, but the weather would have affected things. Like last time, there was a great array of early Japanese bikes. Orange must have been popular in the 70s.

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Kawasaki Z1 900s were common damn things.

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On the other hand, there was very little early stuff. No flat tank bikes at all.

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There were only two sidecars.

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This old BMW seemed to be very well travelled.

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We had the afternoon free, so nanna naps and walks were the order of the day before the presentation dinner at night.

To our delight, “Olga” won best sidecar. Before you get too excited, remember there were a whole two in the class.

One of our mates was the lucky winner of the best bike in the Pre 1939 class. His bike is really lovely and a worthy winner.

As well as each era section we also voted for best American, European, British and Japanese bike, which was new to us. The “King of the Rally” was not on the voting slip – it was allocated by the club officials. We all waited with baited breath for the announcement – “Our mate on his 1938 BSA”. How good is that!!! He was so honoured. Just as well his bike started in the rain. It topped off a really enjoyable weekend.

The others went out again on Sunday morning, but Mick and I opted to spend the day elsewhere. It would have been a lovely day for riding, as the weather was warm and sunny. Such a nice feeling.

We’ll definitely be back next year.

2 comments:

Rachaeldaisy said...

It's great seeing all these vintage bikes. Olga is wonderful with her sidecar. My dad rode Moto Guzzis and when I was little he wanted to sell the car and be a sidecar family. Mum put her practical foot down and said the car had to stay. My brother and I would have loved tripping around in a side car, but looking back it was the right decision, we lived in Ballarat where it's freezing in winter. I really enjoy your travel posts!!

Jenny said...

besides the weather Looks like you had an interesting weekend.