Cup Day ‘Weekend’, Towong and Parts Beyond

Ben Warden	Honda Fireblade 954	Tony Raditsis	Yamaha TRX850
Paul Southwell	Honda Fireblade 1000	Stoimen Stojanov	Yamaha R1
Ian Payne	Honda Fireblade 1000	Ron Johnston	Suzuki Bandit 1200
Ern Reeders	Honda Fireblade 954	Cliff Peters	Suzuki GSXR1000
Dave Ward	MV Augusta 750 Brutale

My work was piling up and leaving me stale and tired. The Cup Day ‘long weekend’ was coming up and kept me going. Great roads, great company, great accommodation and plenty of bullsh*tting.

Last year’s ride was humid and at some points we were stopping every 20 mins to wipe the black bugs off our visors. It was hard to imagine a repeat of that, and we didn’t get it – one silver lining to that barren black cloud. We got four days of immaculate weather, clean roads and over a couple of thousand k’s of great sport-touring. There were no crashes, no flat tyres, no demerit points. Now for the highlights:

… a superb barbeque dinner provided by Ron and Sarah at the cottages, savoured while the sun set over the Upper Murray Valley. An almost perfect set of curves through the snowgums between Adaminaby and Kiandra – grippy road, yellow shoulder lines and radiuses like a clock hand; set your speed and roll around the bends like a hula hoop. Or the wide well-surfaced roads courteously provided by the NSW government for logging trucks and unwrapped turn by turn like a Xmas present by out-of-state two-wheelers. Perhaps best of all, on the road north from Jingellic where at one point you crest a rise and there, laid out before you, running into a shallow valley, is a series of fast sweepers and straights with good sightlines, and your bike screams out for a bit of dynamic decoking. On this the R1 took out the TT trophy with Stoimen discovering that the speedo and the tacho can get out of sync at some point.

But there were some moments too. A couple of members thought it prudent to refuel at Albury rather than Tallangatta on the way back. And we had to weather some frowns from riders of another club who resented being overtaken while they were dreaming. Country cafes are not good at serving seven breakfasts at a time, though we did help one by all ordering the same thing. The pub in the centre of Corryong had real trouble when most of the bistro seats were occupied by folk wanting food, on a Saturday night.

Some other country experiences…

Sarah kindly booked us in for dinner at the Corryong Hotel on the Sunday night. We rocked up and found a table reserved for Binwarden. Club Sec. is now also known as Osama.

And when was the last time you asked for a glass of white in a pub and got asked ‘sweet or dry’?

Folk of all ages stop to check out your bike and chat. Kids wave as you go past. Lordy, when I first started riding (on a 175cc two-stroke trail bike) you got treated like a mother-raping, father-raping, murdering Hells Angel. And it ain’t just because of my grey hair cos it happens even while the helmet is on.

I guess it’s now mainly middle-aged blokes who ride, and it’s also that we’re replacing sheep as a source of income for marginal country towns. (But in ‘old economy’ terms I’m doing my bit with a sheepskin seat cover; I need to speak to Cliff about fly-strike).

So one TT trophy has been awarded. The rest go to… (on the podium now boys and leave off spraying the champers around; that’s for drinking later on!)

First and foremost, Ben, for organising, negotiating and leading the ride, and for powering ahead like he was on amyl nitrate when there was gravel on the road (how does he do that??!).

Cliff, for good humour and fast punting while also having to clench his cheeks

Tony, for bouncing back from the last off and for his adventurous lines on the Alpine way; also for tail rider duties

Paul, for boyish good looks and some seriously skilled riding (poss. the two are linked)

Ronnie, for punting a beast fast and keeping it going this time ;-}

Dave Ward and Ian Payne for getting the most out of their freedom by riding with us for the first day

Ern Reeders