penguineer
just luscious
This is a short write-up of the Darkside Riders Rats @r$e rally, originally to be held at Kalbar and moved several times at the last minute due to problems outside the organisers control.
Originally the rally was to be held at Kalbar(just a short distance from Harrisville), but due to last minute issues with the Karbar Show Society the rally was moved to the Royal Hotel at Harrisville. Things looked to be back on track until the local senior member of the constabulary decided that he didn't want any of these dangerous bikie types and their violent ways in his town. So the rally(now a private party) moved up the road a short way to a cow paddock. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind running the rally out of town was, but the best I can say is that it was......flawed.
I'm sure that the uncertainty over where the rally was and wether it would actually be occurring had an effect on attendance.
For what it's worth, I understand that Darkside Riders are a group of riders that left the Gold Coast branch of another large national motorcycling club(composed largely of retirees or near-retirees) in order to concentrate on riding motorcycles, tripping around the country and generally having fun. As far as I know "Darkside" has nothing to do with CT fitments, living in the shadows of society, being spawn of the dark gods or anything else other than a cool name.
I was going to meet up with a group of Kawasaki fanciers from the AKRON forum.
To get to the rally I did a milk run down the Goat Track from Mount Tamborine, stopped at Canungra foodworks for fuel and a tin of chunky stew(as we weren't sure on the food situation), then headed back up to Tamborine Village, west to Beaudesert, Boonah, Fassifern, then up the Cunningham highway to Warril View and then into the town of Harrisville.
The road to the rally site turned to dirt and then a recently mowed cow-path to the gate (pic later). This was a little...surprising...when I arrived in the dark at 7pm(I like riding at night).....
It was quite easy to find the guys in the circle of hay bales near the bar and we had a good bit of a chinwag while music played and the night chill rolled in. Come to think of it, this is the first rally I've been to that had a mobile coffee van capable of doing Belgian waffles with strawberry or banana and hideous amounts of cream! I've found the first night of a rally is usually a bit more easy-going and this was no exception with the music stopping when the generators ran out of fuel and everyone making their way to bed.
Well - it was chilly, down to single digits, but the morning light filtering through the mist rising from the nearby dam was spectacular! I didn't think to take a photo of it, but I did this one looking back towards town:
On the hill in the background you can just see the winery(about 1km away) that was preparing for a wedding reception......apparently while the "sherrif of Harrisville" was assuring the winery that he would "sort the bikies out" if we made too much noise, the wedding party was arranging for a photo shoot with some of the bikes down at the pub.
After Adrian and I had demonstrated our roadside coffee-making skills to an appreciative audience of taste-testers we went looking for an eagles nest we had heard was nearby....after walking halfway around the dam we spotted it on the other side - so had to retrace our steps.......
Even unoccupied it was impressive:
Although we didn't see any signs of recent activity we did find some leftovers from the eagles lunch - fragments of bird bones and turtle shell:
Sometimes you just have to look closer at nature to see interesting things...take this tree stump:
...but with a closer view it reveals an amazing texture where the wood has been reshaped by the elements:
We returned to the campsite with a few items to enhance the decor:
Bruce was busy preparing his baby for the show and shine competition:
Before he'd finished polishing the bike had attracted admirers asking to get their photo taken with it!
Entries in the show and shine were called and bikes started to line up:
The spectacular blue Norton in the front was to take the "Best in Show" award.
Even this early it was apparent that Brucies Z900 was in a class of its' own:
The show and shine judging and rally games were soon to commence so I took a short ride around the area to get the lay of the land while I had the chance - I hadn't really considered what lay between the Mt Lindsey and Cunningham highways. I need to get out more.
As I had come into Harrisville from Warrill View(to the west) I headed east towards Peak crossing and found a small reminder that this area was not always off the beaten track:
This pump was one of the wells between Brisbane and Warwick(via Cunninghams Gap) that travellers would use to water their horses and cattle - this was originally the main road!
On my way back through Harrisville I stopped for an orange juice and a quick look around.
Looking east:
West:
(the road to the rally site goes to the right of the pub visible at the end of the street)
The old bank building:
I had to stop at the turnoff to the winery to allow a car past - you can see it just about where the gate is in this piccie:
Leisure Riders - organisers and hosts of the annual Imbil rally - had arrived and staked their claim:
Now I had a chance to look at the bikes on display and muse on the ways that we make our rides special.......
Sometimes we need to stand out:
Sometimes we blend into the shadows:
Sometimes it's custom artwork:
And sometimes it's just the small details:
This Cagiva had a nice paintjob:
And I thought this Kwaka Vulcan looked good:
Does anyone know if placing a troll so close to goblin bell is going to work?
The camping area was starting to fill up as more riders arrived:
Eventually the judges had completed their rounds, and awards were made for the machinery on display.....
Bruce managed to walk away with "Best Japanese" and "Peoples' Choice"(with over 60% of the votes!)
A happy man and a very nice bike:
The rally games commenced with the usuals - slow race, barrel race and tyre toss.
For those that don't know:
- slow race involves riding within a lane without putting your feet down(disqualified), last rider across the line wins.
- barrel race involves pushing a beer keg along your lane(leaving the lane means disqualification) with the front tyre of the bike(you can walk the bike if you want).
I entered in the slow race and barrel race(my first time in any gymkhana events) and didn't get too far.....I hit a bump in the slow race and put my foot down, and just didn't have good control of the barrel.....maybe next time!
Tyre toss is self explanatory(piccie of the womens event) - I think womens event uses a front tyre and mens uses a rear:
The Frozen T-Shirt race was a new one on me - a t-shirt is frozen into a block of ise and a team of three work to be the first to break it out and put the t-shirt onto one of the team members. In this case tools were allowed so small hatchets, hammers and other camping tools were hastily obtained and applied with gusto:
(the team on the right were the eventual winners)
Waterbomb tossing involves a team of two throwing a water balloon back and forth, taking a step back after each successful throw.
Bicycle jousting.......
What more can I say - just put your opponent on the ground.....
Some just can't accept the refs decision easily and need to take things further:
(the poles are cardboard tubes)
I guess I just wasn't hardcore enough(or had a bit too much sun) and missed the Tug-o-war and childrens events(egg and spoon, sack and three legged races).
While awards were presented, dinner served and beers consumed entries in the raffles were drawn.
Lisa scored a Joe Rocket Kawasaki Racing jacket that she graciously allowed Bruce to try on(after her manager had extracted a modest consideration):
There was a small wet t-shirt competition - all of the participants deserved a prize for braving the night chills - and thankfully only one entrant in the man-boobs competition(I had attempted to organise a 10 minute warning so I could be elsewhere).
As the band rocked on into the night there was varied discourse, dancing and tom foolery with friends old and new:
Sunday gave us another spectacular sunrise:
Unfortunately the real world awaited with a first birthday party, so after packing my gear, brewing a few coffees and hurried goodbyes I had to depart, pausing at the pub for one last look back down the road
After that it was basically a milk run home back the way I came.....
Man thanks to the Darkside Riders for hosting and organising the rally and their supporters and sponsors for helping it happen.
I reckon numbers were a fraction of what they could have been without the various disruptions, but they managed to put a decent event on at short notice and I would have no hesitation going again!
I hope to see you there next year!
Cheers!
Originally the rally was to be held at Kalbar(just a short distance from Harrisville), but due to last minute issues with the Karbar Show Society the rally was moved to the Royal Hotel at Harrisville. Things looked to be back on track until the local senior member of the constabulary decided that he didn't want any of these dangerous bikie types and their violent ways in his town. So the rally(now a private party) moved up the road a short way to a cow paddock. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind running the rally out of town was, but the best I can say is that it was......flawed.
I'm sure that the uncertainty over where the rally was and wether it would actually be occurring had an effect on attendance.
For what it's worth, I understand that Darkside Riders are a group of riders that left the Gold Coast branch of another large national motorcycling club(composed largely of retirees or near-retirees) in order to concentrate on riding motorcycles, tripping around the country and generally having fun. As far as I know "Darkside" has nothing to do with CT fitments, living in the shadows of society, being spawn of the dark gods or anything else other than a cool name.
I was going to meet up with a group of Kawasaki fanciers from the AKRON forum.
To get to the rally I did a milk run down the Goat Track from Mount Tamborine, stopped at Canungra foodworks for fuel and a tin of chunky stew(as we weren't sure on the food situation), then headed back up to Tamborine Village, west to Beaudesert, Boonah, Fassifern, then up the Cunningham highway to Warril View and then into the town of Harrisville.
The road to the rally site turned to dirt and then a recently mowed cow-path to the gate (pic later). This was a little...surprising...when I arrived in the dark at 7pm(I like riding at night).....
It was quite easy to find the guys in the circle of hay bales near the bar and we had a good bit of a chinwag while music played and the night chill rolled in. Come to think of it, this is the first rally I've been to that had a mobile coffee van capable of doing Belgian waffles with strawberry or banana and hideous amounts of cream! I've found the first night of a rally is usually a bit more easy-going and this was no exception with the music stopping when the generators ran out of fuel and everyone making their way to bed.
Well - it was chilly, down to single digits, but the morning light filtering through the mist rising from the nearby dam was spectacular! I didn't think to take a photo of it, but I did this one looking back towards town:
On the hill in the background you can just see the winery(about 1km away) that was preparing for a wedding reception......apparently while the "sherrif of Harrisville" was assuring the winery that he would "sort the bikies out" if we made too much noise, the wedding party was arranging for a photo shoot with some of the bikes down at the pub.
After Adrian and I had demonstrated our roadside coffee-making skills to an appreciative audience of taste-testers we went looking for an eagles nest we had heard was nearby....after walking halfway around the dam we spotted it on the other side - so had to retrace our steps.......
Even unoccupied it was impressive:
Although we didn't see any signs of recent activity we did find some leftovers from the eagles lunch - fragments of bird bones and turtle shell:
Sometimes you just have to look closer at nature to see interesting things...take this tree stump:
...but with a closer view it reveals an amazing texture where the wood has been reshaped by the elements:
We returned to the campsite with a few items to enhance the decor:
Bruce was busy preparing his baby for the show and shine competition:
Before he'd finished polishing the bike had attracted admirers asking to get their photo taken with it!
Entries in the show and shine were called and bikes started to line up:
The spectacular blue Norton in the front was to take the "Best in Show" award.
Even this early it was apparent that Brucies Z900 was in a class of its' own:
The show and shine judging and rally games were soon to commence so I took a short ride around the area to get the lay of the land while I had the chance - I hadn't really considered what lay between the Mt Lindsey and Cunningham highways. I need to get out more.
As I had come into Harrisville from Warrill View(to the west) I headed east towards Peak crossing and found a small reminder that this area was not always off the beaten track:
This pump was one of the wells between Brisbane and Warwick(via Cunninghams Gap) that travellers would use to water their horses and cattle - this was originally the main road!
On my way back through Harrisville I stopped for an orange juice and a quick look around.
Looking east:
West:
(the road to the rally site goes to the right of the pub visible at the end of the street)
The old bank building:
I had to stop at the turnoff to the winery to allow a car past - you can see it just about where the gate is in this piccie:
Leisure Riders - organisers and hosts of the annual Imbil rally - had arrived and staked their claim:
Now I had a chance to look at the bikes on display and muse on the ways that we make our rides special.......
Sometimes we need to stand out:
Sometimes we blend into the shadows:
Sometimes it's custom artwork:
And sometimes it's just the small details:
This Cagiva had a nice paintjob:
And I thought this Kwaka Vulcan looked good:
Does anyone know if placing a troll so close to goblin bell is going to work?
The camping area was starting to fill up as more riders arrived:
Eventually the judges had completed their rounds, and awards were made for the machinery on display.....
Bruce managed to walk away with "Best Japanese" and "Peoples' Choice"(with over 60% of the votes!)
A happy man and a very nice bike:
The rally games commenced with the usuals - slow race, barrel race and tyre toss.
For those that don't know:
- slow race involves riding within a lane without putting your feet down(disqualified), last rider across the line wins.
- barrel race involves pushing a beer keg along your lane(leaving the lane means disqualification) with the front tyre of the bike(you can walk the bike if you want).
I entered in the slow race and barrel race(my first time in any gymkhana events) and didn't get too far.....I hit a bump in the slow race and put my foot down, and just didn't have good control of the barrel.....maybe next time!
Tyre toss is self explanatory(piccie of the womens event) - I think womens event uses a front tyre and mens uses a rear:
The Frozen T-Shirt race was a new one on me - a t-shirt is frozen into a block of ise and a team of three work to be the first to break it out and put the t-shirt onto one of the team members. In this case tools were allowed so small hatchets, hammers and other camping tools were hastily obtained and applied with gusto:
(the team on the right were the eventual winners)
Waterbomb tossing involves a team of two throwing a water balloon back and forth, taking a step back after each successful throw.
Bicycle jousting.......
What more can I say - just put your opponent on the ground.....
Some just can't accept the refs decision easily and need to take things further:
(the poles are cardboard tubes)
I guess I just wasn't hardcore enough(or had a bit too much sun) and missed the Tug-o-war and childrens events(egg and spoon, sack and three legged races).
While awards were presented, dinner served and beers consumed entries in the raffles were drawn.
Lisa scored a Joe Rocket Kawasaki Racing jacket that she graciously allowed Bruce to try on(after her manager had extracted a modest consideration):
There was a small wet t-shirt competition - all of the participants deserved a prize for braving the night chills - and thankfully only one entrant in the man-boobs competition(I had attempted to organise a 10 minute warning so I could be elsewhere).
As the band rocked on into the night there was varied discourse, dancing and tom foolery with friends old and new:
Sunday gave us another spectacular sunrise:
Unfortunately the real world awaited with a first birthday party, so after packing my gear, brewing a few coffees and hurried goodbyes I had to depart, pausing at the pub for one last look back down the road
After that it was basically a milk run home back the way I came.....
Man thanks to the Darkside Riders for hosting and organising the rally and their supporters and sponsors for helping it happen.
I reckon numbers were a fraction of what they could have been without the various disruptions, but they managed to put a decent event on at short notice and I would have no hesitation going again!
I hope to see you there next year!
Cheers!
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