44
OCTOBER 2021
By Tony Gray, Member #3905
A
pparently we have Hipparchus of Nicaea, the Greek Astronomer from antiquity, to thank for the 24 hour clock. Through his observations of the movement of the moon, sun and stars he divided the day into 24 equinoctial hours, based on the 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness observed on equinox days. In modern times we roughly divide the day into 8 hours for sleep, 8 hours for work and 8 hours for play. However in motorcycling terms the 8 hours reserved for play is never enough so we ‘steal’ a bit from those other areas. So was born the concept for the Sunrise to Sunset ride successfully staged on 4 September.
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK a timed navigation trial. Riders were sent off in pairs every 30 seconds and the field was limited to 120 bikes. The event was complex to plan and run and included a catered lunch along the way. Ron recalls the ladies auxiliaries at Kalbar and Kenilworth Showgrounds being used during the years he managed the event. The planning took up about 9 months of the year and many work hours for the organisers. Despite the logistical imposts the event spanned 3 decades. Remember too that there were no GPS devices in play – I wonder how many of today’s GPS dependent riders would make it to lunch if similar self-navigation rides were to be staged today – don’t worry, I have no intention of putting that little muse to the test.
Leading up to the ride day, Club historian and life member Gary Bennett, reliably informed me that the club had once actively participated in the Ducati Owners Club 6 to 6 ride (a similar concept), such that the BMWMCQ eventually took over the running of the event from the DOCQ. As an owner of an old Ducati Bevel Drive L twin I cannot understand why the DOCQ would have contemplated running an event that required riding in the dark – electrics were never a strong suit for the bikes from Bologna in the 1970s. I consulted another oracle of club history who just so happens to live on a mountain top, Ron Durkin. Fortunately modern electronic devices gave us the means of communication precluding the need for me to ascend the mountain to consult this oracle. There had been a question mark raised by Gary as to whether the 6 to 6 ride was linked to another classic ride of the 70/80’s, the midnight to dawn ride. Peter Ferguson made mention of that event on a recent club FB post but Ron assured me that the two rides were very much separate events even though they were run concurrently for a number of years. Maybe our editors can ‘lean on’ Peter or Darryl Gowlett (also heavily involved) for a story on that particular event – I am sure it must have had many colourful episodes to relate. Let’s get back to Ron’s background to the previous 6 to 6 ride: It was originally staged and planned by a collective of three clubs – the Historical MC Club of Qld, British Singles MC Club and Classic MC Club of Qld. Ron still holds the perpetual trophy bearing the names of those 3 inaugural clubs. The event was picked up and run by the Ducati OCQ and then about 1981 was taken over and run by the BMWMCQ. This was
The 6 to 6 Perpetual Trophy Roll on to the year of 2020 which is best remembered as the year that Covid 19 broke out of China and severely affected the life and livelihood of most Homo sapiens living on this planet. It is also remembered for the severe rain event that washed out our first attempt at a sunrise to sunset ride in July. The Ravensbourne Range claimed another victim. Planning for the 2021 edition, we excluded the Ravensbourne Range from the route (no superstitions here!) and moved it later in the year to early spring. That time of year had the sun duration spanning approx. 12 hours from 5.30 am to 5.30pm. Normally when route planning, we like
