Motorcycle Annual Rally 2022

Saturday 26th November was the day of the Annual Motorcycle rally, starting at the social corner of Cutler Park. Although rain was forecast, and we all packed our wet weather gear, the day was surprisingly warm. I think I counted 17 British bikes (mostly Triumphs and a few BSAs), 8 Japanese (Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha), 2 German (BMWs), an Austrian (Puch) and an American (a Harley trike), in a range of years from veteran to 1991. It was fantastic to have some out of town entries including 2 bikes from Ashburton and one from Reefton!

We started with the time section and the rally took us through back roads to Tai Tapu, Hornby and Templeton to Burnham (although a few of us found ourselves in Lincoln, oops!)

The long route had some wonderful views from the summit road I hear. And what an amazing lunch stop we had at club member Terry's home. The ultimate man cave, big enough for many cars, bikes, a cinema, 50's diner, bar, and cabinets and shelves full to the brim of all manner of historic and interesting knick-knacks. The field tests were innovative, getting tennis balls in targets, negotiating a tree, all while taking the twist-top off a bottle of beer. Always some new challenge to master from the organisers, although some people seemed to manage the beer opening with some style... maybe they had some practice??

We made our own way home from here, in my case just getting the back wheel in the shed before a downpour. Then met again in the evening for a delicious bring a plate BBQ dinner back at social corner.

Thank you to the volunteers who organised this wonderful event, I'm sure everyone enjoyed it.

Linda White