Those of you who have been paying attention will remember that the annual Warragul Rally was postponed from its usual February time slot because of the devastating bush fires that had burned large areas of Victoria, and in particular around Warragul itself, a couple of weeks earlier.

The organising family has run the rally from their farm every year for 20 years so there was no thought of cancelling the 21st event – just a matter of when it could be run. Queens Birthday weekend was chosen for no better reason than it fitted into the calendar of events and suited the organisers.

Running it this particular weekend has advantages – it’s a long weekend, so there is no real hurry to get home and unpacked on Sunday evening, and there are NO FLIES at the farm. It has a few disadvantages as well – such as paying holiday rates for accommodation, with Caravan Parks etc full, making it hard to find a bed. It is also a touch colder than normal. I was going to say a touch wetter as well, but we have been thoroughly soaked on the last few Warragul runs in February!

Of course it also means that some people have other plans so can’t get to the rally, and that others expect it to be too cold. So we weren’t expecting quite as many bikes as we have had in recent years.

A respectable 12 bikes showed up for the Saturday afternoon run. The weather was fine and relatively warm, with no wind – perfect riding weather. Evan lead off, first heading north to the other side of the Highway into rolling countryside with fine views, green fields and little or no traffic. There was plenty of evidence of the recent fires, with burnt out areas of bush sprouting new growth from all over their trunks. Much of it was very close to houses, and we got a good idea of how frightening it must have been for so many people to have the fires so close to home.

We ambled around the area enjoying the ride with a number of regroup stops. Lovely riding countryside with nothing dramatic happening. No breakdowns, nobody ran out of fuel, nobody left behind, nobody got lost – UNTIL -

After what was possibly the last regroup for the day Evan headed off and immediately turned left at an intersection. Half the riders started immediately after Evan and also turned left, but no one stopped and marshalled the corner.

The other half of the riders started shortly after, but saw no sign of the other bikes, and no marshal, so went straight ahead. Fortunately the follow up cars noticed what had happened, so they split and each followed a group. Both groups made it back to the farm OK, but one got back half an hour earlier, having covered some 15km less.

This happens on rallies at least once every year so riders MUST take responsibility and stop on a corner if there is no corner marshal and there is

ANY chance of confusion, even if the Rally Leader hasn’t pointed to someone telling them to stop. Please don’t just assume someone else will do it!!

Starting this year the Saturday evening meal is no longer held at the farm, as catering for the usual numbers is getting too difficult for the organisers. Last year the people from The Daisy Patch (just along the road and round the corner from the farm) catered for the meal in the farm shed, but this year we ate at the Daisy Patch itself.

A nice meal, comfortable surroundings, good company and pleasant conversation – what else could we ask for?

Sunday dawned overcast and dry, but it wasn’t to last. At about 7:15 am the rain started falling gently and it steadily got heavier until it was raining quite hard by 9 when we were meant to head off. We were down to only nine riders, as one person was only there for Saturday, and others obviously didn’t have waterproof bikes.

We headed south then east and went up into the clouds and along Grandview ridge. This is a lovely ride on a fine day, but a bit treacherous in the wet with all of the tight bends. Fortunately no one came to grief, but the dirt road (or should that be mud road) into and out of the Mount Worth lookout was very slippery. I have a new Avon Roadmaster tyre on the front wheel of the 28 RE and it stepped sideways a couple of times. There was a bit of dirt road further on the main road which was fortunately in much better and drier condition, but there was a 20 metre stretch of fresh deep gravel at some road works just to keep everyone on their toes.

By the time we got to Mirboo North the rain had nearly stopped, and we just had light showers the rest of the day. A few people had a cup of coffee to warm up, and then we headed to Evan’s Auntie Joan’s place for lunch with a short detour into a badly fire affected area near the town. Seeing the extent of the fires so close to the township and to houses in the bush really brought home how close it was to wiping everything out. All along the road from Mirboo North to the lunch stop near Thorpedale we saw plenty of burnt trees and forest.

The family had a hot meal prepared for us this year instead of the usual Sunday sandwiches – very welcome as we were all a little damp and cool at this stage. A gas outdoor heater got a fair bit of attention with gloves sitting on top of it drying out, and riders gathered around it.

After lunch we returned via the big hill into Trafalgar, along beside the highway to Yarragon, and then the usual back roads to the farm.

Overall a very enjoyable rally. Not as cold as it could have been, and not as wet as we have been sometimes when the run was held in February. No one on the back up trailer, and Evan didn’t run out of petrol. Many thanks to the Manintvelds for organising the rally and catering for us at Sunday lunch, and thanks to the backup drivers who as always did a sterling job.

1914 Matchless                         1916 Harley Davidson

1919 Triumph                            1924 Monopole

1924 Indian     `                         1924 Douglas

1926 Indian                               1928 Royal Enfield

1929 Velocette                          1930 Scott

1930 Norton                              1930 Scott