Ride n Ruffit Rally 2018

We started off at the BP Servo at Rockbank at 9am with 7 riders. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing. Our club Captain was the ‘man in charge’ of getting us to the rally. We headed off up the Western Hwy; I don’t think I was even in top gear when we turned off left heading south. Sam did say we wouldn’t stay on the freeway, but we are going in the wrong direction. I thought ‘what the hell?’ I just had to have faith in our Captain. We went via Ballan and Daylesford, stopping at Newstead for morning tea. Here, we met up with two Geelong members who joined us for the remainder of the trip. We stopped at Maldon for fuel and then headed to Llanelly, arriving just in time for lunch. Well done Sam.

On arrival it was clear that many participants had come up the day before. By all accounts an enjoyable night was had by these guys, along with perhaps some having had a couple more refreshments than they may have needed.

We did share the venue this year with the Iron Indian Riders, around 8 or 10 members were there. This worked well, as it was good for the catering side of things and we also had the opportunity to see some great examples of both new and old Indians.

Anyhow, we all enjoyed a great lunch, and once we had digested this we headed across for a short ride to Dunolly where we were left to sight see for a couple of hours. It just happened to be Garage sale day in the town. Not sure if anyone picked up a bargain. We then headed back to camp where everyone could enjoy the afternoon sun shine, a few refreshments and one and others company until dinner.

Once again, a great feed for dinner which was followed by a talk from Steve Barnham (BHMCC member) on the history of the local area in the gold rush time. Thank you Steve.

Then it was time for the awards to be sorted and handed out. This was a very informal process.

Longest distance travelled: Brian Shelton, Oldest combined bike & rider: Phil Pilgram, Youngest rider: Ron Study, Hard Luck award: Mick Boocock and the Encouragement award: Louis Helbig.

All that being done, people then went on to either retire for the day or spin some more yarns over a few drinks.

Sunday morning, breakfast was had by everyone and at 10am we set off for a 80 km ride of the local area taking in a stop at the Melville caves and lookout, then on to Inglewood for a refuel and then back to camp for more food. Once lunch was done people started to head home.

A BIG BIG thank you must go to Pam, Rex and the team from the BHMCC for the “as usual’ fantastic catering of the rally. I am sure all the participants would have to agree. Not sure which is better though, the catering or the warm welcome we always get going to this rally. A big thank you must also go to all the marshals for the two days. You guys have a great system with those red flags.

Rob van Lohuizen