OzSTOC National Rally Ride 2014 - Pt 5

I may be biased, but there is a special sense of belonging or, being around friends that accompanies one's presence at an OzSTOC event. The magnitude of this increases when you are present at an OzSTOC National Rally!

If you've attended an OzSTOC RTE, you know what I mean. EVERYONE is your mate, and EVERYONE has great stories to share of getting to the event, and/or the lead up to it.

Having arrived a little later than planned - due to somewhat inclement conditions, I hurried over to the first event of the Rally - the meet 'n greet.

For me, it is a fantastic experience of greeting old friends from around the country, putting faces to forum monikas - y'know "Oh yeah! You're HIM! Cool!", and of course, enjoying all the new surprises to the family group that you weren't expecting.

Anyway, as merchandise and Rally packs were being handed out, and nibblies and drinks were enjoyed, and acquaintances were being made and re-made, our fantastic roasted meals arrived from the caterers.
The general consensus was that it was wonderful!

No pics this night as I was mingling up to the point of heading off to bed. I was sharing a cabin with the venerable 'Biggles', and the immortal 'Saaz', so I hads to be on me guard! I'll never forget looking over at Biggles' meticulously, fastidiously and persnickety prepared boudoir, and then up at Saaz's ramshackle, disheveled and slipshod digs. Seemed like a classic private and public school boy melting pot! Marvellous!


Charged the bluetooth thingies, made a coffee, hit the sack. Saaz was a noticeable absentee - obviously out partying again.
Here's a funny little anecdote to accompany this day's pics....

National Rally Ride Day...

Below is Beatup (IanB). The Club's official photographer. (Thanks mate). The guy whose work so many of you appreciate when looking at National Rally pics and certain State RTEs...

On the morning of this year's Rally Ride, we agreed that Beatup would jump on the back of my bike (STella) and take the pics, as it would be a much better result than him trying to manage riding his own bike and setup the photos etc.

We told the group that we would be annoying them all day by buzzing in and out of traffic, be stopped on the side of the road as they went by, and generally ordering them around all day to make for better photo content. This was OK by everyone.

During the OzSTOC National Rally Ride, we got some great pics and video - but probably most memorable was possibly the OzSTOC "Quote of the Rally"...

I had left the top box off STella so Beatup had no backrest, and I was quite a way behind the pack after the last photo shoot, so decided to close the gap a little... I said "hang on" and let 2nd gear wind waaaaay waaaay out before snapping 3rd and instantly returning the throttle to the stop at the end of its travel.  I can't repeat the words that came over the comms, but lets just say I got a nice little 'cuddle' from the bloke on the back.     

His great quote was not long after that.... he said "I can't take any more pics! My sphincter won't let me!"...     

From then on, if I wanted another little cuddle - I just had to let the revs get above 4,000!      

Good onya mate.

Special mention must go the lovely Megan and Ben who rode this scooter and Ben's ST13 Pan down from the Atherton Tablelands in tropical Far North Queensland to be here. I believe Megan (pictured) was on her L plates when they left. Great effort guys - nice to meet you.

 Below are a few candid shots of OzSTOC Members on the Rally Ride....

 A photo op stop at Kryal Castle showed us how the Club has grown....

OzSTOC Member Ben (Me_3) gave me permission to use his fine panoramic picture of the group - you can see what a fantastic backdrop the Castle made - well done to the organisers Marcus and Dan - and thanks again Ben...

 Lunch was to be held at the Blackwood Hotel in this beautiful Victorian countryside - reputedly one of Australia's most haunted pubs. I can see why - look at the scary humanoid beings below....

Fact is - we had a ball. The food was fantastic and the serving sizes were immense! We had organised a couple of  suppliers to showcase some of their wares and products informally to Members as we gathered at the Pub. One of which was Mark from Zen Motorcycle Gear who offered Members some amazing show specials with his finely crafted Zen line of gear - many were very impressed - thanks Mark.

Another supplier who jumped on board was CFMoto - a Chinese company looking to expand their sales in Australia by offering a competitively priced 650cc alternative to the main players. Have a look below at the streetfighter version

 And the touring version...   I took this one for a lap around the local roads and have to admit being impressed by the appointments and quality of this bike. We were calling her the 'mini ST', as there are some obvious similarities, and many items that we like to see on bikes after owning and touring on Pans. They have really done their homework on this one. As they no longer make the Pan European ST11 or 1300s, and as Members get a little older, bikes like this may well attract our business as they are much lighter for one, and brand new at $AUD8,600 ride away, so they will enjoy factory support and upgrades/improvements for a while yet. I loved zipping around the winding roads on this bike - a lot of fun, and noticably lighter than STella. (A lot less power too).

 The weather held out for us well enough and we had a fantastic long stop in Blackwood - long enough for more socialising and shooting the breeze.

 Above: Poor Wombat from W.A. told me how everytime I was taking pics of the group, and he went past, I'd miss him out - so he got a special pic with me at lunch. In the background, you can see an immature Streak successfully photo-bombing us! I don't say anything.At least HE feels special, and THAT is what counts.   

We continued on for the remainder of the ride through lovely towns like Hepburn Springs, Daylesford and Creswick before hitting Ballarat again and settling in to our Tourist Park for a couple of quiet ones before getting ready for the Official Rally Dinner.....

 Daniel had kindly offered to drive a 22 seater Coaster bus to ferry us to the Club where dinner was being held.    

They didn't know it at the time, but all the good, honest and decent Members had already been delivered safely. What was left was this rag-tag bunch of rambunctious mis-fits - and it was MY job to keep them under control until we got to our dinner venue! Boy! Talk about "To Sir With Love". I did a great job with them because when we arrived and alighted from the bus, they seemed quite respectable, well mannered, and even angelic.  *cough cough* (Everyone loves group bus trips)!  

Our Annual Dinner is also an opportunity to talk to Members about where the Club is heading, what we've loved doing over the past year, and any other business worthy of heralding at such an event. I have no pics of the Dinner venue as I was out the front for most of it sharing the MC duties with Streak as part of my role at OzSTOC. We were initially entertained by a very interesting local public speaker who informed us quite well about the gold rush days in Ballarat during the 1850s while we ate. A real eye opener, and a fantastic history lesson to boot.

Then it was Streak's and my turn to address the Members, and we started off with the sombre, yet privileged task of toasting one of our great and respected Members Brad (BlueHonda) who prematurely passed away this year. A lovely moment for his memory.

Then came the thanks to all the organisers, the Members, their beloved pillions, our trophy sponsors and all other parties who deserved public gratitude for their good deeds for the Club. After this, it was OzSTOC Awards time and presentation of Trophies for 'Farthest Travelled' (to get to the National Rally), Silliest/Funniest Moment, Most Charismatic ST, Best Presented ST and OzSTOC Member Of The Year - all worthy recipients. Europeans may not understand that the winner of the 'Farthest Travelled' (Gavo) covered an amazing 4,700kms just to get there!        Lucky he was riding a Pan European! We also get the winner from last year of 'Best Presented ST' to covertly walk around and choose the new winner for this year - a very difficult choice - as was Member Of The Year - where so many people are deserving of this fantastic award.

A few more items of business, and then Streak's and my announcement that we will be stepping down from our 'up front' roles of OzSTOC. We stated that we were very proud of where the Club had come from, where it is now, and how bright its future seems. We are definitely handing the reigns over to the new team in a very strong position with all sorts of records being set for Member participation, supplier discounts and alliances, merchandise, ride calendars for each state, forum activity and enthusiasm, and even the perceived level of appreciation of the Club's family members - you all.

I am humbled by the quality of people in this Club, continuously bowled over by how friendly and willing to participate in this Club you all are. Also a little proud to have been integral in getting ST Owners from all over, to start riding them to meet other ST Owners as a friendly group. I still have an email that states my elation at achieving 50 Members. What an evolution to see National strategies and many International friends enjoying all that is put before them. Quite humbling to see OzSTOC in this age of National and State by State meets, heading towards 700 active Members, and having so many new friends around the country, and indeed the world, all enjoying this ilk.

Of course - OzSTOC has enjoyed the input of many, many people (too numerous to mention), that have contributed to the success - (I just started putting ST owners/riders together). My extremely good friend and partner in crime Streak can be counted as an AWESOME driving force in also motivating OzSTOC Members, suppliers, sponsors, publicity and merchandising for OzSTOC. You all know the effort he has put in over the years and would probably join me in thanking him for such an input - OzSTOC wouldn't be anywhere near the success it is without you mate - Thanks a trillion!   

We'll still be active Members, and help out from time to time, but one thing is sure... we are extremely happy, proud and confident of the new team that will be steering the good ship OzSTOC from June on.

OzSTOC Member Of The Year - Chris (ST2UP), his lovely wife Jean (Pocket Stocker), Saaz, Brock and Whizz are now the guardians of OzSTOC (from June 2014). Much of this team remains unchanged from the fantastic Admin support Streak and I enjoyed from Jean Saaz, Brock and Whizz, but Chris' dynamic personality and unquestionable support for the orange and black colours of OzSTOC will ensure a forward moving, positive and initiative-filled direction for this wonderful Club.

A huge thanks to Pockey, Saaz, Brock and Whizz for all your 'behind the scenes' support and initiatives as well - thanks a trillion.    

Phew!

Anyways - a fantastic night, fantastic food, and even better company. I'm fairly confident a great night was had by all.

To be continued....

OzSTOC National Rally Ride 2014 - Pt 4

After the campsite pack-up (we are getting better at this the more we do it), we set our sights on Bright, Myrtleford, Beechworth (and the famous bakery there for brekky).

This involves a fantastic little ride over the range and plenty of twisty, winding roads to do it on.

At the top of the range is a great little lookout to take in the sights - and that's exactly what I let STella do...

Anyways - motoring on towards Myrtleford - I said to Growly "Wow - did you just notice the temperature rise then?" And it literally rose at least 2 degrees! Wouldn't you know it - 15 seconds later we motored past the town sign of 'Ovens'. I kid you not! Oh how we laughed and laughed.   

Anyways - pulled up in Beechworth for brekky where we had made loose plans to meet Ian and Helen.

 The food kept going waaay left of this pic on multi levels, and all this in a2 storey shop. A 2 storey bakery??? Wow! As I was judiciously pontificating over what culinary delights would be mine... I heard a deep, dark, Darth Vader type voice behind me say "Oi!" It was JustPete  - another fine OzSTOC Member at the same place at the same time! He joined our table and a good time (as they say) was had by all.... (especially after a couple of Beestings that Growly shouted)!...

 A friendly and somewhat talkative chap rolled up on this contraption. He took a great interest in our bikes, and particularly Growly's Trike - must be because the seating position is the same!

Time to motor again as there were still a few coffees to be had this day!

Stopped at roadworks just out of Beechworth...

 You can see Helen and Ian behind the trike in the above pic.

Here is a better view - taken on the freeway of them on their nice new Beemer, just before we turned off for Glenrowan - home of the famous Bush Ranger Ned Kelly and the Kelly Gang's 'Last Stand'.

And this is Pete on his lovely '04 St1300 Pan European

 Another Pub stop for Growly and myself. But this one was for historical purposes, NOT medicinal!

And here is me telling Ned not to leave me hangin' (on a high 5)! Seemed armless enough.


Growly stopped in for some souvenirs, then we continued our journey to Shepparton, Bendigo, Castlemaine, Daylesford, and finally Ballarat to meet up with the OzSTOC gang.

There were cloudbursts and rain around us most of the day, and we seemd to be threading the needle between them quite well.....

 A comfort stop in Shepparton saw us pull up next to Pete again...

 A snazzy piece of parking by Growly...

Above, you can see Growly got scared and went for the 'wets' when we took off again. This worked out extremely well, because, as soon as he put them on and started riding, the sun came out, the birds were singing and we were all happy - except for the gent on the trike who was hitting 40 plus degrees!      

Anyway - he loves that kind of thing. So we pressed on through Bendigo towards our goal.

Something incredible happened in the last 40km of our ride - apart from meeting Joe "OlGeezer" in traffic on the way there. He had come all the way from the US and is a member of our American counterpart's forum STOwners.com. He was joining us at the OzSTOC Rally - great effort!

Anyway - 40kms out of Ballarat, it was 26*C and lovely. This was about to change rapidly. I kept updating Growly over the headset as to the current outside temp - 24, 22, 19, 16, 14! At 12*C (7kms out), we pulled over to put on warms and wets (coincidentally behind Ian and Helen again), and the weather was disgusting! That big black bit of sky was right over Ballarat, and it was blowing cold, howling rainy wind!

It stopped raining just as we rolled in the gates and got our cabins sorted and unpacked - just in time to go to the meet and greet - but still quite cold (for a Queenslander anyways).....  To be continued....

OzSTOC National Rally Ride 2014 - Pt 3

Amazing the power of a hot shower to start the day - (a berocca and 2 vitamin C's as well) - just kidding.

The aptly named "Church" Street opposite the van park we stayed at had a church of just about every denomination in it - here is the Catholic one (St Joseph's).....


Got some 'motion lotion' as we left - Growly was looking for fuel around every 400kms - not bad really for the trailer allowance.

Then we headed out for the day. Good friend and fellow OzSTOC Member Tony from West Wyalong suggested we do the Adelong-Batlow-Tumbarumba-Corryong route instead of the highway to our destination for the night of Mt Beauty - so we did! Thanks mate - a highlight of the trip for me. The 50 kms either side of Batlow contain some of the the BEST touring roads in this country - TRY IT!...


Had a coffee in the beautiful little township of Adelong, before heading to the gorgeous Batlow....

You can see how prolific the fruit is in the above shot.

Here is another fruit!

In the above pic - these nets went for acres! I'm sure you could see them from space!

Thought so!

A VITAL stop in Tumbarumba - this time at the bakery for a Mexican Pie.

We then rode along the top of the ridge for a while as the countryside changed yet again, and then dropped down into the Murray Basin area of Tintaldra and Corryong - crossed the State border into Vic along here too. Here is what it looked like...

We swapped machines around here for some kms as the road was open and the view was stupendous, and the traffic was light. It is quite an experience, riding/driving/controlling the Trike as you have a motorcycle throttle, a car-type clutch pedal, a car type pedal brake - i.e. no brake on the handle bar, and a H-pattern 4 speed gear stick protruding out from UNDER your left thigh - quite an amazing experience. Growly once told me "Be careful - it looks like a bike out the front, but you have two huge outrigger wheels to allow for!" Also - it doesn't lean into corners, and if you're over zealous with the throttle and clutch - the front wheel comes straight up off the ground!  Hmmm... Still - I had a ball on it!

Another fuel stop at Tallangatta, and I told Growly we were stopping at the famous pub in Yackandandah where they filmed the Paul Hogan and Michael Caton movie "Strange Bedfellows". So we had to stop for a beer there....

 A beautiful little borough is Yackandandah! After downing 11 kegs between us, we thought it better to move along!

Last 60 clicks for the day now, and we head down the valley to the foothills of the high country around Bright, Victoria. Our destination is Mt Beauty Holiday Park. Have a look at the valley scenery. You can see the leafless trees on the higher mountains that usually get covered with snow in the colder months.... we are surely heading into Alpine country now!...

We stopped in the township and grabbed a few more groceries, and headed back to set up camp by a beautiful little brook. On the way in, another friend and OzSTOC Member - IanB heard the familiar whirring of a ST1300 Pan European go past his cabin, and wandered down to greet us. We had not planned to meet up. Coincidentally, Ian lives 35 mins from me back in Queensland - both a long way from home, but amongst friends... He was instantly roped in for a 'selfie'...

Ian and his lovely wife Helen joined us for some social intercourse just before dinner...

 Speaking of dinner... the maniac in the above pic thought it would be a great idea to buy some tins of 'Fully Loaded Chunky Chili Beef'!   

There are some things one just mustn't do whilst road tripping!    

PLUS! There was rhodomontade and thrasonical bombast about my can of food being burnt! - Ludicrous and wild presumption there! It was fine!


A gorgeous campsite with super-fresh air.

It was lovely to sleep beside the creek and hear the constant sound of fresh, flowing water...

I woke up a lot fresher for some reason. Tomorrow is the day we arrive at the Rally - looking forward to it.