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Start of the pre 75 race
Evo open: Fernando Franco No 41 is off to a good start on his Husky
Paul Irish McCarroll in hot pursuit on his 74 Montessa 250
Rider on one of Fernando Franco's many bikes at Glenbawn
Roy Gay N0 8 on his XL 570 Honda launching off the Ski Jump
Kel Moore 57 on his 1980 Husky 390 CR on the back wheel
Charlie McBride on his YZ 465 in a sideways controlled slide
Start of the pre 78 open race. Oops too close to the starting gates
Kel Moore on practice day
Narelle Moore on her 1977 AW Maico 250
All photos © Riley Moore
Reproduced with permission
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The meeting that almost didn't happen
From the President
Picture this, Friday the 18th of March 4.30PM. Frantic discussions
between committee members as to whether to call the meeting off
due to the torrential rain in the Hunter over the previous two days.
The Decision was made to go ahead as it was after all a motocross
meeting and riders should be able to ride in muddy conditions.
Saturday overcast but no rain. The track was in a reasonably good
condition with only a few sections that had sloppy mud. Practice
started at around 12.15pm with our newest member Rob Shoemark on
his 79 440 Maico leading a pack of 20 riders onto a slippery and
muddy track. Conditions improved as the afternoon progressed with
the track drying and more riders turning up to enjoy near perfect
conditions. All was looking good for Sunday.
As a number of riders were camping out at the track the usual alcohol
induced bench racing sessions started and progressed until early
morning. It was easy to recognise the stayers on Sunday morning
due to their subdued nature. Some riders really enjoy a night out
off the leash.
Sunday turned out to be near perfect. Little cloud with plenty
of sunshine and the track in excellent condition ready for the warriors
to attack. The first of the 73 riders in 16 classes started racing
at 10.15 and finally finishing at 3.45pm. It appeared that everybody
enjoyed the day, as there were plenty of smiles and weary bodies
at the end of the day.
Special thanks go to the Upper Hunter Club for the use of their
facilities as well as Christine and Greg Davidson for officiating.
Special thanks to Eric Rogers for all of his efforts in making
sure the weekend went without a hitch. I would also like to thank
all of those people who volunteered to wave a flag or help in any
way. The helpers in the canteen did a great job keeping everybody
fed. Without your assistance the meeting could not have happened.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Kel & Narelle
Moore, Steve Fennel and Roy Gay for their efforts as the success
of this meeting was due to their work and enthusiasm.
See you all at Rockley in April.
Cheers
Albert Giacomin
President
24/03/05
A Rider's Perspective
Due to the contentious weather it was debated whether to make our
way up to Lake Glenbawn on the Saturday for practice or just ride
on Sunday. The decision was made after phoning the Heaven hot line
and getting the good news that the meeting was going ahead so we
decided to head up to the track.
We arrived there around 5.30pm to find that we missed out on a
good days practice ride. (Bugger). Come night fall Harrow, Bruce,
Vic and Les just to name a few milled around our camp drinking beer
and sampling Big Kev's hot chilli beans with plenty of bench talking
and beers until late.
The next morning Harrow and Bruce claimed that they must have got
a bad prawn. (I think that it was more the combination of the large
amount of beer and bourbon consumed) and maybe a bit of afterburn
after the beans. Sunday proved to be bright and sunny and the sign
on and scrutineering flowed smoothly helped along by pre-entries.
(I think this is the best way to do it in my view).
I entered in 2 classes pre 70 on my BSA B44 and pre75 on my legendry
Bultaco. I found the track to be good fun on both bikes although
suffering serious arm pump after 5 laps riding the BSA. The track
had a great combination of jumps hairpin corners and stutters with
only a few small mud holes. The race format being 2x5 lap races
tested my endurance but worked well for the day as the track was
challenging but I thoroughly enjoyed it even on the pre70 bike.
I managed to finish 3rd in my first race and 1st in the second
race on the BSA The Bultaco performed flawlessly as always, holding
off many passing manuoevers by Les on his Maico. From all reports
everyone enjoyed the day and the way it was organised. The flag
marshalling worked well with the evo boys flagging for the vintage
bikes and inturn vintage boys flagging for the evo boys.
Well done to Kel, Albert and all involved for the way in which
the meeting was professionally ran. Looking forward to the next
meeting.
Kevin & Sandra Crossey
Up Close and Personal - From The Outside Looking In
I got dragged into helping out my good mates Kel & Narelle.
A few months ago I said that if I had nothing planned I would help
out at their club days. So when there was a calendar change on I
didn't really have an excuse not to go to sunny Lake Glenbawn.
I managed to get a ride up with Irish Paul leaving Sydney at 7am.
Arrived at 10.15 to find a muddy track. With a bit of wind and sun
it was decided that they should go out and have a ride. Paul was
almost jumping out of his skin by this time and he quickly got changed
and away they went.
After a few laps the track was getting really nice and the boys
were having a ball. Some really nice machines were doing a lot of
laps. Paul was no exception, after a bit of advice about gear and
line selection, he was having so much fun he forgot to stop and
put petrol in and rolled to a stop at the furthermost point away
from the pits.
Sunday morning rolled out to be one of the best days ever, nice
and sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky. No wonder they call it Heaven.
What seemed like a lot of bikes turned out for some great racing.
Practice was quickly over with everyone getting an opportunity
to view the track and then it was on. I spent the day on the top
of the ski jump and thankfully had very little to do. A few riders
had a little rest on the downhill with Fernando the most notable,
resulting in a large graze on his back. Roy Gay made the ski jump
look like flat ground although other riders pushed him a couple
of times, but he managed to stay in front.
All the racing was good and there weren't many falls, the track
was good, it was run well and there was plenty of food. Thanks have
to go to Kel and Narelle Moore and all the committee for working
hard all weekend to make it a successful event. I'm looking forward
to the next one.
Smarty, a happy flaggie.
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