CENTRAL COAST RIDERS BRANCH

Ragged Fringe Rally 12th & 13th September 09

Heather had been hanging out for this rally for awhile now since she bought her Guzzi back at this years AGM.We where greeted by blue skies Sat morning, a good start to the weekend. As this was Heathers first rally and it was put on by the Moto Guzzi owners club, she was  a tad excited. The rally  is held at Bretti Reserve, 35k’s west of Gloucester, great spot no dirt road in, plenty of shade,a beautiful running river, the only downside was a pit toilet! The ride up was beautiful, up the F3, jump off at Freeman’s’ Water hole up though Kurri Kurri onto Maitland then to Dungog via Clarence Town. The roads up this way are in  bad shape, more ruts and pot holes than a moto-x track! We made a stop at Dungog for a cuppa and some of Heathers home made muffins, and this is where we met up with Rock, we choffed off and would meet up with Rock later. The ride to Gloucester was most enjoyable. As we rode into the main street ,as  you would expect the street was full of all sorts of bikes, this always brings a smile to ones dial. We grabbed some lunch and caught up with Rock & his son Brett ( who is riding Rock’s old  Harley ) and two of Rock’s mates,we headed out to the rally, ( Let me tell you now,  the Thunderbolts Way has gone to road god’s! what a pitiful road now! ) I got Heather to park her V7 in front of the Moto Guzzi marque ( she was a bit reluctant to do so ) but it paid dividends in the end, with lots of interest around her V7. Great discussions were held and helpful advice exchanged.While Rock was setting his camp up we went for a walk to check out the bikes and camp set ups  that where brought in. You can find the strangest things when you are not looking, we got talking to this couple and he said to me “ I see you are a Ulysses’en, I guess  most of you lot have heard of or seen old No.1, well I am No 2.” This guy was the real deal No. 2  Bill Vane, what a great chap. He told us that Stephen No1 was the founder of the Moto GuzziOwners Club before the Ulysses club. After enjoying some of Rock’s snags on the open fire, we stayed around for the raffles which took longer than expected. This meant that Heather and I had a nice night ride back to Gloucester on the great Thunderbolts Way.  We stayed in town in order to get an early start to attend the memorial ride ( that is a story for another day as we did not get there due to lack of communication). A great weekend was had by all, Heather is keen to attend next years rally but has insisted we take the camper ( Nifty) and camp.We took the Patterson road home and this was a far better option than via Clarence Town. This rally would be a great club weekend away next year.  Everyone commented on how welcoming and friendly the rally goers were. Catering was available on the Saturday night, steak and sausage sizzle.   A great time was had by all. We hope to see some of our Club members attend next year.

Kim and Heather

Ragged Fringe Rally Goers 09