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Soup and Crumpet Day, 26th August 2007

This was to be my first Club run out front as leader & Club Captain, so the panic set in early when someone thought we were leaving from “The Feathers” car park & not Pelican Plaza as usual. I phoned as many people as I could think of only to find they all thought it was to be Pelican Plaza. First problem overcome. Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny, so I knew I would not be able to blame the weather if anything went wrong. I arrived at Pelican Plaza around 9:15 and soon other Members started to drift in. By 9:45 there were 23 Entry forms filled out but I think a few may have forgotten. Please do one of these entries as it is required for Insurance purposes & also gives a good idea of numbers as well as a list to print in the Smoke Signal.

I found it easy to recruit the required number of Marshals for the trip. Around 9:50 I had a call from my wife to advise no one had gone to The Feathers, so I rested easy on that score. 10:00 was start time & we all drifted off towards Chain of Ponds, where we turned left towards Williamstown & on to Springton for a re-group. When Laurie arrived we set off through Eden valley then turned left off the Angaston Rd to eventually tee into the Mengler’s Hill Rd. This is one of my favourite rides through this little bit of natural habitat, so whenever I get the opportunity I use these roads. On from there to Stockwell for a Toilet stop & re-group. We were unfortunately held up here because one of our riders had trouble & held Laurie up whilst he tried to fix his ‘bike. Please, if you have a problem put your bike on the trailer immediately “Tail end Charlie” arrives. You will have more time at the next stop to work on it if you do this. However we were all talking and sitting around in the shade of some lovely trees & it didn’t seem long before Laurie arrived.

We all headed off for the last few Kilometres to Truro. On our arrival at Truro all things were under way with soup warming up on the gas burners, Crumpets on the Barbeque & Tea & Coffee. Many of our Members had gone by four wheel transport which included very interesting older Vauxhalls & Renaults etc. They were all busy organizing the lunch. Amongst tall stories, conversations & restorations the many varieties of soups & crumpets were devoured. Following this a lovely assortment of cakes & savories were presented with Tea & Coffee. Just before 2pm we all gathered in the Hall and a vote of thanks was spiritedly supported for the Holmes Family & all those who had volunteered their time to make the day such a memorable one. It was then time to head for home. Those wanting an escorted ride home came with me & many others went their own way. We returned home via Stockwell, Bethany along the Barossa Valley Highway to Lyndoch, turned off to Williamstown where we finished the day. After another bout of talking we all went our own ways. I am sure a great day was had by all & I found my first day “at the front” most rewarding. Thanks to Laurie for the back-up trailer & to all those who Marshalled for me.

Malcolm Gray

And another view of the day...

Sunday dawned a sunny, clear day with a forecast temp in the low 20's, perfect for riding! At the Pelican Plaza starting assembly, new club captain Malcolm Gray rallied the troops together at 10 am and gave a brief rundown of the ride. After the roll call, the marshals set off followed by the main group of riders. With very light traffic, riding was a pleasure along the route where we had a regroup stop at Springton where several stragglers caught up. Our next regroup was at Stockwell, where I noticed we had more riders than we set out with. From this stop we then rode as a close group to Truro Oval where the Holmes family with the assistance of several eager members, who had arrived early by car, had set up the clubrooms in readiness awaiting our arrival. After the soup and crumpet lunch was consumed, sweets comprising of German cakes and fresh fruit followed by tea and coffee was enjoyed by most after which there was plenty of story telling and motor cycle talk while watching an army despatch rider putting his BSA through its paces on the other side of the oval around the trees. At departure time, Malcolm led those who wanted to ride back together, back to Williamstown where we, after a brief stop, then went on our separate ways.

Regards - Pablo Pank.

Those who rode up:

Ian Baldock    1950    Ariel     Solo
Ed Sanders    1951    Norton    Solo
Geoff Barnes    1960    BSA    O/Fit
John Booker    1957    Triumph T110    Solo
Brian Forth    1927    H/Davidson    Solo
Bob Gill    1913    Veteran BSA    Solo
Dave Holbrook    1958    Ariel    Solo
Bruce Lehmann    1948    Ariel    Solo
Rob Smyth    1929    AJS    Solo
Chris Warner    1952    BSA    Solo
Greg Warner    1950    Norton    Solo

As usual, many thanks to Laure Leibhardt for driving the backup trailer.

Also in attendance: Peter Arriola, John Byles, Malcolm Gray, Paul Knapp, Roger O’Loughlin, Denis Saunders, Don Cellier, Brian Cowling, Peter Langdon, Glen Poyner, Alan Martin, and a number of members who drove up in cars.

Last updated 6 September 2007