Today was the local HOG Chapter's 20th Anniversary Ride and Zanderhar and I were champing at the bit to get among a group of Harley Davidsons and because of the special occasion we thought that there would be a reasonably large contingent. A mad rush to get out the door to pick up the my Harley Road King from its air conditioned home at the office saw us arrive at the meeting point with just enough time to fuel up and ride off at the tail end of the group, not sure how many Harley Davidsons were in front of us. Pulling out on to the road and looking forward though was impressive.
I'm guessing 70 or so of the local Chapter turned out, if anyone knows for sure feel free to correct me. Certainly though, it was the largest local contingent of Harley Davidsons I'd seen to date. Being a little tardy also came with the slight disadvantage of having no idea where we were heading although I did know the final destination. That's not a problem whe you are riding behind a pack. It is a problem if you find yourself leading a group if the pack gets split by other traffic and you can't see the bikes in front. Oh well, cross that bridge if we come to it, or not depending on my best guess.
The route took in some familar roads up towards Raymond Terrace, turning off to go through Tomago, out to the road that heads to Nelson's Bay, hooking left and emerging onto the Pacific Hwy north of the Terrace. South again for a bit, right turn through Seaham (I think, wasn't really paying too much attention). A lefty saw us heading towards Lorne via Bolwarra then around the back of the shopping centre at Maitland and further south towards Freemans Waterhole. A left turn there and we finished at Speers Point Park via Toronto and Teralba. Roughly a two hour ride, very enjoyable and it was clear everyone was having fun.
Riding towards the rear of the pack meant that we were often left behind and had plenty of opportunity to enjoy the whiplash effect that occurs when you have to play catchup. It's really the fun end of the group if you like to work a little harder and enjoy organised chaos. The group did get split quite a bit going through Maitland so it was a bit of a dribs and drabs arrival affair but with such a large number of Harleys on the trip that's to be expected.
The support ute was at Speers Point and cold drinks were provided, lots of chatting and checking out bikes with everyone looking forward to the planned festivities of this evening where the get together will include alchohol and food. After about an hour it was time to take my Harley Davidson back home and think about the next ride. The Iron Butt next weekend. Can't wait!
CERTAINLY WAS A GREAT TURN OUT FOR THE RIDE,,, iRON BUTT RIDE NEXT( ACTUALLY, WE JUST DID IT TODAY HAHAHA) LOOKIN FORWARD TO SOME PICS OF THAT RIDE TOO,,GREAT WORK WOMBATTLE
Posted by aNCHOR, 16/05/2010 9:41:30 pm
I agree Wombattle, a great ride!
Posted by Smithy, 22/05/2010 2:33:51 pm