Royal Enfield Club of Australia
Boorowa ANZAC Weekend Rally
23th – 25th April 2022
By Craig Katen
We held our 2020 Winter Rally in Boorowa and after travelling through there recently with Paul Selwood on our Silo Art tour, Jenny suggested that the Club should go back there again, and since ANZAC day fell on a Monday this year it allowed us to make it a 3 day rally rather than an overnight ride.
I contacted Mike Ward the publican at Boorowa Hotel and he was chuffed that we were coming back again to hold a rally at his establishment and was keen to support the club offering to donate some prizes for our presentation.
So with 19 attending we booked out the pub for the two nights and also some of the rooms in the adjacent motel.
Attendees
Mark and Jane – Bullet G5 500 EFI
Bert Darwen – Meteor 350
Mick Jones – Classic 500 Military
Ken and Helen – Triumph Tiger Sport 1050
Peter and Johanne – Triumph Tiger Sport 1050
Craig and Jenny – Triumph Tiger 955i
Bruce an Janece – Norton Commando 750
Dave Monaghan – Suzuki Bandit 1200
Roger and Narelle – Harley Road King Outfit
John and Viv – BMW Outfit
Garry and Joy – Honda Outfit
Jenny and I met Dave and Bert at Windsor McDonalds and then picked up Ken and Helen at the Kurrajong Heights Hotel. The others decided to travel the less windy route via Bathurst on the Great Western Highway.
We followed the Bell’s Line of Road to Bell, which is 1100m above sea level, where we stopped to re-group and put on an extra layer of clothing and some wet weather gear to protect from the wind and cold before crossing the Darling Causeway to Mt Victoria and then down to Hartley and turned off towards Oberon where we had lunch. It was then on to Taralga for another rest stop and to meet Mick Jones who had come up from Shell Harbour via the Southern Highlands.
The next leg saw us riding west to Crookwell and then thru Rugby to Boorowa. This was great road with nice corners and not much traffic.
We arrived around 4pm and checked in to our rooms then met in the bar for a few before dinner drinks.
Mike set up a large table in the Hotel’s Shamrock Café for us to have a private dining room for our diners and presentation
The next morning after breakfast people milled around, looked at bikes and spoke to some other bikers and checked out the town before our ride.
Jenny and I had a sit on Roger and Narelle’s Harley outfit. With my knee and Jenny’s hip we need a lower bike for these trips as our Triumph is a bit long in the legs to get on and hold up with two of us plus luggage.
Saturday’s ride was to Cowra for lunch via Darby’s falls and then return to Boorowa. The road heads north through Frogmore towards Wyangala Dam and then west towards Cowra and there were some spots of road works where there were three of four dirt sections.
Approaching Darby’s Falls I was marking a corner, whilst others continued on to our rest stop at Darby’s Falls at a Reserve , and Ken puled up and told us that some of the group had stopped to fix a problem with Bruce’s Norton. I went ahead and advised the others and decided, since I had some tools, to head back to find them and see if they we ok. On the way back to the intersection I could see them all coming so we did a u turn and went back to the reserve where everyone else was congregating.
It turned out the spring had broke on Bruce’s side stand and it was flapping around but was quickly fixed with some electrical tape and a zip tie.
It was then that he noticed that Jan had been resting her foot on the muffler and melted the soul of her boot.
This took more time to fix than the side stand, but a bit of petrol on a rag and some elbow grease got most of the rubber off the chrome.
Whist we were waiting for Bruce to clean the rubber off the exhaust we took some photos of bikes and the people standing around.
Someone noticed something seriously wrong with Mark’s Bike, I couldn’t believe it when it was pointed out to me so we had to show Mark as he would want to have it fixed straight away knowing him and the way he keeps his bike in pristine concourse condition at all times.
His grab rail was very slightly rusted but I am sure by the time this report is published he would have had it off and repainted !
After a stretch of the legs and some photos at the pit stop we continued to Cowra for lunch at the Rose Garden Café and then back to Boorowa.
Sunday night we had dinner again in the Hotel’s Café and whilst we waited for our meals Peter Jackson and I did the presentations. Mike from the pub had donated 3 bottles of wine, one for each award winner and a heap of caps as consolation prizes and a Boorowa Hotel Stubby holder for each participant as a memento.
Mick Jones for Longest Distance Ridden on a Royal Enfield – Shellharbour / Southern Highlands/ Taralga / Boorowa / Cowra / Boorowa / Goulburn / Southern Highlands / Shellharbour
Mark Reynolds for the Shortest Distance Ridden on a Royal Enfield – Boorowa / Cowra / Boorowa
We gave Bruce and Janece the shared Hard Luck Award for the side-stand-spring and boot-soul-melt
Mick also got a sticker for his bike and a cloth Club Badge for his vest for being such a keen new member attending the last two weekend rides and a Iron Jack cap for being an all-round great bloke.
Garry, who is off the beer at the moment, also got an Iron Jack cap awarded to him for drinking “water” all weekend (We found out it was actually Vodka and water) and for also being a great bloke.
Ken got a XXXX Gold cap for finally buying a British bike. ( Ken’s also a great bloke now he has a Triumph, but don’t tell him I said that LOL)
After that we ran out of ideas for the awards and gave some of the caps out to whoever wanted them.
I kept a XXXX cap and Boorowa Hotel stubby holder to give to Bert for his efforts in coming along on his Meteor 350. It was his first big ride in many years so he was feeling a bit worn out on Saturday morning and decided to take it easy and make his own way home.
Thanks again to all who came along, it was another great weekend with a good turn out of people.
Thanks to Narelle, Jenny and Mick for their photo contributions.
Thanks again Mike and Young Ward and the Boorowa Hotel for your support of the Club.