2010 KTM Cancer Charity Ride

After last years cancer charity ride raising $11000, you have to wonder if you will beat that figure, so some six months ago we started setting up for the 2010 cancer charity ride.

KTM came aboard with the major raffle price of a KTM 50SX mini and as naming sponsor.

 

 

From there it was tracks to be sorted, forms to fill out, food to get how many people will come, auction items to get sorted and the band, there were many meetings and endless hours of track riding/ sorting,

 

Telstra became our new best friend with the amount of phone calls, email ect, with a hiccup here and a glitch there it all fell into place on the weekend.

 

It the end we beat our last years total and raised $15000 for the cancer council.

 

 

There is a gamut of people I have to thank for making all this weekend happen and run smoothly so here we go, Murrey Edger if we had not put our heads together last year this event would not have happened, Peter Mobbs put in a tireless effort were nothing was to big or small to do, the lead and sweeps David Welch, Tony Kelly, Pat Glynn, Stuart Green, Murrey Edger Brian Finn, Peter Mobbs, Geoff Wilkinson, Glen Jensen and Brent Jensen. I can't thank these legends enough as pre-riding started months ago, you guys rock

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There is the ladies, gents that work in the kitchen food the hungry hordes, the girls that sorted, numbered, boxed and got everything ready for the auction.

The paramedics that volunteered for the ride, the Wangaratta 4WD club for helping out when and were needed, the Winton motorcycle club for there support.

 

Last of all too all the people that attended a big thank you as without you guys this event would not happen  hats off to you all and hope to see you next year.

Here is a take is the weekend.

It started on Friday evening when the spot to be was around the fire drum which was near where the bikes were being scrutineered, also where some much needed alcoholic refreshments were being consumed.

 

But of course you couldn't beat the soup and home made sausage rolls that were being served up in the dining area and thanks for making sure us scrutineers didn't go hungry.

Bike checking went on and on until midnight when chief scrutineer Mobbsy declared we are only waiting on Anthony_1978 and Lukeage so we might as well pull the pin and get some much needed rest for the big day to follow.

 

Thank goodness we didn't wait for them as they didn't rock up until 3am, let's just say they took the long way round to get there which includes hitting skippy.

 

Thanks to everyone for having their bikes in good nic as we didn't have too many hold ups on the loops due to mechanical failures.

The next morning, there's nothing like scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages toast and cereal to get you going for a huge day on the trails, The food on these weekends is worth the cost alone.

 

We were privileged to have Glen Jensen leading the expert group ably backed up by his brother Brent and boy can these guys ride, Muz was privileged to have ridden with Glen while setting up and knows just how fast he can go. This boy needs a sponsor and he should be good for the offroad championship.

 It was announced that there would be a total of five rides with one cautious group, three intermediates and an expert group.

It was surprisingly soon into the ride before we received news of a catastrophic failure of one of our groups bikes. (refer to seizure type sound effect above).

There was intermittent drizzle that kept the dust down and the goggle rags on double duty.

A fun hill climb with numerous erosion mounds and requiring careful line selection had you greeted at the summit by a very amicable group of 4wd'ers and boxes of bottled water and bags (and bags) of snakes.

 

A few of the groups were on the mountain at the same time and I'm told the view is quite impressive though the low cloud kept the cameras in the bags.
The ride was an absolute hoot and we all had a great time.

 

 

Upon returning to charmwood, we were greeted by a table full of rolls with bowls and plates of appropriate fillings for a DIY lunch - awesome.
 

The carrot cake was delish and, combined with the overindulgence on the roll front, had me bursting at the seams.

Spanking, time to head out for another ride.

After a bit of prompting from Muz the collective decision had us passing on one of the led rides and opting for the arrowed course.

Simply perfect.

After a bit of mild stuff, good to warm back up a bit, we hooked into a couple of good hillclimbs and a downhill that had the old date puckering faster than a strobe light.

 

Good stuff.

 

 

The ride then settled into some glorious flowing trails with a memorable section trying to keep up with Matt being a notable highlight.
 

On our return everyone in our small group were raving about just how great the loop was and how much they enjoyed it, a big "well done" on the work that went into setting it up.

 

 

The auction was a smashing success and beat last years, thanks to some big bids from Scuba Steve who took home a brand spanking new kayak and The Real Force who bought a one off Toby price Jersey signed by the KTM team.

 

 

Thanks heap to the Dog Starver, a couple of beers and he's a funny bastard and great auctioneer.

Tony H's band was good until it rained, the gig became an indoors, unplugged, in the round, sing-along that everyone really got into and enjoyed. Message to self, don't put electrical equipment outside when it is raining. I think I went to bed around 3.30 after a few strong drinks with Berg1, swaying around the fire.

Sunday dawned, prime conditions, prime tracks and everyone home for lunch and a quick get away. We cleaned up and got home around 5.30 to collapse in the couch and have beer and pizzas with some friends.

 

 

We can't thank everyone enough for their generosity, good behaviour and good company, it would not have been possible without you and remember our motto, ' riding for a reason'.