The Captain finds the South-West almost as tranquil as old Blighty!
Captains Report Manjimup - "Survival of the fittest"
I sometimes forget what a beautiful State we live in and this was brought home when I travelled the 330 klms down to Manjimup passing through some spectacular countryside and some pretty towns/villages. Donnybrook, Kirup, Balingup and Bridgetown have all had their fair share of rain this year with Manjimup receiving 30 inches to date. And for all those who couldn’t make it down you better reserve your accommodation for next years event as the 50 riders who made it had a very special weekend. Most people arrived by midday on Saturday, some stayed at the track and the softer ones stayed at the Kingsley Motel in town and by all reports it wasn’t too bad at all. Saturday night saw some stay at the track and cook up a feast and the rest went into town for a nosh up. Sunday morning a few hardy souls turned up and everybody was as keen as mustard to get things underway.
At the riders meet we welcomed new member Alison Irving who will be Andrew Irving’s sidecar victim and Bjay who pitched up on one of the clubs most unusual bikes, a 1959 CZ road bike converted to motocross, now I thought I had some unusual poop!
After totally confusing myself which way was left and which way was right I managed to remember which way we travelled around the track and led riders out for the first practice not bad seeing as I had already been around 3 times, der! The whole track was to be used excluding the first jump after the start, and this would sort the men from the boys as being a modern track included many jumps, table tops, long sandy berms and long rough straights. Rubber band starting proved successful again until Dave Jarvis managed to snap the thing in two!
A grade was dominated by Alan Easson who one day may give the old man a run for his money. Brook Lawson was off the pace and confessed to riding like a girl all day (don’t know what Sarah Dillon thinks of that?).
B grade had about 15 riders hotly contesting the holeshot position with Andy Hyland clearly riding out of class again, he’s only kidding himself you know!
C grade had Trevor Rivers on his Elsmore fight it out all day with Bjay’s ’59 Ceezee. Ken Melvin showed he was no slouch on his Goldstar. Those larrikin Vanderlinders get better each meet in the sidecars even managing to jump the cliff face, I’ve heard a rumour that they are looking to get others!
The Dillons managed to seize up the Kwacha even before practice, sounds expensive to me. By afternoon, grids were thinning rapidly and the all in saw only a handful of hardy riders turn up. Walking around the pits afterwards I caught many a rider suffering from exhaustion, it certainly was survival of the fittest!!!!
The Manjimup welcomed 30 odd people for a hearty feast and a few cleansing ales on Sunday night and most members had cleared out by 10am Monday morning for the long trip home.
Those who didn’t make it down unfortunately missed a great time, but don’t threat there is always next year.
PS Don’t forget our final meet of the year at Collie on 21st October. We don’t have a feature race for the day, so why not make one up for the day!!
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