Well what to say, but after 4 National OzSTOC Rally's they are still my favourite time of year!
I did have a couple of early Visitors on Tuesday and Thursday
This year being strange, having ridden 4.1km to get to the Rally was something very much out of the norm! for 2013 and 2014 Shiney and I racked up almost 10,000km and 4 weeks inside each others heads covering several states, and this year I must say did feel a little sad as with Diesel is my favourite mate to go riding with....
so after completing a comprehensive ride map to get to the Caravan Park on Friday morning:
It was great to simply be standing there, looking about seeing the people starting to arrive, and the faces from years gone past saying hello, and the new faces just as excited to say hello!
(I shall leave out the point that i didn't not recognize our guest speaker and road rider editor Mick Matherson, for some reason Chris keeps reminding me about it)
the Ladies of OzSTOC did a fantastic job plating up all the nibbles for everyone to watching the Shave for a Cure Happen for Wendy and Johnny
hats to everyone who chipped in to raise well over a $1,300, it was not planned and i think Teela is still in shock, but it will go down as the most expensive hair cut i have ever had!
to be honest the short hair is driving me mad and i am willing it to grow faster!
much merriment and laughter was had, an excellent BBQ by APEX, and even after heading to bed and hearing the late night clunk, bang, stumble of Diesel after another "social" evening with Growly, it was up early to make sure everything was tip top and ready.
and Toowoomba did not disappoint! Heavy fog started the morning at 6am, Having Cruisin Cappachino's Coffee Van there, and APEX Cooking the Bacon nice and early, OzSTOC member emerged from fog like gorillas in the mist....
Fed and watered it was very cool to watch the Club assemble for our Annual Rally ride, this year i was tail end Charlie, so i had the best seat in the house, rolling out of Toowoomba, and heading for Wyreema, there was something just amazing about looking about 2-3km of ST's rolling around corner and up and down hills, for our first stop at Rudds Pub for smoko
Rudds Pub is steeped in History, and put on a heck of a good feed, it was the first proper chance for me to get around everyone and say hello to everyone, although the size of the Scones was causing me problems!
it was an impromptu group photo at the pub, and it was back on the bikes for the 2nd third of the ride, it is a real credit to how over a 100 strangers can ride in a group together and be so organised and aware of other riders, and get along so well.
so it was rolling through the country side enjoying the amazing weather the Darling Downs had turned on it was landing in Leyburn at the Royal Hotel in what seemed no time!
Photos don't do justice how good it looked with all the bikes lined up at the pub
for having already had 2 meals today we where a hungry lot, i think the joke " can the guy in the Maroon Shirt move his ST please" was bandied around just 1 to many times!
We even started to take over the garden beds!
this is the best shot i took of all the bikes lined up
as well as taking over the pub we even took over the balcony of the house across the road so Mick and IanB could take the rally photo, and where did we find the owner of the house, in the pub of course!
after we had eaten, drunk, and laughed ourselves to a standstill it was back into Toowoomba, where Danielle and Mick where stationed at various points on the road taking photos!
after the Swap Meet happened, it was shower and ready for the National Rally Dinner, this photo made me laugh as for the bus wide selfie, Sicman was strangely serious!
as you can see from the food below, Col from Regents on the Lake did an amazing Job feeding us all, his famous line "If anyone is still hungry, i will drive them to McDonald's myself"
Dinner was fantastic as was everyone who spoke, congrats to everyone who received awards and mentions, it was a slightly emotional one for me as this was the close of my duties as admin/event organiser for OzSTOC, and i could feel the clock ticking down, and to be honest i had lump in my throat more than once, then....
Chris and the Admin team sprang an amazing surprise on Diesel and I handing us the first ever life memberships, i was stunned and amazingly enough speechless.....the awards themselves where brilliant and faultless, all i can say is thank you again.
Sunday was wet from all the storms and heavy fog, so after breakfast we called off the Esk Bakery ride, so the day was spent packing up, sorting out and socializing, the stragglers Dinner it is starting to become known as had almost 40 people, and for me was the most relaxed part, just to relax and listen and laugh...
Monday was up early and my last official duty was to take Mel to the plane, and of course make sure she got her Hip Pocket photo as she missed out on the shop
to sum it up, Thank you to PC and Leo, would not have organised this with any other men, it was an honour to do it with you, everything we did came off, and the hand shakes and smiling faces sure showed it.
a special thank you to Teela for 4 years of patience.....she will have a harsh reality of me having all this time on my hands i might just drive her mad, but she has backed me with everything i needed to do with OzSTOC. thanks babe.
Thank you to everyone for giving me an awesome bunch of mates, it is going to be nice to sit back with Diesel and go to work on our new venture, and attend Rally 2016 and be blown away by the fantastic event the boys and girls are going to put on for us over there!
Cheers
Streak (Graham)
