Vincent+Velo Rally
• 10-11 April, 2021 – Oberon, NSW
With one of the largest attendances to date, about 35 people gathered for the Velo & Vincent ride weekend at Oberon with most staying at the local van park, arriving late afternoon on Friday 9th. Jim Day rode up from Sydney on his trusty MSS that afternoon, and Dennis Quinlan arrived about 2.30am on Saturday, after band duties finished earlier that Friday night. A cold start to Saturday was welcomed with a 7.30am hot breakfast catered for by Bev and Peter Wolfenden on behalf of the Velocette Owners Club. And, it had just stopped raining, so the day was getting better all the time. Once we all got away at about 10am, we found the ride route marshalled at those few critical spots and thanks go to Greg Wright, Peter Ellis, Don Moon and Peter Wolfenden for their efforts.
After a spirited sprint of about 90 km including over about 10 km of dirt road the first stop was the Old Vale Circuit memorial just outside Bathurst. Sadly one bike failed to make it.
Glenn Smiths mid-50’s KSS Special was giving trouble so it went onto their trailer, with that back-up being driven by Glenn’s wife Yvonne. After the Vale Circuit stop, we all headed off to local old bike enthusiast Peter Robinson’s property outside of O’Connell. A wonderful lunch was consumed before the inevitable shed tour – and a tour not to be missed either. Peter is a member of the Australian
Velo OC and spoke about each of his bikes and future projects and his ongoing desire particularly for pre-31 machines, albeit, he has some others outside of these periods. The bikes on display included a ’29 Velo KTT & Mk8 KTT, G80 Matchless, a gorgeous ‘50s AJS scrambler in ‘export blue’, ’29 Cammy AJS and mid ‘30s R10 Cammy AJS, plus a number of semi-completed machines all getting the attention to detail that is evident in Peter’s bikes. The O’Connell pub was nearby, so a large part of the group decided the temptation was too great, whilst the rest went on to Oberon about 40 km away.
Saturday night saw us all booked for a group dinner at the Oberon RSL, with courtesy bus pick-up and drop-back. By late afternoon and nearing dinner time, the weather had turned nasty again with temperatures in single figures.
This is a great venue with terrific meals. A bleak, windy and freezing Sunday morning meant a few of us decided to head for home earlier than planned, yet a few brave souls decided to head out for a short ride via Shooters Hill, which is 1355m elevation – and cold. This joint club ride is always an enjoyable time, and we’re now looking forward to next year’s event, which will be hosted by the Vincent club.
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