Webmaster posted on June 03, 2008 01:19
Nearly 500 riders put their bikes through scrutineering with a selection of machines with aftermarket exhausts being noise tested by the Dept of Sustainability’s Trail bike Project team.
The Alexandra district MCCs hard line on noisy bikes is having an effect with only a handful of owners being cited- a big improvement on past years.
Team BMW were once again riding the event and an appreciative crowd gathered around the pre production BMW 450 that Joel Smets rode in last months 4day enduro. Miles Davis & the boys had a great day, punting around their 650 X Challenges, making short work of those rocky uphills on Royston range.
Before the riders could fire up their bikes and start the event, It was time for the Traditional Nolan dash, an eagerly awaited annual foot race in full bike gear, including boots to an awaiting brand new Nolan Helmet. There are no rules other than the first rider to the Helmet is the winner. Always a crowd highlight, with plenty of tackles and trip ups.
Still chuckling over the highlights of the dash, the riders made their way over to the start line as the first wave of rallyers took off from the start. With 10 riders to a minute, it took over an hour from the first group to the last group to be waved off. Speaking of riders, there were more than a few interstate riders this year, including an AMTRA rider all the way from WA!
Cool but sunny conditions ensured that the dust ratio was less than 0.0001%. Early numbers on the first loop found that some of the puddles were still frozen high up on the Royston range.
The trickier and more technical uphills were manned by ADMCCs legendary hill pushers, who ensured that there were no bottlenecks or delays to spoil the days riding.
The first loop wound its way back to the start-finish after around 70ks of prime high country loam, giving the riders a break to refuel and rehydrate before setting off on loop two.
The second loop was a bit longer at 77k and a little more flowing, by this stage the sun had dissapeared & it had clouded over, but the rain held off until later that night, making it the second year in succession that the Kenda rally had had perfect weather conditions.
Steve from Holeshot images was out on the course getting action shots of all the entrants and there were plenty of riders checking out the proof sheets at the Holeshot images quickshade at the completion of the days loops. You can check out Holeshot images Kenda rally photo’s at holeshotimages.com.au
After all the riders had picked up their licenses and grabbed their classy finishers stubby holder and meal tickets, it was off to the Lions club catering van for a Hamburger and a drink, before the prize winners were drawn out of a hat.
There were heaps of shiny Nolan helmets, Kenda tyres, Trail bike Adventure Magazine Subscriptions, Mobil oil packs. AFAM handlebars and grips and EK Chain sets handed out. In all, over $7000.00 worth of gear was handed out to the riders on the day.
All of these great prizes were donated by Ron Angel Wholesale, who has been the major sponsor of the Nolan rally since its inception in 1985 along with K&J Thomas motorcycles in Whittlesea.
The Dirty Dozen took out the biggest team award and the $500.00 cash prize with 14 of their team finishing the event.
The local Ambulance team were on hand to look after any injuries, but business was pretty quiet for them with only a handful of bruises and contusions.
No broken bones in an event with almost 500 riders is a pretty good effort considering the amount of riders entered..
The local SES and WICEN Communications provided their usual faultless service to keep track of every rider throughout the day, enabling the club to keep on top of any emergencies that may arise.
Keep an eye on admcc.com.au for details of the 2009 Kenda rally.
Thanks to Steve from Holeshot images for the pictures.