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Bikers To Gatecrash Seniors’ Expo En-Route To Island

One-thousand motorbike riders arriving on the scene in the middle of a seniors’ festival wellbeing expo may seem a bit bizarre to some, but for many seniors later this week, they’ll be right in their element, and among friends.

By Latrobe City - 8th October 2007 - Back to News

Come 12 noon next Thursday 11 October, when riders in the fifth Barry Sheene memorial ride to the Phillip Island Grand Prix hum into the surrounds of Kernot Hall for an hour and a half pitstop, there will be reminiscing among the many seniors who remember riding gleaming machines in their younger days.

Among some, the temptation to get back on a bike and join the growing band of biking enthusiasts in their senior days, rediscovering the thrill of two wheels, may be too much; as they view chrome and leather and chat to the riders some of whom are their contemporaries in age.

The Ulysses Club admits to its ranks as members those who are forty years of age and hold a current motorcycle licence. But until they turn fifty those youngsters remain ‘juniors’. Riders in their sixties and seventies are commonplace in the ranks of Ulysses Clubs, and with the growing surge among baby-boomers to enjoy life to the maximum and stay young at heart, interest among the more mature aged citizens in our community will continue to gather momentum.

That motorbikes are not merely the domain of the young, is witnessed by the surge in Ulysses clubs, which were established in 1983 for older motorcyclists, and have grown to more than 120 branches throughout Australia, with one right here in the Latrobe Valley. There’s a joke among some riders that they’re not sure if it’s the leather creaking or their own bones.

Among the bikes pulling into pit stop Kernot Hall, there’s bound to be some beauties. Riders will be coming from Sydney and beyond, sharing the camaraderie along the way, not only with their fellow riders who join the ever increasing convoy, but with the people in the townships and communities they travel through on their ride.

Barry Sheene, after whom the ride to the Philip Island Grand Prix is named, was a British motorcycle legend who moved to Australia in 1984 and became a prominent sports commentator on television. He died following a battle with cancer in 2003.

This year’s ride may be emotional for some; for among those taking part are Freddie Sheene, son of Barry Sheene; Steve Parrish, Barry Sheene’s team mate; together with Jason Richards and Cameron McConville - V8 supercar drivers.

A record crowd is expected to attend this year’s GMC Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Phillip Island, from 12 to 14 October.

Bass Coast Shire Council’s events coordinator, Frank Angarane, said the success of the Australian riders, particularly Casey Stoner is generating a lot of interest.

"We are definitely expecting a big crowd this year," Mr Angarane confirmed. "Based on the ticket sales so far, we are estimating a 20-30 percent increase on last year’s crowd. The event is expected to be the biggest since the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix returned to Phillip Island in 1997."

Here in Latrobe, at Kernot Hall on Thursday, the Churchill Lions Club will be catering and everyone is invited to come along to the lunch and see the spectacular bikes that will be on show. Odds are there will be a large contingent of older onlookers, wondering whether they dare or should get back on a bike again; and for some, the spectacle of one-thousand bikes will be a decider.

For those unable to make it to Kernot Hall, the Barry Sheene memorial ride to the Phillip Island Grand Prix will pass through Traralgon on the Princes Highway at around 11.40am, and will detour through the Morwell CBD at a little after 1.30pm.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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