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Leongatha motorcycle club are holding the final "Knox's hill climb" on Sunday. 38th year non stop. Final because they are mining the hill. All welcome to come and have a look. 9.00 am start, great action. Nereena road Leongatha.(http://www.woniwebpages.com/leomc/sitebuilder/images/2009_0412Hillclimb0036-799x604.jpg)
(http://www.woniwebpages.com/leomc/sitebuilder/images/2009_0412Hillclimb0091-798x1049.jpg)
(http://www.woniwebpages.com/leomc/sitebuilder/images/2009_0412Hillclimb0042-799x604.jpg)

Took the kids along for a look, was a good morning out. We got there about 10 and saw some of the little tackers giving it a go. Some really good attempts there.

At around 30 metres there was a bit of a kick in the climb and a few ruts which were giving people trouble. As the bigger bikes and riders came through there were some entertaining dismounts and a few good runs.

First bike I saw to make it near the top was a CR500, not too unexpected there. As they got near the top there is a left turn to make the summit, and it was not too long before a rider got the flag to signal a successful climb.

Others did not fare so well and there were a few attempts that just did not start well and went downhill from there, with not much uphill getting done.

It was a great club event and pity it will not run again. The format was pretty simple, go through the field 3 times, and each rider could go into 3 classes. There were a few modified bikes like the RM600 which sounded good but did not get too far. Most bikes were your standard MX or enduro, some with a lenghtened rear swingarm.

After watching the field run through once the boys had enough and we headed home, with people still coming in as there were still lots lining up to go again.

While it does not look too steep in the picture it was certainly steep looking up from the bottom and the standing start adds to the challenge.

A fun morning out watching a bunch of people just having a crack at it and all money being raised going to a local charity. Well done to the Leongatha club.

I used to ride past that hill many a times in my road bike riding days, I always wanted to go & have a look when it was on,looks like I left it too long.

Most off you would not know that the Alexandra club used to put on a hill climb years ago, I can't remember which year it was when I took part in it,I do remember it was a blast, I think it was back in the mid 80's

Hi all, I was the event announcer for the day, we had a record 228 entries, thats 684 times the course gets hammered. The weather was perfect, clear skies, no rain. An estimated crowd of about 1500 people ---massive. The end of an era, 37 years straight.

The king of the hill for the very last time was a young lad, Nick Bloye, he has been trying for a number of years and finaly cracked it. This event was one of only two competative hill climbs in Australia, its disappointing that it has to go. They are mining the hill so it wont be there for much longer. A list of past winners.
                  Cheers Chippy 
 
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Can't you just find a new hill ???

Lots of hills everywhere, the major difficulty is having all the infastructure that goes with it------bitumen road access---car parking----spectator vantage points----flat areas for toilets, canteen, sign in tents----public liability from private property owner. The list is huge, for the amount of work that goes into setting it all up, there has to be a lot of spectators as they wont travel out to some dodgy back road that takes an hour out of the regional centre.So it's just not as simple as finding a new hill. Not to mention a hill that will stand up to all those hits.
       Cheers Chippy

Great piece of history,thanks for the insight.