I drove up to Abbeyard on the Thursday before the event this year. That way, I figured I would have the whole of Friday to help set-up for the HCR. I arrived at around 7:30 (after stopping at Myrtleford for dinner) just in time to settle into a few fizzy, adult refreshments and a yak with other like-minded members.
Friday:Friday dawned sunny and DRY! How good was this! The first HCR in three years that I haven’t had to put on my gum boots! Anyway, we walked down to the shed, where Pete and Big John set to finalizing the electrical work on the shed and hooking up the generator. Everyone was busy doing something. I grabbed a posse of blokes and headed down to the front gate to erect the sign-in and scrutineering tents. We got the first one up without too much drama, but then John, Pete and Darren came down to ‘help’ put up the second one. It all got silly from here! Seems there was a competition going to see who could cable tie who to the tent! After much frivolity, the tent was up, so the others put up some bunting to direct the traffic flow through the tents. Quick shade went up by the gate to shelter whoever was standing there, then back to the shed to put up the final tent to cover the barbies. Lunch time, and still no rain.
After lunch, I got a group together and we stuffed the show-bags. While this was going on, a constant stream of punters was filing through the gate in anticipation of the ride. Once we had the bags completed, they were taken to the sign-in tent and registration was up and running. This was around 3:30 and the guys were rushed off their feet in an initial onslaught. Back at the shed, we prepared the kitchen area of Bill’s arrival, organized the bar and snacks area and opened for business. By 7:00 the joint was jumping and still no rain.
Saturday:
Some things you shouldn't have to see first thing in the morning!Saturday morning we had brekky (pre-sweeps were already gone) and I moseyed down to the gate to wait for Damian Ashenhurst (Dirt Action), who was driving in from Bright. Once he was sorted, I assumed my position at the gate check point (along with Mat and Will) and the event was on!
Everyone was out by 9:30, so I jumped into the showers and then went off with Mat to the lunch stop to check things out.
All was good there, so onto the re-fuel to watch some carnage at the river crossing.
Re-fuelling in full swing
Ted and Rob hard at it. 
I think he's missing something!The area was littered with diss-asembled bikes in various stages of de-waterment.
News was emerging of a rider with a broken leg, and when we saw the ambulance, we knew things weren’t good. Robbo was transporting the rider down to the lunch stop to rendezvous with the ambulance, so Mat and I went back there to assist. All were congregated when we arrived, so we helped slide the guy onto a back board and the Paramedics did the rest. I jumped into Ian’s car (along with Dennis), and we went into Myrtleford to report the accident with the Police. We had lunch in town and then headed back to the Yard, arriving about 3:30 to find that most riders had returned. I chatted with people at the gate for a while, when Will came up and said the tail sweeps were in and he was missing two riders. He walked around the camp and eventually found that that they had somehow snuck in without being marked off. This meant that everyone was present and accounted for by around 5:00. A record, and still no rain! Saturday night lapsed into the usual hot meal, drinks, prize draw and raffle, followed by videos and more drinks. A top night was had by all, with the only problem being the generator shutting down (twice), but with the collection of mechanics and electricians assembled, it was up and running in no time.
One of our sponsors (Hydrocell) donated 2 of these pressure washer units. We used on to clean the radiator on the generator!
Sunday:Sunday morning I was lucky enough to ‘support’ ride, so I grabbed Brad and headed out with Damian so he could get some more shots for the magazine article. We took off up Cobbler Lake Track, and stopped at the helipad to take in the awesome views. We turned off (following the brilliantly arrowed course) down Dan Buffalo Divide playing cat-and-mouse with Damian as he revelled in the excellent riding conditions. Onto the Abbeyard Road, then crossed the ford where we stopped to watch some more river crossing carnage. From here it was up the SEC Maintenance Track (Power line Tk), to a hard right at Buggery Tk. Damian flew past us again, but as we cleared an erosion mound, we were flagged down by a couple of guys who pointed out a downed rider. Brad and I set to work and got him sorted. Fortunately, his accident had already been reported to the next control, so not long after we arrived, so did Robbo (again)! Now I know why he always buys white vehicles. We strapped Geoff up and loaded him into the car and Robbo took another drive into Myrtleford. Brad and I then continued along into Camp Creek Tk, where we were flagged down again, this time by Dave. There had been a head-on accident between Bruce (one of our sweeps) and another guy who was just out for a Sunday ride with his mate. The guy was looking pretty bad, with a blood blister the size of a golf ball, hanging under his eye. Soon after we arrived, so did Cam and some more sweeps, so we left the scene to them and continued on. It wasn’t long before we were flagged down again, this time by a rider with a flat (with no spare or tools!) Brad sorted him (I watched and supervised), then we continued along Buffalo range Tk and into Schultz’s Tk for the final assault before home. By the time we got back to camp, many folks had already left, but those that I caught up with were very happy with their weekend and the way the whole event was run.
Sunday night is always my favourite part of the HCR weekend. It heralds the end of it! And gives the organizers a chance to sit back, relax and get comfortably re-freshed! We dined on left over burgers and dummies, sampled a bottle of wine (or 3), watched some more videos and had a great night. Mat made a bit of a speech and thanked all the volunteers for their hard work over the weekend, gave away some more show-bags and declared the event a success (and over!)
Monday:Monday morning (those lucky enough to stay over), started the pack up routine. We had actually done a fair bit on Sunday evening, so we were all away fairly early. I know I left the property around 10:30 and Mat and Geoff were not far behind.
And that’s it! It’s over for another year! Roll on 2012.
