0 Comments | Southland Times, The, Jun 7, 2010 | by SMITH Gavin
WAS it cold? You betcha.
Did the 10cm of snow and minus 8degC frost bother the dedicated 2000 bikers who drove through snow to get to the Brass Monkey Rally at Oturehua?
No.
The Otago Motor Cycle Club’s 30th annual rally attracted bikers from New Zealand and Australia as well as one from Canada.
The snow-capped Hawkdun range made a stunning setting at the weekend. For 17 riders it was the 30th time they had braved the unpredictable weather to pitch their tent on this hallowed piece of barren farmland.
Their reward for such devotion was an elevation in status among their peers, and the presentation of a special plaque.
The oldest rider to achieve the 30-year honour, Bryers Hull, 75, of Oamaru and formerly of Motueka , suggested that it was his stupidity that kept him motivated to return each year.
Accompanied again by his wife Jo, who has attended 22 rallies, he reflected on the changes he had experienced during the years.
“Especially in the early years, I think it was a case of more pain than pleasure because the weather was definitely much colder then.
“For the last 10 years it has been so warm that we have had rain.
“Previously, it was either snow or dinkum hard frosts,” he said.
A stroke a few years ago has not prevented him from being at the rally and he hoped his 250cc Suzuki complete with sidecar, would get him and his wife to a few more rallies yet.
However, for Christchurch biker Graeme Hutchison, this year’s rally was his second and may well be his last after he fractured his leg. With his wife, who was attending her first rally, on the pillion, his 1500cc cruising motorcycle slid and fell on the mud as he was looking for a tent site, fracturing his leg. He was flown to Dunedin Hospital for treatment
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