amc 10th poker run 03

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A M C Central Coast Chapter 10^th Anniversary Poker Run 2003

Saturday saw me rising at sparrows fart to head east towards the dawn sky and the American Motorcycle Club 10^th Anniversary Poker Run that was due to kick off at McDonald’s Tuggerah at 9:15 that morning.

A nice couple of hundred plus klicks ride later, I swung the bike into a parking spot in the now fast filling car-park and immediately dragged the camera out to snap a picture of a handsome duo and their lovely ladies who looked strangely out of place amongst the bikes. I made a mental note, after giving the eyes a dose of visine to wash out the insects that had managed to get past the bug smeared sunnies, to do the eyes first, pictures next, because although the ladies still looked lovely, the blokes had now reverted to an ugly pair of bastards much more befitting the growing crowd. I guess bug coloured glasses are our equivalent of John Citizen’s rose coloured version.

After drawing a Joker first off it was out of Macca’s, and guided by the marshals stopping traffic at the roundabouts, over 200 like minded riders and pillions headed onto the Freeway. A quick blatt up to the Cessnock turnoff and then on to Harrigan’s Irish Pub in the Vineyards just out of Broke for the second card. Mine was a Jack of Diamonds [hand's looking good].

After the cards were drawn there was a lucky door prize based on the poker hand ticket number that was given away to some lucky player. This happened at each stop, so even if your hand was like a foot, you were still in the running to get something else.

Wollombi Hotel was the next stop where I drew a 2 of Diamonds [hands looking very good]. A really good feed had been laid on at the pub and this gave everyone a chance to recover from the head and side-winds that we had encountered. Most of the bikes were at 45 degree angles to the road on the straight bits at times and the ride was made even more interesting as we went round some of the bends staying almost upright trying not to get blown over.

At just the right time, with the crowd well fed and recovered, before they started to get itchy feet it was off again heading down the Wollombi Road to Mangrove Mountain. This stretch of road is a rider's dream but has brought quite a few young players adrift over the years. So it was with a bit of prudence that I tackled this leg keeping the Roadking well over to the left to allow others to go by if they chose to. It was on this section that one of the riders took a closer look at the scenery than the rest of us due to, from what I heard, was his front end collapsing. Credit in no small part is due to the A M C for the quick attention that he received on the spot from the clubs backup vehicle with its first aid kits and the number of first aid personnel that ride with them. None of us want to bounce off the bitumen but it is nice to know that with the A M C quality help is right there on the spot if you need it.Upon seeing all those people with rubber gloves on, that looked as if they knew what they were doing, I was prompted to try and save on a doctors bill so I asked them if they wouldn’t mind checking out a small haemorrhoid problem I was having. Strangely however I got no takers. So with the rider stabilised, his bike ready to load into Bub's Motorcycle truck and a group left with him waiting for the ambos it was off again towards the Mangrove Mountain Country Club and our fourth card.

Mine was a 2 of spades [hands looking very promising]. With the delay having cut into the schedule it was only a short stop before heading to the Tall Timbers Hotel at Ourimbah for the barbeque and final card. The 5 of diamonds I drew there blew my hand out of the water, so it was off to buy some raffle tickets for this huge eagle statue. No luck there either, so after having a feed and chatting to a few mates it was time to pull on the sweater and leather pants and head off home.

My front gate and about 700 extra kilometres on the speedo saw the end of a well-spent round trip with one hell of a good game of cards in the middle. Congratulations to American Motorcycle Club for an extremely well run day, and best wishes for a speedy recovery to the rider who detoured to do a bit of gardening in the scenery.

Thanks again AMC. Ride safe.

Charlie aka Crusty.