Walcha Motorcycle Rally 2024
November 15th had me riding my new Royal Enfield Continental 650 (picked up on the drive home from Brisbane, as mentioned in the previous post) out to Walcha for the 2024 Walcha Motorcycle Rally—and what a ride it was! Between the rough state of the road between Uralla and Walcha, a farm dog darting directly in front of me while I was cruising at 100 km/h, and riding through two storms—one of which generously showered me in hail—it was hardly the ideal first day for my new bike. (The ride home wasn’t much better, for the record.)
As for the rally itself, Friday was quieter than I had expected; apparently, the following day was much busier, with better weather as well. I managed to snap some shots of a couple of the rally’s events, though.
The first event was the beard competition—a lighthearted affair that had plenty of laughs. Numerous people encouraged me to enter (I didn’t), but I did capture some great shots of the crowd enjoying themselves. It was definitely not an event to be taken too seriously.
The second event was the burnout competition, which really brought out the energy in the crowd. I probably inhaled far more evaporated rubber than is healthy, but it was worth it for some of the shots I captured. One might even make its way into my portfolio—we’ll see.
Although I was invited to attend the rally on the second day and fully intended to go, I ended up getting a call that morning for a paid gig covering another event. But I guess you’ll have to read all about that in my next blog.
