That’s it, I’m outa here. I’m going to Phillip Island (above). The scenery is great, the penguins are funny and the cafes are terrific, so I should go, yes?
Nah! All of the above is true, but it’s not for touristy reasons that I am going. This weekend is the 21st AMCN Island Classic race meeting for historic bikes, the meeting with the biggest entry list of any bike race meeting in Australia (450+ bikes and nearly 400 riders) and the meeting that attracts the third biggest crowd of any bike race meeting in Australia, beaten only by the MotoGp event and the WSBK event.
But it is the meeting with the most fun, the most smiles, the most accessibility for the ordinary fan and the meeting where Joe Public can rub shoulders with the likes of Malcolm Campbell, Robbie Phillis and Cam Donald and overseas stars like Ryan Farquhar, and John McGuiness.
It’s about 1000kms from my place to the Island and I’m travelling with a friend so we should do the trip in a day. Wednesday and Thursday are open days and many of the teams and riders choose to use them for setup and familiarisation so it will be a good chance to get some interviews done before things get crazy on Friday.
I’ll be reporting on proceedings here and also on Facebook if you follow me there. Better go finalise my packing. See ya!