It sounds as if the recent Ulysses Club AGM at Albany was a roaring success, and I can only apologise once again for our absence. We just couldn’t make the sums work.
But it sounds as if someone who was there would possibly have been better off staying away, namely the WA police.
Here’s an extract from a letter sent in a friend of mine, Terry Mills. Terry runs the wonderful (I am not kidding, and unfortunately I don’t have a share or get a kick-back) Borneo Biking Adventures tours (www.borneobikingadventures.com). I had convinced him that he should take a stand at a Ulysses AGM and he loved it. But there was something he wasn’t impressed by...
“Several Motor Cycle Police Patrolmen had been sent down from Perth to control the marauding gangs of Ulysses biker thugs terrorising the sleepy streets of Albany” he wrote. “Their first job on Monday morning was to find a roundabout with confusing road markings and book dozens of unsuspecting bikers new to the town.
“What a way to alienate 3500 delightful old bikers and what a totally wasted Public Relations opportunity.
“How much better for the Police to man a trade stand at the event and offer training courses and perhaps escorted ride outs.
“As an outsider looking in, it seems the Western Australian Police Force see themselves as being there to wage WAR against the general public rather than to serve them.
“What a shame.”
What a shame indeed, and disregarding Terry’s comment about “delightful old bikers” I can only say I entirely agree. Shades of the stupid over-zealous enforcement at Coffs Harbour. Oh, and while I think of it, the WA coppers could have put some of that effort into finding out who had strung wire at rider’s neck height across one of the access roads...
The Ulysses Club contributes an enormous amount to wherever they go, and not only in money. What do you have to do for some of these people?
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming
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Not sticking up for the WA cops though ..nor more importantly the money greedy upper echelons who are placing them under pressure to perform like this.
Now Ill head off to bed with my....delightful old biker :P ..nite nite!
It's a wonder they weren't taking pictures for the anti association laws and what not.
As for the moron who strung any wire across any road, you all should have found the responsible party and tied them behind a bike or two and had Draggins use them to demonstrate their products...
This is the same situation that was in Albany. There are three painted arrows in the left lane approaching the roundabout, there is a sign up high on the uprights of an awning that declares the lane as left turn only.
Why are people complaining about being caught in a lane that isn't taking them along their intended path? Why didn't they turn left as told? Yes, it would have meant riding around the block to get back on track, but it would have been obeying the traffic rules. Failure to indicate leaving a roundabout (a very busy one at that) is also rule breaking and doesn't surprise the other road users when there is a change of travel. It also helps other road users know what the rider is going to do thus allowing for approaching traffic to make appropriate decisions.
It was reported at the AGM that the infringements weren't to be gazetted (whatever that means) - perhaps no loss of points only a monetary penalty.
A comment from the AGM was that the police have issued less tickets this week than they do in a "normal" week.
So we can't be all that bad and it looks like the locals are behaving themselves as well.
Left a lasting impression.