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Before The Beginning
Remember the fifth Beatle? Well, we had always thought that three people were responsible for the original concept of the Ulysses Club, but it turns out that there was a mysterious fourth
Although several people were involved in the dawn of time when the Ulysses Club was beginning to take shape, three stood out. The first and most important of these is obviously Stephen Dearnley, who made it all happen. The second and certainly least important is the Bear, who promoted the idea of such a club in the pages of BIKE Australia and drew the logo of the Old Man. The third, and middlemost important, has been a bit of a mystery man — he is of course Rob Hall, who came up with the name. For years he seemed to have disappeared.
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Just recently we received this email:
Hi Peter,
Sorry that we never met back in 1983 when Stephen Dearnley suggested a club for over-50s riders.
But I remember well that letter in BIKE Australia and my feeling that the “Methuselah Club” would never fly. Who reads the Bible, anyway...
I was sure that a better role model would be Ulysses, that ancient king who would go adventuring yet another time. Yes, despite his past triumphs and conquests, the spirit yet dwelt in his ageing body.
And so I wrote to you suggesting the name and the whole damn thing took off! Your logo and caption became a rallying call to the ageing yet capable, nay, demanding soul.
I have often wondered if the revolution thus announced will not eventually go way beyond its motorcycling genesis. I have seen people learn to fly recently in their 60s and 70s, (I teach aviation among other things) and I wonder if we Ulyssians are not directly or indirectly spreading the general notion of growing old disgracefully!
I’m attaching a pic taken last Sunday at the Appolonian Hotel, Boreen Point, Qld. I am the last of the three to sign the original copy of the “founding document” of Ulysses. With me are Rob White, who garnered those early magazines, and Pete Williams of NATCOM.
Why was I so silent for all these years? Well, in the early ’80s I was (for one thing) too young. But I was also a fairly new helicopter pilot and did not want to risk my fragile limbs to the hazards of motorcycling.
That phase passed and I have in fact been a member of the Top End Ulysses for a number of years. Last year I retired and started to do Grey Nomad things like towing a caravan around Australia, with a Harley on the tray of the thirstiest tow vehicle since an F111 on full afterburner...
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| | Then, on the Sunshine Coast, I met Pete Williams who asked, “Aren't you famous?”
“No.”
“I mean in Ulysses?”
“Oh. Well I came up with the name, yes”" And hence the photo shoot.
You and I have not met; I have also not met Stephen. Being a — not really Grey Nomad at all, more a Metallic Silver Bald Eagle — I get around and hope to meet you both soon. Failing that, at the 2008 AGM.
On another topic, I read your column in Riding On, where you marked the passage of your 60th birthday. Do try not to indulge in decadephobia; remember the immortal words of Neil Young:
“Ain’t gettin’older,
“Ain’t getting’ younger
“I’m jes’ learnin’ the lie of the land…”
– Rob Hall
But there’s another mystery that needs clearing up. Both Stephen and the Bear had been under the impression that Rob had also come up with the club’s motto. But as you can read above, he denied that very strongly and maintained that the Bear did it. He, in turn, was either having a very long-term senior moment or was being suitably humble when he said he couldn’t recall doing any such thing. He asked Stephen, who still has the letter from Rob — and there it was, in black and white — the motto!
But wait… there’s more…
Rob didn’t let the matter rest there. He emailed his 1983 lady friend and asked her what she remembered of the coining of the Ulysses name and motto and it turned out that it was she who had come up with the latter!
So take a bow the mystery lady, Pat Lynch, the fourth person in the triumvirate that gave the Ulysses Club its personality.
And not only is Rob back, Pat and her husband Ken are members as well. Nobody gets lost forever in the Ulysses world, it seems.
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