Getting around 400 entrants in a Poker run is no mean feat in itself, but to then take them on a 1,400 kilometre five day ride from Moura to Ingham via Capella, Charters Towers and Innisfail, and, to keep everyone having a good time till the finish, well, that shows just how much organisation goes into this event. Fair dinkum, it was so well run that the hardest thing you had to do for the entire five days was to choose your own spot to put up the tent or throw the swag each evening.

Arriving Sunday afternoon at the showground in Moura I went through the registration in a matter of minutes, was told all that I needed to know about Sunday evening’s plans with meals etc and received a very comprehensive printed itinerary for the following day’s start of the Poker Run.

The showgrounds in each of the towns we stopped at had been checked beforehand to ensure there were enough facilities and the evening and breakfast meals, plus the bar, had been organised to be done by local social clubs, I have to say that it is usual for me to lose weight if  I am on the road for a couple of weeks or so, but, on this ride, due to the good tucker I managed to put on a couple of kilos. The aforementioned weight gain was also in no small part attributable to the delicious, “you can’t buy that sort of home cooking in a shop” cakes that the ladies served up at the small rural schools we visited enroute.

These school visits were organised to give the pupils a ride on the bikes as a way of saying thanks for their efforts in doing their own bit of fund raising for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus which is the SCA’s elected charity.

For various reasons, most of which are imposed by myself, I have not included photos of the kids getting their rides in this report, however, I did take a heap of photos to be forwarded to the Principals of the various schools involved for them to give to the parents of the pupils as a memento of the visit, and I can assure you that just about every child had a shit eating grin on their faces as they hung onto the back of the vests of the riders when they went past me.

Just the school visits would have made the whole ride worthwhile, but, when you chuck in the raffles, auctions, give away prizes and entertainment over the five days plus the fact that the SCA raised over $30,000 for their charity, well, you can really get a perspective of just how successful a Poker Run that this mob of bikers from Queensland do. To try and write about everything that went on during the run would take heaps of pages, but, suffice to say I had a great time in damn good company just simply doing what being a biker is all about. And in closing I have to say that I wouldn’t even know where to start in saying thanks because there were so many people involved in the running of this event, so, I will just congratulate the entire Southern Cross Association as a whole plus all the participants in the ride for making it one hell of a good way to enjoy the Aussie biker lifestyle, and whole heartedly recommend that if you haven’t been on one of these SCA Poker runs before, check out their site at http://www.southern-cross-association.org.au/ and make sure that you make every effort to be a part of next years one.