Words: Guy Streeter

The Sunny Corner Trail Bike Ride is firmly cemented as an event that every trail rider has either completed or heard great stories of and it’s not surprising that over 1300 riders attended the 30th edition this year. Located just outside of Bathurst, New South Wales, the event is a non-competitive ride, rather than a race, suitable to all skill and fitness levels.

The ride is hosted by the Central Tablelands Motorcycle Club and is held over two days with 130 kilometres of trails on two separate loops. We arrived a little late on Saturday morning and driving in from the highway we were greeted by scenes out of a Mad Max movie – organised riders arrived the day prior to set up camp and were either already on their bikes or just finishing breakfast around their well-established camp fires.

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After finding the registration tent, we quickly signed up and prepared our packs as we got acquainted with the 60th Anniversary Yamaha WR450F, which was on loan to us from Yamaha. They were not only present to support the event, but to also launch Yamaha’s bLU cRU initiative, which is a new customer program designed to help support Yamaha riders.

At the beginning we had the option of hitting one of two loops – the north loop (70kms) or the south loop (40kms), so we went for the longer north loop to begin with. Starting so late in the morning, a good 500 plus riders had already made the same choice, which meant we were on some pretty well worn in and damp single trail. Throughout the pine forrest, plenty of roots criss-crossed their way through before opening out onto a few fire trails and into a mixture of different terrains.

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A and B lines littered the trails with different options for more technical hill climbs and descents. Overall, the trails put together by the Central Tablelands Motorcycle Club were amazing. There were only a few changes that needed to be made by the sweep riders and organisers on the day due too much water turning the already-soaked trails into bog holes, swallowing a few bikes and riders – myself included.

When we completed the north loop, we headed down to the main starting area at day’s end with a few beers in hand and watched the trials bike display. We were able to view the latest Yamaha products on display and also checked out the band while watching an obscene amount of diesel and petrol being poured into the massive communal bonfire. A few more beers were enjoyed late into the evening before retiring for the following day’s riding.

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The best way to describe the Sunny Corner Trail Bike Ride is a weekend away with your mates, riding and camping! The added bonus is noone needs to know where they are going, so there’s no need for maps. Entertainment is provided and a few meal vouchers are as well, so it’s easy to see why 2016 marked the 30th running of the event. If you haven’t got to the Sunny Corner Trail Bike Ride yet, make sure you schedule it in for next year.

2016 had its fair share of ups and downs – mostly up, however the wet weather put a little bit of a dampener on the weekend and the addition of a rider failing 15 metres into an abandoned mine-shaft wasn’t ideal either. Miraculously, he wasn’t severely injured and was winched to safety five hours later, surprisingly his bike still managed to fire up. If you haven’t seen the footage yet, check out YouTube video here.

For more information on the Sunny Corner Trail Bike Ride, or to enter next year’s event, visit www.sunnycorner.com.au. A huge thanks to Yamaha Motor Australia for the opportunity and also to the organisers for providing our place on the trails.