BMWMCCWA

Black Dog Ride began as one man's personal quest to complete a solo motorbike trip around Australia to raise community awareness of depression. In Australia, each year around 1,000,000 adults and 100,000 young people live with depression. More than 50% will not seek treatment. Join Steve as he continues his mission.

The Ride
If you feel like a challenge and enjoy the adventure of the open road, then you'll love this awesome ride. Commencing on August 18, riders from all around Australia are heading to the Red Centre to raise community awareness of depression and suicide prevention. The final leg of the journey on Friday 24 will take us to the Mall in the heart of Alice Springs for a Community Event and bbq lunch attended by the Mayor. Whether you ride the first 50kms, make it a weekend ride by overnighting to the first stopover town, or go the whole distance to the Red Centre, you will become a Black Dog Rider and help draw attention to depression, a debilitating illness which affects 1 in 5 Australians.

Enjoy the freedom of the open road, the unique camaraderie which bikers share and the feeling of being part of something which will make a difference. Group rides will be leaving from each State & Territory capital. Details of the group ride coordinators are listed below in the Registration section.

More details here: http://www.blackdogride.com.au/view/red-centre-2012/

Wes is going and has kindly agreed to be our ride contact for this event. PM him if you are interested in finding out more details.

I have registered for the BLACK DOG RIDE as a NIGHT RIDER which means I will travel to Kalgoorlie on the Saturday for the dinner,camp overnight and return to Perth on the Sunday.

Would like to complete the run to the Alice but my leave pass could not be extended

Regards

Swampy

Wes, Swampy and myself joined 90 odd riders on a wide variety of machines (mainly large to very large 2300cc) at the start of the Black Dog Ride on Saturday.

We immediately spotted a 650 DR rider in BMW gear and asked if he was a member of the BMW Club. He had just returned from the Gibb River Road but was surprisingly not a club member.

The bulk of the riders headed straight to Merredin. Swampy refuelled at Tammin to avoid the bowser crush in Merredin and missed out on details for the lunch and was not spotted again until Kalgoorlie (Swampy the lunch in Merredin was one of the highlights of the trip..sad you missed the show).

We and myself charged off to Kalgoorlie being passed by a group of low flying BMWs. The uneven road surface combined with sitting for long distances at constant speed vibrated several bolts out of the rear shaft drive on Wes's bike which he repaired with cable ties...hopefully he will get metric bolts today in Ceduna. A minor deviation through a drain had us in Kalgoorlie for the dinner at the Boulder ex Servicemens Club. The woman who accosted us in the Dwellingup Coffee shop would have felt we fitted right in in at Boulder.

A noisy mob exchanged extravagant facts over a few beers before an early night despite SMS's from Sprocket and Bully suggesting other entertainment.

The following morning the mob set off from the Kamabalda Road BP Truckstop...an amazing hive of activity with road trains, caravans, Winnebagos and 4WDs mixed up with 80 bikes. A few locals joined the ride, one sporting a purple mohawk (that would look good on you Davey). The weather was stunning. I left the ride just south of Kambalda and headed home via Bruce Rock and York to get involved in a discussion about "bloody local government" at Saints.

A simple but enjoyable 1300kms as a night rider in the Black Dog ride. 400 riders are expected in Alice Springs from all capital cities and to date $250,000 has been raised for the Balck Dog Institute. It will vbe bigger and better next year. Think about having a go.

Bozo

Happy to report that Wes has arrived back safely after his ride.
"about 7,900 kays and a bit buggered after six solid days of cross wind and cold".

Well done Wes, looking forward to a full report over fish 'n chips when you're well rested.