G’day you beautiful bunch of sun-baked, wind-battered legends! Welcome to the AWMEC Christmas Lunch – the one day of the year we swap leathers for Christmas shirts and try to look respectable… yeah, nice try!
First, can we just acknowledge everyone who rode here today? , and you lot still rocked up looking like you just stepped off a magazine shoot. Respect. The rest of you who trailered or drove the cage… we’ll let it slide, but only because it’s Christmas and you brought Chirstmas Cheer.
What a year 2025 has been for AWMEC! We’ve clocked up some serious kilometres together – the snowy twists up to Thredbo (when it was actually cold for five minutes), that cracker of a long weekend down the Great Ocean Road, the Murray River runs, the breakfast rides, the coffee stops that turned into three hours late because someone spotted a new road on the map… you know who you are. We’ve sweated, we’ve sworn at the wind, we’ve helped each other pick bikes up after “gravel surprises”, and somehow we’re all still here, slightly redder and a bit louder than we started.
That’s the AWMEC for you – it’s not just about the bikes (even though yours are clearly the best-looking ones here). It’s about the mates who’ll ride through a dust storm just to have a cold one and a laugh with you at the end. The ones who’ll share their last bottle of water when it’s 40° and you forgot yours… again. That ridiculous, rock-solid camaraderie that only happens when you spend half your life leaning into corners with the same bunch of lunatics. You lot are family – the loud, sunburnt, slightly insane family that Santa definitely has on the permanent naughty list.
Christmas is the season of giving, and this year you mob gave me a few extra grey hairs watching you dice with that crosswind on the freeway, but you also gave me memories. So thank you – from the bottom of my heat-stroked heart.
Now, looking ahead to 2026 – the committee has been plotting while hiding in air-conditioning, and the calendar is looking tasty. Autumn High Country rides, winter escape over ranges, the annual Butterball, mystery rides, and plenty more. All the dates and details will be up on www.awmec.com.au over the break – go have a squiz when you’re lying under the air-con with a cold drink.
So here’s to cold beer, hot roads (hopefully with less wind next year), bikes that don’t overheat in traffic, and mates who make every kilometre worth it.
Raise your glass, stubby, or fancy water bottle with a lemon slice in it – to the best motorcycle club on the border, to old friends, new members, and another ripper year on two wheels.
Merry Christmas, stay hydrated, ride safe over the break, and we’ll see you all in 2026… probably sweating at the first ride meeting!
Cheers, you legends!
Michael
President