Still riding a motorbike at the age of 87 is no mean feat, let alone winning a 160-kilometre event.
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Cessnock Motorcycle Club member Brian Rooney achieved just that on December 3 when he took out the club's Trenholme Trial in the NSW's Hunter region for the second time - 65 years since his first win in the event.
The Trenholme Trial is not a first-past-the-post race; it's a timed trial that requires strategy, skill and luck.
It was founded in 1952 as the Cessnock Reliability Trial, and was renamed in 1956 as the Trenholme Trial in memory of club member Ted Trenholme, who was killed in a motorcycle accident while returning from the previous year's event.
Rooney joined Cessnock Motorcycle Club when he was 17 years old and rode in the trial the year Trenholme died, remembering him as a "solid" club member who was at every meeting and every function.
Rooney was heavily involved in the motorcycle club and was granted life membership in 1960 in recognition of his work to establish the Jubilee circuit at South Cessnock.
"We ended up closing because there were lots of accidents, because there were only wire fences and bikes just went straight into the crowd," he recalled.
"They brought in the Speedway Act, which meant big secure fences and barricades, and the regulations got too much, and we didn't have the dough."
Rooney was a speedway rider and owned a motorcycle dealership in Cessnock for many years, starting on Maitland Road and moving into Vincent Street, where he expanded the business to become the Honda car dealer.
But he didn't set foot on a motorcycle for almost 40 years; he had moved to Brunkerville and turned his interest to riding horses instead.
"All the mountains that I ride my bike on now, I rode on horses. We used to do 80-100km rides on Arab horses, all of those years," he said.
It was only when Rooney and his wife Marlene moved back into Cessnock about 10 years ago that he took up motorcycle riding again.
"I met up with a couple of the boys, and I was fairly bored, and they said 'you should get back on a bike'. So here we are. For the last 10 years I've ridden nearly every week," he said.
"People were astounded that I rode the Trenholme Trial at 81 - but this year no-one thought too much about it."
Rooney's win in the Trenholme Trial came just five weeks after he was injured in a crash at Howes Valley.
"Motorbikes can be dangerous; if you're going to ride them, you learn to live with stuff like that," he said.
The Trenholme Trial takes in the mountains and trails of the Cessnock local government area. It is held in four stages, with a designated average time for each section, and riders lose points for arriving early or late to each checkpoint.
Twenty riders took part in this year's event, and as they arrived back at the Khartoum Hotel their times were entered into an Excel spreadsheet.
"I was first out, and nearly first in. I tried to calculate my times as best I could. I went up two wrong tracks, but it all turned out well for me," Rooney said.
"We all get back, sit around, having a drink and a chat wait for everyone to roll in.
"They start calling out at number 20, then 19, then 18, and so on.
"Then the guy I rode with said 'Have you heard your name called out yet?' and I said 'No, I haven't been paying attention'.
"We were down to about sixth and your name hasn't been mentioned.
"I said, I'll probably be next, no, maybe next one, no.
"Then all of a sudden, they said, here's the winner."
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Cessnock Motorcycle Club secretary Dave Blake said all of the riders were "over the moon" that a club legend like Rooney had won the event.
"You couldn't get a better name on that trophy," he said.
Rooney said he was "flabbergasted" to be announced as the winner.
He paid tribute to the event organiser Fred Fowler, who rode this year with his son and grandson.
"The club's been going for so long, the trial's been going for so long, and these things don't just happen easily. Fred Fowler and his family, they work hard to keep this thing going. It's a wonderful thing for the area and I hope it keeps going," he said.
Krystal Sellars
Krystal Sellars is the Senior Journalist at the Cessnock Advertiser. Born and raised in Cessnock, she started her journalism career at the Advertiser in 2006 after completing a Bachelor of Communication at the University of Newcastle. Contact her on krystal.sellars@cessnockadvertiser.com.au.
Krystal Sellars is the Senior Journalist at the Cessnock Advertiser. Born and raised in Cessnock, she started her journalism career at the Advertiser in 2006 after completing a Bachelor of Communication at the University of Newcastle. Contact her on krystal.sellars@cessnockadvertiser.com.au.
