Tassie Devil
09-15-2006, 09:46 AM
On Fathers' Day I was gifted a copy of "Old Bike Australia" by my twin girls, "Search" and "Destroy". I found this little gem to share with you all.
"Our more mature members may be familiar with the exploits of Edgar Jessop, bon vivant, philanderer and the dashing leader of the globe trotting works Spagforth team in the Golden era of the sport".
As part of a Down Under tour that spent an inordinate amount of time in Kalgoorlie, Jessop took in the inaugural and only Tarana TT in 1924. Linking the towns of Lithgow, Tarana and Rydal just west of the Blue Mountains, the arduous and unforgiving 40 kilometre lap tested man and machine to the limit.
Hardly the epitome of phisical fitness at the best of times, Jessop developed a taste of the Lithgow XXX Lager, a local brew of some 15% alcohol by volume, during his time in the district, and by race day had added several pounds to his already corpulent frame.
Still, his 500cc Spragforth Stoat had the legs on the opposition during qualifying and practice sessions, and Jessop found no need to apply restraint on the evening prior to the gruelling 530 kilometre race.
Instead, Edgar and his chief mechanic, Harold Scrotum, spent the evening in a champagne filled spa bath accompanied bya couple of local starlets, dining on caviar, oysters and a rare aged sirloin of beef.
Despite feeling rather fragile after his bacchanalian bout, Jessop fronted for the TT with scarcely an hours sleep and soon disposed of early leader Eugene Molestrangler on a methene fuelled OHC Grundle.
Setting a scorching pace, Edgar's virtuosity behind the handle-bars inflamed the passions of a shapley lady spectator at a particularly difficult section of the circuit then known as Bonkington's Bend, located 4 kilometers East of the Tarana pub. Each lap as Edgar sailed through, she lowered her drawers to show her ample prosteria to the champion.
Finally, the expectation of the next exposure told, and Jessop's fly buttons let go with a resounding "twang" as he approached the tightening right hander at breakneck speed.
Misjudging his breaking point, Edgar decked the Stoat, which cartwheeled over an embankment, demolishing a pie stand and a portable bordello in the process.
Although the rider was unhurt apart from a swelling in the groin, the works Spagforth was wrecked, and by the time the team mechanics arrived from Lithgow to recover the machine, much of it had been souvenired by vandals.
The accident, and Jessop's rare defeat, made headline news, and the infamous bend was renamed in his memory.
Today the Tarana-Lithgow road is a favorite weekend haunt for motor-cyclists of all ages who, despite warning signs and the absence of prosterias, regularly plunge into the same scenery as Edgard did all those years ago.
Cheers,
JQ.
"Our more mature members may be familiar with the exploits of Edgar Jessop, bon vivant, philanderer and the dashing leader of the globe trotting works Spagforth team in the Golden era of the sport".
As part of a Down Under tour that spent an inordinate amount of time in Kalgoorlie, Jessop took in the inaugural and only Tarana TT in 1924. Linking the towns of Lithgow, Tarana and Rydal just west of the Blue Mountains, the arduous and unforgiving 40 kilometre lap tested man and machine to the limit.
Hardly the epitome of phisical fitness at the best of times, Jessop developed a taste of the Lithgow XXX Lager, a local brew of some 15% alcohol by volume, during his time in the district, and by race day had added several pounds to his already corpulent frame.
Still, his 500cc Spragforth Stoat had the legs on the opposition during qualifying and practice sessions, and Jessop found no need to apply restraint on the evening prior to the gruelling 530 kilometre race.
Instead, Edgar and his chief mechanic, Harold Scrotum, spent the evening in a champagne filled spa bath accompanied bya couple of local starlets, dining on caviar, oysters and a rare aged sirloin of beef.
Despite feeling rather fragile after his bacchanalian bout, Jessop fronted for the TT with scarcely an hours sleep and soon disposed of early leader Eugene Molestrangler on a methene fuelled OHC Grundle.
Setting a scorching pace, Edgar's virtuosity behind the handle-bars inflamed the passions of a shapley lady spectator at a particularly difficult section of the circuit then known as Bonkington's Bend, located 4 kilometers East of the Tarana pub. Each lap as Edgar sailed through, she lowered her drawers to show her ample prosteria to the champion.
Finally, the expectation of the next exposure told, and Jessop's fly buttons let go with a resounding "twang" as he approached the tightening right hander at breakneck speed.
Misjudging his breaking point, Edgar decked the Stoat, which cartwheeled over an embankment, demolishing a pie stand and a portable bordello in the process.
Although the rider was unhurt apart from a swelling in the groin, the works Spagforth was wrecked, and by the time the team mechanics arrived from Lithgow to recover the machine, much of it had been souvenired by vandals.
The accident, and Jessop's rare defeat, made headline news, and the infamous bend was renamed in his memory.
Today the Tarana-Lithgow road is a favorite weekend haunt for motor-cyclists of all ages who, despite warning signs and the absence of prosterias, regularly plunge into the same scenery as Edgard did all those years ago.
Cheers,
JQ.