The Hog Award

The beginnings of the story traces back to when JAW got himself a trailbike during the mid 1990's, Mik and Mark also wanted one but had no cash. JAW's next door neighbour, Stewie Darbs, worked next to a bike shop and The Hog sat abandoned in its carpark. He asked if he could have it - and so The Hog found it's way to Quinns Rocks.

Stewie Darbs grew tired of it quickly, and gave it up to Mik and Mark. This wasn't suprising as it was not a trailbike at all, it was a Yamaha SR185 roadbike, pretty much not suited for - well - anything. JAW applied a bit of bush hacking to it, stripped it down to just the bare essentials and so it became a special bushpack edition "The Hog".

Mik became its owner, and together they braved the bush country of Alkimos for years. One thing The Hog had going for it was a very strong engine. On the otherhand, being a road bike, it was not suited for trail work and pretty much anything that could go wrong with it did. However the players that rode with Mik, armed with fencing wire, duct tape and whatever else was handy - managed to get him back home on it everytime.

Finally, after years of punishment, The Hog died halfway between Lancelin and Wedge island. Terminal failure, dropped a valve. JAW couldn't leave it in the bush ("keep Australia beautiful, don't litter") so he 4x4 rescued it. Meantime Mik got himself another bike so The Hog was no longer required.

Brad stepped in, rather than seeing The Hog go to the tip he pulled it down, sourced a $5 second hand replacement valve, and got it going again. When running it blew so much smoke that he decided not to continue in the other repairs required and was ready to take it to the tip.

JAW stepped in again, finished the last parts, and held a special "Hog Meet" where CQ'ers were invited to head out to the Alkimos Classic Time Trial where everyone could have a run on it. The day however was quickly over when on its maiden voyage Mik took it for a smokey and rough run for a minute or two - it seized.

This was decidedly the final moment of The Hog. With the help of the players gathered, it was hoisted high up on the Old Windmill as a permanent landmark and tribute to the once great Hog. This lasted all of 3 weeks, where it was cut down and taken away. Some say aliens took it for research, others claim a museum curator spotted it as unique - I think someone eyed off the good condition renthals on it...

All that remains of The Hog now is the broken valve, mounted on a plaque, which is awarded to any player at a Crusty Quinns meet who's bike has stopped and is unable to get back to the start under its own steam. It is a perpetual trophy and has been known to change hands within a week, or to be with an individual for 6 months.