Cold duck rally 'best party in HB'

"It's the best party in Hawke's Bay."
That's what Geoff Earnshaw said of the Cold Duck Motorcycle Rally at Waipawa during the weekend.
Mr Earnshaw and other members of the Waipawa Motorcycle Sports Club organised the rally, in which more than 1800 bikers gathered during the three-day event.
Bikers and participants from around the country pitched tents, enjoyed the sun and participated in the games on Saturday.
"It all went really smoothly and everyone I talked to said it gets better every year," Mr Earnshaw said.
It was biker Brent Thelwall's fourth Cold Duck rally and it was "the best one yet" and "a huge success", he said, while still recovering like many rally-goers.
Teamed up with his Harley Davidson 1340 low-rider, Mr Thelwall said, while the majority of the time he preferred to watch the games, he couldn't help but join in on the fun.
On his Harley, Mr Thelwall raced alongside a "little" 50cc bike, which would have been a rather comical sight, he said - despite the fact he lost.
"It was a technical fail," he laughs.
Mr Thelwall, who helped out the Waipawa Motorcycle Sports Club by serving behind the bar, pitched tents before his mates from Auckland arrived so "they could hop off their bikes and get partying", he said.
Local bands FM, Naked Gun and Cougan Renata had the crowds "screaming" and the motorcycle and non-motorcycle games had both participants and non-participants entertained, Mr Earnshaw said.
The winner of the "weenie snatch", where competitors had to stand on the back of a moving bike and grab a dangling sausage with their mouth, wasn't to impressed with having to bite a cold, slimy, uncooked sav - especially since she was a vegetarian, Mr Earnshaw chuckled.
The crowd was well-behaved, tidy and all up for a good time during the "top weekend", Mr Earnshaw said.