Ulysses club
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Ulysses Club
The Ulysses Club is a social riding club primarily for people over the age of 40. Guests are welcome. Ulysses is the largest riders club in Australia with over 20,000 current members in Australia. It has branches in most cities and towns. In the Perth metro there are branches in <a href="http://ulysses-wa.org/">Perth</a>, <a href="http://www.ulyssesfremantle.iinet.net.au/">Fremantle</a>, <a href="http://www.ulysses-wa.info/armadale/">Armadale</a> and <a href="http://ulysses-wa.info/joondalup/">Joondalup</a>. Nearby are branches in <a href="http://www.ulysses.org.au/branches/warnbro/">Warnbro</a>, <a href="http://ulysses-wa.info/mandurah/">Mandurah</a>, <a href="http://www.ulysses-wa-bunbury.org/">Bunbury</a>, <a href="http://ulysses-wa.info/geraldton/">Geraldton</a>, <a href="http://www.kalwaulysses.com/">Kalgoorlie</a>, <a href="http://www.ulyssesclub.org/branches/view_branch.asp?bId=1074752082">Albany</a> and <a href="http://www.ulyssesclub.org/branches/view_branch.asp?bId=1083319220">Esperence</a>. There are a few members in may other WA towns who meet and ride informally rather than via a branch. Most Ulysses rides are on Sunday; and, most riders are on medium to large tourers or cruisers. However, Fremantle branch runs a ("plod") ride every Wednesday morning; and, Perth branch runs occasional rides specifically for small bikes and scooters ("Ulyttlies").
The History
The name comes from the <a href="http://ulysses-wa.info/Ulysses.php">poem of the same title by Alfred, Lord Tennyson</a>.
It tells how the great Greek hero Ulysses, now middle-aged and securely in charge of his kingdom of Ithaca, is getting bored with things around him and longs to go adventuring again with his shipmates of old. It describes very well indeed the sort of person who still has enough spark to go on riding into middle and later years.
The Ulysses club is about similar ideals.
We've mostly all done our bit in life and feel that getting bogged down in the rigours of later life is just not on.
The club offers the opportunities for over-forty-year-olds to get out there and show the world that we still have what it takes to enjoy the excitement that awaits every skilled rider and would be rider.
To show that we aren't ready to lay back and watch the weeds grow and then look back and wonder "could I have done better".
No, for us it is the open road and the friendship that comes with the great companionship of many others who wish to enjoy the biking way of life.
Who Can Join Ulysses?
Any lady or gentleman who is over the age of 40, and who holds a current motorcycle licence, or who is a regular partner of such a person, and over 40, is eligible to join.
Until you reach the grand old age of 50, you will be a "junior" member, but with full membership rights and privileges. It's just that you might have to help some of the "seniors" off their machines sometime!
How it all Began
The original suggestion for a motorcycle club for over 50's was put forward in a letter by Stephen Dearnley published in the August 1983 issue of Bike Australia.
This drew two significant responses: one from Rob Hill, a reader at Albion Park NSW, who suggested the present name and motto for the club. The other from Peter Thoeming, then the editor of Bike Australia who sketched the logo and offered support from his magazine if Stephen could get the club off the ground.
This was done at an inaugural meeting in Sydney on 6th December, 1983 when the five people present approved a basic constitution and the Ulysses Club was duly formed.
From that tenuous beginning it has never looked back and the club now boasts a large and extensive network of members throughout Australia and in New Zealand.
More Information
- Visit the <a href="http://ulyssesclub.org/">Ulysses National site</a> or the <a href="http://ulysses-wa.org/">Perth branch website</a> for more information about the Ulysses Club.
- See the <a href="Clubs">article in this wiki title Clubs</a> for information on other riders clubs in Western Australia.
