On Australia Day you’d expect to be near a sunny stretch of beach, barbecue aromas in the air and maybe even a parade of babes in Aussie-flag bikinis, right?

Well, my day was in stark contrast to that, given I’d been ‘working’ in the wet, foggy Blue Mountains on a photo shoot with one of Australia’s best riders, Ben Grabham.

Anyway, I won’t go into that now as all will be revealed in good time, but on my way back to Sydney I caught up with another friend, who really needs no introduction – Geoff Ballard.

It’s one thing that GB is regarded as the most decorated enduro rider in Australian enduro history, with a national and international racing career spanning 37 years.

But his company, Ballard’s Off-Road, has become an empire of dirt bike accessories and apparel that has provided for thousands of riders Australia wide, since 1989. On top of that, his business is spearheaded by one of Australia’s premier enduro teams – Ballard’s Yamaha Off-Road.

Enduro racing has always been strong in Australia, but back in the late’ 90s if any ambitious riders were looking to pursue their career, there was only one real team you could strive to be on and that was Ballard’s – albeit on a Honda XR 250, 400 or 600.

While it’s since evolved into the premier Yamaha team, over the years GB has harbored an ongoing supply of Australian champions in both the A4DE and the more recent AORC. He was always at the pointy end of the field himself, so the only way you could get on GB’s team was if you could actually beat him.

Some of those riders who achieved success with Ballard’s Off-Road were Mark Avard, Glen Bell, Stewart Morgan, the late Ian Cunningham, Damian Smith, Glenn Kearney, Chris Hollis, Jarrod Bewley, Ben Burrel and Stefan Merriman.

Today, his most recent Off-Road protégé is young Matty Phillips, who in his first year of AORC in 2011, showed he’s got what it takes to battle for the Outright title.

While he’s still heavily involved in racing, it seems Geoff is finally starting to taper off from the seriousness of it all and only ride when it suits him.

At 53 years of age, Geoff’s experience in off-road is valuable to anyone who spends time with him while he’s in his element of riding, racing or just talking about the life he’s lead as a dirt bike racer.

Geoff has an archive of crazy stories from around the world, but some really inspirational ones as well. Most people wouldn’t know, when Geoff was 19 and trying to race in Europe on his own, he scored work at the Maico factory to help maintain his race bike and pay his way to the races.

The reality of it though, he was living in a Combi van in the carpark of the factory and would wash his clothes with the mechanic’s pressure washer!

As the manager of his own race team today, it’s easy to see why he runs things a little differently to other team managers in the sport, as he always seems to bring out the best in those riders who devote their entire existence to racing.

So while we may not have been indulging in the usual beer, BBQ and beachy ideals of Australia Day, some red wine, good pasta and an archive of just about every moto video imaginable was good enough for us.

The misty hideaway of GB’s moto retreat, aka ‘Loam Town’, was also a fitting place to revel in moto nostalgia.