AMTRA.com.au

Saturday 15th to Sunday 16th Jan. Pre ride of course and work on the site. Full and Rec reg suitable, depending on which part of the course is ridden.

BBQ Sat night, probably.

Any Questions? See Mat or phone him on 0409 520 642.

Rides: Saturday, approx 170km with refuel in Whitfield at about 100km. Bikes need to have 120km range.

Sunday, about 100km.

If there is interest i will do pizzas sat night. $5 per person.

Pizza list,

1.Zeb
2. Robert x2
3. Serge Coffee
4. Brad
5. Matt
6. Frankie

i'll pre ride it if i can volunteer as a sweep rider for both days of the HCR

It may not be a full pre-ride of the course over this one weekend, as work on Abbeyard is also required. There are three planned weekends which include pre-riding of the course, including alternative routes that may need to be considered plus emergency access routes.

As for HCR weekend roles, roles assigned to volunteers will be determined closer to the event taking into account the skills, knowledge and requests of those volunteering. Pre-riding the course is highly desirable but is not a pre-requisite or gaurantee for setting volunteer duties.

Please remember that most volunteers would like a role involving some riding over the HCR weekend. That may require each volunteer will need to spend some time on a non-riding duty.

It is too early to being promising anything.

I'll be pre-riding as I don't expect to have much chance to ride on the HCR weekend.

I can help out on that weekend , ride , work at Abby whatever is required just let me know what you guys need and I will be their with bells on .... PS just so you know mat I am not good at digging trenches OK  ;D

Count me in Mat

Pat I heard that your Pizza is worth at least a tennar ....

Pizza for me if you end up doing it  ;D

Hi Mat,Doug and I were up at Abbeyard yesterday/today and found the following tracks closed-
Razor
Penny
East West Buffalo Divide
Harry Shepherds
and Cobbler Lake track is closed from the Abbeyard Rd thru to the corner of Dan Buffalo Divide.
All are sign posted stating that they are closed due to water damage or fallen trees.We spoke to a couple of 4X4 drivers who had come down Cobbler Lake track who said it was fine except for lots of ruts!

Haven't been to Abbeyard yet, so does that mean that there's no legal track out of our property?

Not to worry Frankie those tracks are all on the South side the Northern approach and tracks are open.
The property is on a normal 2WD road that only closes if the Buffalo River floods.

The grass is up to waist high on most of the property.Anyone who is coming to the working-bee and owns a brush cutter (not whipper-snipper) it would be most appreciated if you could bring it.

I might be going there on Friday, is anyone else going that day, if not can someone give me the numbers to the lock on the gate.

Zeb and I will be there Frankie the gate will be open from 9.30am Friday we plan tho ride and mow and fill gas bottles this weekend.

Braderley, if we count gas bottles needed we can organise swapsies between weekends rather than a trip into town just for gas. Of course if getting more drinks then that would be a necessary trip. :P

OK there is no master plan for the working bee and ride weekend. Saturday may see a run of Sat HCR planned loop, including counting up how many corners and arrows and cautions and wrong ways are going to be needed, then we order lots more than that.

I should be there later on Friday.

Mat.

Post up for pizza's. Its going ahead.

Me, Me, Me, I love pizza's.

Sound good Pat put Zeb and I down is this for Friday and Saturday nights or Saturday?

Pizza x 2

I'll be there!

I hope you have got anchovies!

Well I will be there so will be in for the pizza.

For those pre-riding the HCR course and working on the site the pizza, plus some drinks, will be provided for them on Saturday night.

Regards

Mat.

Olives no Anchovies for me

Yum

NO ANCHOVIES!!!

What's the point of eating pizza then?

 ???

MMM, Ok lets vote on it Pizza with Anchovies or without, what do you think folks?

No Anchovies its YUK as my nephew says ...  Suppose we can pick them of and toss them out just like the pickle in a junior burger ....

Philistines!

 >:(

Gee....you blokes are fussy eaters, coming from a big family you learn to eat what gets put in front of you, or do with out ;D

BYO anchovies

That is, of course, assuming Abbeyard isn't under-water (again!)

 :o

Only happens when you go there Serge with Anchovies?

I think you either have pizza OR fish, not both together. :)

So,

Surprise, surprise!  There's an Abbeyard weekend on and it's p15sing down!

C'mon you weather gurus, what's it gonna be like up there?

 ???

Not raining here  ::)

What an experience last weekend was , thanks everyone for having me along riding the high country was just a totally incredible expireince and it was also really nice to meet some more of the AMTRA family great bunch of guys.

Still cant get those hills out of my mind.  ;D

Yes, it certainly was a good weekend.  Who would have thought that, given the sh!tty day on Friday, would turn into a brilliant weekend!

I left Melbourne about 2:00 on Friday, and it had just stopped raining.  I met up with Mat at Glenrowan, and we decided to stop for dinner at Myrtleford, where we also met up with Rob and Dougie.  It was raining in Myrtleford and I wasn’t looking forward to the road into Abbeyard.  As it turned out, the rain stopped again as we approached the dam wall, and that’s where it stayed!  We got into the Yard at around 7:00, to find Brad, Zeb, Pat and Frankie comfortably refreshed, and we saw no reason not to join them! A large tree had fallen across the road right near the gate, so we made plans to clear it in the morning, and then settled into some adult fizzy drinks while the others arrived.

After breakfast on Saturday morning, Rob took his chainsaw down to the gate and we chopped and dragged the offending tree out of the way.  Then it was time to gear up and head off on a pre-ride of the HCR loop.  We left the property at about 9:00, and headed straight up Cobbler to Dan Buffalo where Frankie noticed his rear wheel bearings were not in good shape.  On closer inspection, it turned out that his axle nut was just loose, so a quick nip and all was good.  We took Dan Buffalo to the road, and went along the black-top to Black Range.  I waited on a corner here for about half an hour, when finally Brad showed up to inform me that Mat (tailman) had retired with a knackered rear tyre and John (Dirtriderz) had bailed with a stuffed rear sprocket!  We continued along Black Range Tk, which turned out to be a great run and we reckon the rocky down hill sections will give some of the punters a real experience of High Country riding!  From here we headed to our lunch and fuel stop at Whitfield, but given the half hour hold up earlier, we missed the fuel station by 15 mins (they close at midday on a Saturday!)  We had lunch and pondered our plan of attack as Pat went in search of fuel.  He found a sympathetic guy at the caravan park who went for a 50 k drive to buy and deliver us some fuel.  Nice bloke!  At this point, Rob and Dougie decided to head back via the road (this was Doug’s first ride after his accident and he was feeling a bit stuffed).

We continued on (I have no idea where), but eventually came to a crossing of the Rose River which was up and flowing hard.  I walked it through (along with Zeb and Frank), and it was hard work.  Brad rode across and nearly missed the exit point!  Anyway, cool wet boots felt fine as the temp was somewhere in the high 20’s.  Eventually, we got back to Cobbler Lake Tk, and decided to go and have a look at the waterfalls (which were pumping!).  Fuel was once again becoming an issue because we were up around the 170 ks mark, and those who re-fuelled at lunch were getting critical.  I had the Safari tank on, so I kept at the back of the pack just in case.  Sure enough, I found Zeb stopped on the side of the track.  I drained a litre from my tank and we got going again, only to find Frankie out of juice 200 meters further along.  Out with the tools again, and we got him sorted.  10 (or so) ks further along, both Frank and Zeb were dry again, but this time, I only got 1 litre out of my tank before I hit reserve, so Brad donated a litre and we all rode back on fumes!

We all got safely back to Abbeyard at around 5:00, with just on 200 ks under our wheels.  We settled into some more refreshing bevies, while Pat hit the oven and cooked some sensational pizzas.  We did the usual talk crap thing till around 11:00, and then one by one, floated off to bed.

A great day had by all with no real track side dramas to contend with.  Thanx to Pat for leading the ride (and cooking dinner), Mat for morning tail and Brad for afternoon duties.

Pat (ride leader and cook)
Mat (morning tail and early retire)
John (Dirtriderz / early retire)
Neil (Dirtriderz)
Rob
Doug
Zeb
Brad
Frankie
Wiggy
Serge (Exxon Valdez)

(Photos and Sunday report to come)

(http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/gallery/61_17_01_11_2_55_18.JPG)
Beautiful riding weather

(http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/gallery/61_17_01_11_2_55_53.JPG)
Brad enjoying lunch (with the other guy from DirtriderZ, who's name escapes me)

(http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/gallery/61_17_01_11_2_56_23.JPG)
The rest of the crew

(http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/gallery/61_17_01_11_2_56_54.JPG)
The bikes

(http://www.vinamtra.com.au/forum/gallery/61_17_01_11_2_57_28.JPG)
Outlet at the Dam wall

I bet it was that freshly bulldozed hill ;D

Brad & Zeb told me that they were going to Abbeyard early Friday morning, leaving home 4:30 & do a ride when they get there, as Friday got closer I thought that it was a great idea to go for a ride on Friday, so I left at 4:30 as well, driving down there it never stopped raining, anyway I got to the dirt road leading to the clubs property yeah it was still raining & slip sliding along there was two trees down on the way some one had cut a section out wide enough to get through, & the other one you could just get around it, next time, I'm going to make sure to bring the chain saw,driving further & further & deeper into the bush I was starting to talk to my self, can't be this far in maybe I missed a sign some were, so I turned around & went back,( as I found out later I only had 5 km to go & I would have been there)on the way back out I met Brad & Zeb from then on It was easy they showed me the way, had a great time the ride was great except for running out of fuel, but thanks for Brad & Serge for carrying the extra fuel I needed to get back thanks heaps fellas, I meant to fix you both up for the fuel when I got back, but first thing first yeah the beer was so cold.

If you want to have a great weekend get along to the next one, these weekends are the best way to get know  each other better.

Thanks fellas for a great weekend, I'll be there for the next one. 

How did you guess Frankie , got the Bast5#@D on the second pass though , You know I came around that 90 deg bend and a rock sent me out wide , it was precicley at that point I realized how high we actually were up the mountain after i saw the 500 foot sheer drop off to the right hand side,  all i remeber was thinking over and over in my head watch where you want to go zeb DONT LOOK OVER THE SIDE  haha ;D