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 so more of the AMTRA family great bunch of guys.
Still cant get those hills out of my mind.
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)
