dennisd
Full Member 2012/2013
Posts: 222
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« on: January 26, 2012, 06,13:22 AM » |
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Here is the text of my ride report for Peter Ross' Eildon ride on 27 December 2011. It has taken me a while to get around to it but here it is and it will also appear in AMTRACTION with photos.
On a fine, sunny but not too hot day, we got away from the car park in Eildon at just after 9:00 am with 30 riders. It was good to get out after the excesses of Christmas eating and blow away a few cobwebs. It was a little dusty in parts, but not too bad. We hadn’t gone all that far in the morning when we had a re-group beside the main Eildon-Jamieson Road. With one bike having starting problems, that rider took the tar back to the cars. We were down to 29 riders for the morning run into Jamieson for fuel.
It was probably a good thing that Peter warned us that we were on what is now generally referred to as “Ben’s Bridge Track” and he sent Fred ahead with his video camera to capture some action (crashes). However we all managed to get across the very narrow bridge with no difficulties and so no spectacular video footage. The warning was good, because you come on the bridge very suddenly around a blind corner. Too much speed could easily see an unsuspecting rider poorly positioned for the crossing.
As usual on these pub lunch runs that Peter leads in this area, a visit to Mt Terrible is obligatory. It is virtually on the way anyway and provides terrific views over the Jamieson valley. You could even see the water glittering in the distant Lake Eildon, which is now full. During the rest at Mt Terrible, Sean noticed oil sprayed all over the top of his engine. It was a mess. After lots of discussion it was decided that the oil was simply overflow through the breather, caused by adding too much oil at the oil change before the ride. Note to Sean, don’t add the full measured amount of oil when you don’t also change the oil filter.
After topping up our fuel in Jamieson we rode the tar to the Kevington Hilton Hotel for lunch.
The Kevington Hotel is a very nice, relaxing place for lunch. It is quieter than Jamieson and the seating outside under the shade of trees in the beer garden is just what a group of dusty trail riders need and the food was OK too, not to mention the nice cold liquid refreshments. The place has hardly changed from my first visit here as a teenager around 45 years ago. Fred met up with Marls here and left the ride, heading for a few days of camping at Abbyard.
After a longish lunch and rest at Kevington, it was back on the bikes and the trails back towards Eildon. The pace quickened but we still had a long way to go when we had a forced rest while P-Air worked, with the help of Sean and plenty of advice from the surrounding crowd, to repair a puncture so that it would again hold the air in his rear tyre. It is hard to imagine P-Air getting a flat on the front wheel, as it seems to rarely be on the ground.
After the puncture repair we were on our way again but we were starting to run a bit late. To get us back to the cars at a reasonable time, Peter led us onto the tar along the Eildon – Jamieson Road at the Jerusalem Creek Track intersection for a sprint back to Eildon. All through the day I lost count of the times that Pat on his little XR200 roared past me at warp speed. He really made that little bike fly, despite a buggered rear shock and a broken clutch cable. I’m sure he was determined to pass all of the bigger bikes during the day and he may well have achieved just that!
We got back to the cars at around 5:30 pm, having completed a little over 180 Km for the day. It was a great ride, long but fun and not hard. I enjoyed it as apparently did the rest. It was also great to see fabulous Phil back riding and doing OK. Thanks Peter
Dennis Dorman
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