my bit!
have to say that I was really looking forward to this ride as I hadn't ridden in this area before, bit silly really as its not that far away, and as it turned out I was not dissappointed. Bob(sandra) and I left Traralgon 6.30 ish and headed west, had an awful-read- should have known better(maccas)breakfast in Pakenham and made our way to Launching Place with time to spare. Arrived to find the reserve full of cars and utes and trailers and bikes- going to be a great day methinks
.Emma arrived and after introductions and a ride briefing we were all set to go, Bob was Emma's co-pilot in the 4be for the day,the last I heard they were going on about pink hand grips or something
. Rob led us on a short bitumen leg with Steve as tail(big thanks mate), wasnt long before we went down an "interesting' track, we have all heard about the red clay havent we, well I havent ridden that much on it have I -so--- here I am as we head down this track with tree roots and the like just waiting to trip up the unsuspecting rider and the first bog hole I come to is another rider gently choosing his line and I think -here's a way past and off I go, into the bog hole and yip you guessed it - woopsie droped the bike didnt I, quick look around to see if anyone watching-doh- theres Pete, am sure I could see him shaking his head
. Anyway after that everything went well - - - until---- not really sure what happened but , as I was riding around a corner, more like a bend really, and this was on an established 4x4 road too, the back end decided to step out on me,, not sure if I wound the throttle on to drive out of the slide or what happened(I'm sure Trevor would have an opinion on this as he was in the box seat to see this unfold)but the next thing is the back wheel is deciding to over take the front and down I go, slid with the bike for a while and then as we turned through 90 degrees I let the handle bars go and continued my slide down the road on my back for 50 or so metres,, quite funny really, pity Trev didnt have his helmet cam, funniest home videos would have been his.,, Actually took a while to get my mojo back after that, , rode a couple of tricky hills complete with bog holes(see Trevors footage) until we came to some trees blocking our way,, some clearing of foliage and help saw all of us through this and then onto the down hill run to Powelly for a well deserved lunch break.,,Steak sangas and burgers with the lot seemed to be popular, mine certainly hit the spot
, After lunch I put my hand up for tail duties and having said our goodbyes to Frankie and the pit crew ;)we were once agian off,, a nasty shower of rain must have been waiting for us to leave as down it came just in time for Geary's track, to be honest I dont think I would have made it up Geary's but being tailman gave me the excuse to stop and head back down to give a helping hand to those that were struggling, just as I was making my back down our intrepid ride leader Rob came back down saying "we'll go around" -phew thought I.
Once back down and everyone accounted for it was a quick ride back to the track where it all started for me,, funnily enough the boghole that tripped me up and the tree roots and clay didn't seem quite so intimidating this time through, so a short bitumen ride back to the trailers ,change of clothes and back to Traralgon for me and Bob, Well I drove as far as Pakenham and Bob drove the rest of the way as I had a dinner date with a six pack of my favorite brew, and bless her cotton socks she hosed my bike down too (as I stood there sucking on a stubbie) got to love her.
In closing I would like to thank Emma for organising the ride,
. Rob a massive thankyou for leading,. Thanks also to the other two tailmen, and thanks to everyone who came along and made this ride what it was -FUN!!!.- GOT TO LOVE DIRT BIKE RIDING HEY
