Met up with 10 other riders at the BP and headed off to Cobaw on a warm afternoon, meeting 2 more riders there to make up a bakers dozen.
After getting bikes ready and riders briefed, reminding all to drink lots of water and let me know if they were feeling the heat, we set off just after 2 p.m. Although it had been reaching 30 degrees in Melbourne the Cobaw forest was a few degrees cooler and there was a nice breeze blowing though.
Usual selection of tracks, trying not to head down anything with a real nasty twist, saw us motor along at a fair pace. Being a warm day I stopped early on to make sure all were going o.k. After a quick challenge, which all handled well, we headed off to Reillys and what I call the fun loops.
At this stage we also got into a bit of bike swapping, and I got to ride Charlies KTM which felt a lot lighter than my WR426 but with less torque out of the engine. Julian also tried out Matt's WR450 while Matt tried the mighty DRZ250. I think both enjoyed finding out the capability of the respective bikes.
We stayed on the loop for a while, as I had inadvertently sent Robb off on cornerman test section. Being a warm day I asked at the start if everyone would recognise me with just the body armour on, so I could leave the ride vest off. Sounded like a good idea, while I was on my WR. Having swapped to Charlie's KTM I finished the loop and had stopped to let everyone regroup. However the bike was pointing down the track and before I could get the helmet off Robb came up the end of the loop, saw the KTM pointing down the track and was off. I then thought maybe I should move the bike.
Sent everyone else off on a few more loops while I waited for Robb to return, which he did after a while. Had to be the one track that can go quite a way before you need to post a corner.
I headed back in the general direction of the carpark, and got to another short loop on Devaney Track. This one was optional and those who felt up for the challenge took off while a few others waited with me for them to return.
By now it was just after 5, so a few headed back by the main road to the cars. The rest of us set off along Pole track and then into the tracks branching off Ridge Rd (the main north south road through Cobaw). I tried to lift the pace and minimise the corners which seemed to work and before I knew it we were heading back to the carpark to switch the bikes off around 6 p.m.
In all, a great afternoon ride that got everyone in a good mood. Enough challenge to extend those starting and keep all interested. Thanks for another great ride.
Some seemed to think it got a bit dusty, but can't say I had any problems.
Cheers,
Mat.
