Ride Reports

[Mat R]

Well let's have a crack at the 11th of July first.

July 13th, 2009, 22:08:36 PM by Mat R

 
The Fumina, Long time reader, first time rider
            By Mat R
               11th July

Weather forecast was not so good, rain and wind which reportedly can make this ride hard going. I got off to an early start to pick up Wayne and head to the ride start. Arriving a little late I was relieved when just before I had finished gearing up Tim and Tayfun arrived. Tim apparantly also had some minor works to finish as well but I think someone else is telling that part of the story.  There were also a pair on TE310 that were having trouble getting one to go, but eventually it started up with a push down the road.

In total there was 19 of us for the day. Al did his speech, which would probably still make his English teacher cringe, and we were off.  Well nearly all off as there seemed to be a pair of bikes being unloaded as we headed out of the car park.

After a 500 metre bitumen stretch, I got on the first corner leading up the first track. As I sat there I could hear lots of noise but not it did not seem to be moving.  Sure enough there was a stream of bikes coming back down to have another go. Oh great, what have I got myself into if this is the first track.  My turn and off I went up the track, slippery and requiring some finesse on the throttle. I got to a section which seemed to be getting some stuck, but managed to find my way past and on I went.  Reaching the exit of the track I went past the two corner men and onto some fresh logging track that must have had a drain digging working on number of drains dug.  They were frequent sharp little ruts across the track and hard to find a way to attack.  Luckily there were only a few hundred to negotiate and I joined the group waiting at the gravel road.

The group then seemed to be a bit short of riders and no noises could be heard coming.  Eventually Tayfun volunteered to back weep and meet us down the track where it rejoined the main road we had left.  All we had to do was wait for the corner men to come through the whoops.  Heading down the track we rejoined the others that had come along the road.

Then it was off though some nice flowing tracks to the first river crossing on the day. I got there just as Al crossed and I saw him head to the right so followed.  Or so I thought as not going far enough right saw me get into some deeper water.  Managing to keep the bike up I got across and then stopped to watch the rest.  Richard did a good job at trying to submarine his CRF, coming in straight across and realising just how deep it got.  Somehow he managed to gun it and power out of the river.

Aaron was not so lucky, dipping the Kato into the water (again?).  But as they say practice makes perfect and the bike was going again in fairly short time.

We continued on with greasy tracks and goatees and another river crossing, this time no dramas, and it was all good stuff. Before I knew it we were stopped for rest, fuel, food and chat.  It was also the only time we seemed to get any persistent rain.

A swap of tailman and we head off again. The ride was flowing reasonably well in conditions, with two people per corner keeping things together.

Shortly after the lunch stop it was time for Tim and Tayfun to head off (soft they are).  Everyone was asked if they wanted to head back to the cars with them but all said they were in for the duration, even Snowy despite soft Tim trying to get him to come back early with them.

After some more goatees and tracks we got to a river crossing which was checked for the return trip then went down river to a bridge.  Picking up the trail across the river and we headed on up, with a few fallen trees making it a bit of a challenge. 

Then it was up into a nice greasy uphill section.  This was really finding out who should of stuck some new tyres on.  I was very happy with the tyre I had left on after the desert ride, it was really working well in the slippery conditions.  Others were not so fortunate.  Wayne on the Berg 570 seemed to be trying to saw his way through a small log stopping him on the track but he eventually got by.  At the top there was a waiting regroup but not many more riders seemed to be emerging from the bush below.

I volunteered to back sweep them to the river exit and Wayne joined me. Just as we set off our tailman Rob B showed up to report that there were still others stuck on the hill behind him. He also joined the back sweeping group.

Down we went, and going down was no easier than coming up.  There was a bit of confusion between who was coming down as there were some nearly at the top but we sorted it out and collected the others on the way down.

We eventually met up with the rest of the group at the river crossign and all agreed that Al's offer of a more direct ride back to the carpark would be good.  But that didn't mean we were going to short changed on riding quality as Al led the way back over a good return transport section. 

It was at this stage that I started to think about fuel range, and sure enough it was onto reserve just before I found Wayne stuck in the middle of the road out of fuel on the Berg.  Between Rob B and myself we got a litre of light pre mix to run the Berg home on.

We got back to the cars just before six, and got busy getting out of wet gear and getting bikes loaded.  It was then that a 4wd turned up asking about someone on a postie who had left their group. Some of us had seen him so we reported where and wished them luck in finding him.  Not the place I would like to be stuck out in for the night.

Anyway, thanks Al.  The ride certainly lived up to it's reputation of a great day out and I hope to get to another soon.


RIDE LIST
   Al Mason      WRF250   Ride Leader
   Paul Lacy     KTM250  Morning Tail man, no you can't have a ride.
   Rob Balaz     KTM250  Afternoon Tail man and fuel supply.
   Nathan Scott  TE310   The one that would start.
   Tim Dykes     TE510
   Rowen Smith   KTM250
   Dave Smith    WRF450  Smile for the camera
   Mat Richmond  WRF450
   Aaron Rowe    KTM250  Submersible
   Wayne Mack    FE570   Chainsaw
   Richard Hunt  CRF250  Jet ski rider.
   Tayfun Ugasbal
   Denis Kelly           Mine avoider
   Peter Levell
   Kriss Bell
   Anthony Tomas   WRF450
   Simon Kermode   WRF450
   Dave Armstrong
   Alex Stewart