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Well what a great day,, the weather was text book perfect.
 Bob left our place at 7 am to head to the Woodside Servo to guide in those travelling on the Sth Gippy Hwy that needed directions to the off loading area, I waited in Traralgon for those heading in on the Princes Hwy to guide them to the off loading area on Big Tower Rd, and guess what it's right next to a big tower -duh. Poor Bill, his Maxima is more suited to the bitumen than the dirt road we took,, the high spots on Anzac Rd are much better now thanks to the grading job he did with his sump guard.
 With the ride list and indemnity forms filled out and a quick ride briefing it was time to do what we came to do-ride!. As this was the first ride I was to lead I must say I was a little nervous,,thanks for the calming words of advice from gary,al and Zeb, it was good to know that I had these guys encouraging me all the way.
 With a huge downpour on Thursday night the tracks were in fabulous condition, nice and grippy and a few puddles thrown in to keep things interesting,, and maybe a small boghole or two,,Bills bike succumbed to a bit of a dunk with his E-start playing up,as a call from Gary on the UHF told me they had problems and to hold the ride until it was sorted,, Menaces finger was used to good effect in aiding the starting process, I think he mentioned $10 a start,the check is in the mail I believe :). while we we waiting for Bill there was a bit of mention about arm pump and how much more of these whoops was there going to be -suck it up boys ;) the ride is only 20 minutes old. With Bills bike going again we were once again underway, A quick ride past our roving camera person (aka bob,aka sandra)and onto a nice tight section of track that has a gully system running through the middle of it, most of this area is basically flat and then all of a sudden where did the track go? it can catch the unsuspecting punter out as from a few comments at the next regroup it sounds like it did ;D. It cuaght me out too -Seano took great delight in witnessing me crawl out of the scrub to retrieve my bike out of the mud at the bottom of what was to become a 'problem" hill for one or two more riders. A quick run back to the trailers for lunch and a refuel via the same track that had claimed Bills bike, the puddles had'nt dried out any and I arrived back with wet feet :( ..Rossi was waiting for us as he couldnt make the morning loop-happy anniversary mate :).
  A few guys pulled out of the afternoon loop for various reasons :-X, was nice riding with you blokes and hope to see you on the next one ;).,So with Rossi champing at the bit it was off we go, after a guick tight section it was a reasonably long road leg to the next track-I really must find a better way of getting there as if I could link the tracks up without using the road it would allow the ride to flow much better-working on it chaps :). A dozer has opened up a fairly long section of track in preparation for fuel reduction burn-offs,so this has taken out a bit of the fast whooped out tracks, but it has also turned these tracks into a super fast drag strip, lotsa fun ;D.. It was around here that a stick decided to give Paul a love tap on his foot, poor bloke thought he had broken something there for a while, his limp was certainly impressive. A quick wave to Mrs rossi and Mrs johnny(aka carolyn and aka bob) at the Helipad,they were following us in my ute to try and get some action shots. A nice tight section of track from there saw fatigue take it's toll on a couple, and after Pauls bike decided it would run better with teeth on the front sprocket ,he and they called it quits for the day,, thankfully Bob and carolyn were still close by so with Pauls bike in the ute and the other 3 heading back via the road, and then the Sth Gippy hwy (I will leave this part of the story to someone else to tell :D), It was then a quick blast along what I call an intense ;) section of sandy whoops, and then more whoops and then more whoops, magic!!.
 A balls out fang back on the dozer cleared tracks and then it was decision time, do I cut the ride short or not??? after 2 wallabies skipped across in front of me and it was getting on in the afternoon,I made the executive decision to road leg it back to the trailers, I would have been more than happy to keep playing until I ran out of fuel. Arrived back at the trailers around 5pm and no Bob and no ute and no other riders,,,hmmmm where can they be ;).like I said I will let someone else comment on this :D  .So after everyone was accounted for a surprise was in store for me,,  a birthday card, a couple of cold beverages and a birthday cake were presented to me along with many handshakes and onya johnny..
 There you have it folks--- exactly the way I wanted to celebrate my birthday, leading my own ride, riding with a great bunch of people.. turning 50 wasn't the end of the world after all ;)...      
  Big thanks to Gary for his encouragemnet and advice on putting together this ride and for morning tailman, big thanks to my mate Jordo for afternoon tailman,, big thanks to Al for all of his encouragement and advice on putting on this ride,, big thanks to everyone who came along on this ride and last but not least big thanks to Bob for the "surprise" ..
                     Got to love dirtbike riding hey.......

First thing would be well done at 50 to remember where to go!

The day, weather and the ride were all perfect!!! Outstanding job johnny.
I had what felt like a husky that was possessed by the devil for the start of the day. and was thinking of it as the red heeded step child. As the day rolled on we did start to reach an understanding. By reports from my fellow AMTRA riders, i was traveling ok. The day for me, had me shing away from tailman duties to focus on my new steed. I did enjoy the red faced and weary faces on the first timers to Woodside and its tracks. This place shows up bike fitness. the day flowed very well with minimal hold us with bike issues and the radios were a good sent. (can't believe i took so long to adopt them) Was surprised to see so many pull out at lunch after traveling so far. They missed the tracks from heaven in the afternoon loop.
Thanks johnny for the ride, Seano for the lift and to all the riders for the day. Had a ball and will see you on the next one for sure.
Al

Ps. Was good to see Bob more pumped about the day than the rest of us, even though se wasn't riding. You will go far with that amount of passion for the sport grass hopper.
Al

Wow Johnny, that afternoon loop was well worth the effort, sorry that I missed the morning but had some other pressing engagement that needed attending to. Big thanks for your time in putting the ride together, I'm sure that some people don't understand the amount of time that goes into putting rides together, I well and truly appreciate the effort of all our ride leaders. Big thanks to Bob for entertaining Mrs Rossi, but I have some concerns about the amount of yap yap that was going on and secrets been revealed, no wonder they lead 4 merry men on a wild goose chase around the forrest tracks of Woodside, that will teach the boys for taking the soft option home. Well done to tailman Jordy for keeping the pack moving along and to the other riders for their poo stirring and company... ;D

and like good little ducklings, they followed the mother gooses from one end of woodside to the other...the little trip down the sth gippsland hwy was a great diversion...and Mrs Rossi did most of the yapping anyway :) :)

the pigtails had a swingin time Al :) :)...love the sport...ALOT!!!

Seano.....mohawk - nil....Pigtails - 1. ;D

Oh and I almost forgot to wish Johnny a happy 50th, what a way to spend your 50th, awesome.... ;D

never fear/the hawk will return

10 outa 10 grandpa great ride well done   ..... the whole ride was grouse but the run back to the cars after the last group wimped out was the best 1 hour I have spent in the saddle since getting back on the bike , a fast consistent 60 minutes of total focus and concentration  running over diverse and consistently challenging and changing tracks will stay in my top 10 memories for a long time .

Top group of blokes and a top day thanks Johnny ......

Yeah we wimped out. Had to ride at 60 - 80 klms an hour for over 1 hour in no warm gear with the temp at 8 degrees C. I reckon we should have taken the easy way/ quick way home with you. I got to carpark , put my leg down to stop and just fell over. Leg was frozen! 

A great day was had.
Jim

Big Whimp here! (Suppose to have been the tow truck but we found a bigger one ;D)

Thanks Johnny for putting on such a great ride....If my bike had of not played up it woild have bee a fantastic ride, one of the hardest on the body that I have been on...just wish I was that little bit fitter :)
It sure was the level 2+ you stated....some of the flowing tracks are just awsome ;D ;D ;D a few more of them in the afternoon with a little less SS would have been the best for me IMHO. I will be on the next one. Also like to thank Denis & Gary for the use of there fingers and all the encouragement. Great, great day....even though my muscles don't think so :) :)

not quite a grandpa yet old mate,, funny thing is though ,, my first grandchild is due to be born this week..was eyeing up a little ktm 65 but think it might be a bit early,,,, well a bloke is allowed to spoil his grandson is'nt he????
 

[/quote]Yeah we wimped out. Had to ride at 60 - 80 klms an hour for over 1 hour in no warm gear with the temp at 8 degrees C. I reckon we should have taken the easy way/ quick way home with you. I got to carpark , put my leg down to stop and just fell over. Leg was frozen! 

A great day was had.
Jim
[/quote]apparently the map was upside down :D,  I missed the carpark whoopsie you had Jim. ;), glad you had a good time though :)

Thanks to Johnny and the tailmen for a great day's ride, it was well worth the drive down. The ride flowed along nicely all day, tailmen helped where it was needed... loved the fast track where the bulldozer had been through, had the little 200 up on the pipe the whole way... How awesome to just turn up and ride great tracks all day - got me thinking about leading a ride sometime soon - thanks again!

AWSOME
Great place to ride ,I like it.Woop,Woop,woop,woop,woop,woop,woop,woop ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
thankyou johnny
thankyou tailmen
thankyou Al for the company on the trip there and back

Brilliant ride JD, think there were a few tired bodies at the end of the day, big thanks to Bob "the recovery vehicle driver" for  getting Paul's bike back to the cars, cheers, Gary.   

awesome half day of riding ;D

thanks Johnny and sweeps... and everyone

spewin i missed the arvo but happy i did as my elbow was pretty well locked all sunday and monday >:(

bloody whoops ;D

awesome place to ride, awesome blokes to ride with ;)

and thanks for the coffee Bob ;)

the morning loop only had whoops, the afternoon loop had WHOOPS,, get that elbow right mate and we will go and do it all again ;D