TOUR DE STRATHBOGIE
                        29.9.07 BY WADE EVANS


After picking up Al (Alan Mason) from his place it was bacon and egg
Mcmuffins, rage against the machine and very few cars on the road at 6.45 on a Saturday morning good start.    
Big Al’s property at Merton is a 1&1/2 hour drive (from Ringwood) heading towards Mansfield on Maroondah highway. It’s an easy drive from Yarra Glen onwards and the weather was coming good after overnight rain. Also out enjoying the drive near Yarck were Charles and a friendly police officer who were talking by the side of the road, no doubt discussing the improving weather conditions.

Arriving at the farm several people had arrived before us, no one was in a hurry to get bikes off or suit up and Al onboard the trusty CT110 was casually shifting cattle into another paddock, we now running on Merton time. Forget about the world and all its stress and chill out for a while in quiet stillness for the moment any way, one of the pleasures country life.

13 riders assembled ready to go after Al explained that we would do a lap of his enduro loop but don’t f@#!?ing run into my gum trees newly growing around the place. Out the gate and over the highway up through farmland on the Ancona road from here on in I can’t tell you track names because there so many intersections only some I recognized from  07 high country ride.
The first challenging track was fantastic being tight twisty, over and around logs up and down the sides of gullies sliding sideways what a hoot.
More tracks of a similar nature followed and could only be best described as “seldom used” and as consequence we had to watch for over hanging tree branches and those slippery logs and saplings lying at an angle to the track were still moist enough to derail you from your intended line or spit you off the bike completely. Trail riding would be very ordinary without trees!
 
A change of forest brings a change riding surface and new challenges especially in navigating; all pine forests look the same to me and picking our way through the many tracks crossing our path without getting lost is a task I’m happy to leave to Alan. At around the 95 km mark we stopped for no apparent reason, until I noticed people hauling 20 litre fuel cans out of the bush, having being dropped the night before, for our refuel/lunch time stop.
Together with my pizza roll cans of drink and fredo frogs were being passed around, what next dancing girls? Big Al certainly knows how to cater on a
ride.

The rest of the afternoon was spent hopping on and off some of HCR coarse and more some seldom used tracks until Charles gave us a 20min break to fix a flat on 300’s front wheel assisted by Aaron on Mt Albert track and Marks road intersection. Some of us sat and talked in the gentle spring sunshine while Al took the rest on a quick squirt around the general area. Up until this point we had seen only 2 other riders obviously the AFL grand final had kept everyone else at home, a very quite day in the Strathbogies.
Tim, over coming early clutch problems and Rowen were having a big day both going past me like I was standing still on many occasions on their way to catch the ride leader resulting in more than their fair share of cornerman duties. Heading back towards the farm Rob B had a hi speed excursion on a nasty corner, he was ok. Rob C ran his WR450 complete with 15litre tank out of fuel 3km from the farm.
A lap of the enduro loop and 6 laps of the mx track rounded out my day.

Thanks go to Alan White for a beautifully linked up absolute ripper of a ride and Rob Srbinovski for his patient tailmaning.
Stats from the day: 13 riders, 173 km,  2 dozen fredo frogs, 13 cans of coke 27 camera shots, 1 puncture und 1 KTM seitenstand.

Participants Were  
Alan White             KTM625  Ride Leader
Rob Srbinovski       XR400     Tailman
Alan Mason            WRF250
Wade Evans           KTM450  too slow
Rob Cecelja           WRF450
Michael Kolinger     WR360
Rowen Smith          KTM300  too fast
Tim Dykes             TE410      way too fast            
Daniel Goodwin      WRF250
Charles Sibberis     KTM300
David Smith           KTM250F
Aaron Rowe           KTM250  
Rob Balaz              KTM250