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This was the frst weekend ride I had run and the weather was perfect. The guys all arrived Friday night and experienced 1 degree conditions which were cold as the it took some time to work out how to drive the lodge heating.
Saturday headed out the back of the village straight onto the dirt and with Tim's help navigated our way to Abbeyard.
The route took us from Mt Buller through the Hawqua gap, over Mt Stirling to Graigs Hut, through the King river, up the staircase (rocks), Lake Cobbler and into the Yard.
Couple of variations on the way back wia Worseldine and Monument tracks, 150K's on the day.
No major issues with all bikes and riders doing very well on the weekend, thanks guys for the great companionship on the ride.
Sunday morning was a mixed ride which the group worked through and I do appreciate everyones support on the decisions I made WRT re-routing. In the end everyone home safe after 70K's
Will post up the photo's tonight after the Physio.

The Mt Buller Brad-Clubman ride list was:
Ride leader Brad
1-Paul
2-Seano
3-Dennis
4-Scott
5-Darren
6-Stuart
7-Sean
8-Tim
9-Al
10-Keith Coota
11-Serge
12-Peter Ross

Good weekend Brad, very well organized. Had a great time, with a good bunch of blokes. Loved Saturday's ride to the yard and back and just cruised through the day working on my rear brake skills. Also learn't a few tip's from Pete on changing tires on Seano's bike. Also learn’t some other stuff, which I will try to forget from Pete. Sunday's ride was good, with some very cool tracks. Which with the group working together we got through. Serge's "I don’t care if I make it up this hill as long as my bike does, ghosty" was very funny. And a little embarrassing for me. Was showing Keith how to ride technical stuff, by dropping his bike at the first obstacle.
Thanks to Brad for putting on the ride, accommodation and supplies. And to Pete for cooking Saturday’s night’s diner and baking us a couple batches of scones for sweets. (Seano and I helpped) And to Dennis for Tail man duties on both days, well done!
Cheers Al

PS. Anyone with photo’s I would loved to have them email to me if possible as I forgot the camera in the rush Friday night.PM me and i will send you my email address.

PS2. Thanks to Serge for the lift up Friday night and to Tim for the lift home on Sunday.

Thanks Al I tend to run my rides by a common group factor which was how Sunday was adjusted, glad for the groups support.

Apologies to those who didn't drop their bikes on the weekend good effort.

First of all "A massive thanks to Dr Brad for organising such a memorable  Ride".10/10.

A few weeks ago i had a phone call from Paul Lacy asking if he could stay at my Joint on the Sunday night after the Buller ride, and of course i said yes "Silly Me". He also mentioned that i should be going as well, but i had other plans for the Weekend and was spewin about not going, not long after that Darren D rang to see if i was going and finally Serge was on the case as well, " ah stuff it i'm going" with that issue solved it was out to the Garage to get the Bike in tip top condition ready for a good thrashing.
Two weeks went by and on the Friday before the ride Darren came around at 9.30 am to do some work on my old 550 Berg.
12.00 pm and we headed off for Buller to meet brad and the some of the guys around 5.00pm, we caught up with Paul at Mansfield and drove up the hill to the chalet, the sun was shining so we sat on the side of the road and had a couple of ale's. Brad turned up at around 5.00pm and we tossed our gear in the Chalet rooms then sat around the Fire and brad cooked a BBQ for Dinner. Everyone bar Tim had turned up, and as it was rather Cold we sat around the Fire and got stuck into the P!ss and Hang Sh!t on each other like Bike riders do.
Saturday Morning and most of us were up early and cooked Bacon n Eggs for Breakfast and do the Dishes. 8.45 and we were off on the way on the Extra Rocky Roads to Abbeyard. Not long after Seano decided to get a puncture and Rip a hole in his Front tyre, but we replaced the Tube and ran a cable tie around the Tire where the Rip was.
We made a stop off at Craigs Hut where there were people all dressed up for a Wedding, minutes later a Helicopter Landed and the Bridesmaid's hopped out, then the the Professional Photographer decided to take a Photo of us Ugly bunch in a Group Photo standing under the Verandah.
Off again and on our way to the Yard through some Good up n Down hills with so many Rock your teeth were chattering.We had to cross King River "i Think" and that took a while as in some places it was our ya Knee's. On one of the down hills Tim passed me at a speed that was a little to Quick for me liking , and i knew he was gunna hit the deck soon, i came over the top of the Hill and saw Tim picking his bike up with some Major plastic damage and levels facing upwards, i stopped and sad "F#$kin Slow Down you idiot" with that i got back on the Throttle and blasted off.
We soon arrived at Abbeyard for Lunch and Refuel (thanks Mat R for taking the Fuel Up on the previous Working Bee) and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so my rain dance was put on hold till the HCR. My 570 was having a bit of a hissy fit, as i somehow damaged the Temp sender unit for the EFI and it didn't know what day it was, but somehow sorted it's self out and ran fine.
After lunch brad took us to Worseldine track and tim led the way up to the top, then i got in the mode, and gave the Airhorns a good working out as i approached Stewart, Serge & Paul Lacy screaming at them to "Got outta the Way ya scums". Seano thought he'd stop us all for another flat tyre, and the other sean lost a couple of B/Buster bolts and Darren lost his Rear brake lever pin and clip, so we fixed up all the problems and kept on going.
As we headed back we came across some nice looking Girls just walking down the track, and yes Paul Lacy had to stop and check them out, :o :o :o, then not long after that we go back to the Chalet.
We all had showers and slammed a couple down before Al, Brad and myself cooked dinner. there was a bit of bench racing going on, but with a few beers under our belts the talk soon became "What happens at Buller stays at Buller".
Seano Al and i whipped up 40 Scones and the boys and they ripped into them .Most people went to bed early, but a couple stayed up drinking the Muscat and talking crap!! 
Sunday:

We woke to sore Arms, Butt's n Legs, but all bar one was ready for the Morning ride, as i got on The Berg and started moving, it decided it wasn't going out today, and Quickly spat me off, so that was my off for the day. We took off again back into the Rocks, Rocks, Rocks and as Brad was NOT wearing a HIGH VISUAL VEST, i didn't see him and kept going until Seano raced to catch up with me and return me to the pack. We took

Thanks Brad.  Had an absolute great weekend.

Bit worried about 13 blokes sharing living arrangements for a couple of days but it all went without any problems. Also glad you made the call on Sunday as it could have turned out ugly. 

Thanks again Brad and I am glad my name is down for next year.

apology accepted,no dirt eating for me(or should i say rock eating),only tyre chewing

sunshine all weekend ,extremely good company ,great terrain to ride,plenty of ride time and social jargon with the boys.Thankyou Dr brad the smile is still on my dial now,thankyou Mr dorman for tail duty much appriciated,thankyou to the rest of the crew for a great weekend. My highlight was pedro falling on his arse ,after being on the bike for all of three meters on sundays departure , my sides are still hurting from laughter.Already counting the days to next years, so to all you s.o.c. see yawl

Sorry Seano but i must correct your mistake "It was 4 Metres, not 3" ;D ;D ;D

Mt. Buller to Abbeyard and surrounds
A different perspective.

I picked up Al at 4;00 and after a short dinner break at Mansfield, we arrived at Jumangi Lodge at around 7:30.  Despite having a comfortable lodge to lounge in, the boys were all sitting outside around an open fire.  Seems you can take the boys out of the bush, but you can’t take the bush out of the boys!  We settled into a few fizzy, adult refreshments and before long, the rest of the crew arrived and the bullsh!t started.  My guts always hurt when i get together with Pete!  Tim arrived later in the evening and we all hit the sack around midnight.

It was a freezing night that opened into a very cold morning as we woke and fixed breakfast.  Brad had catered the whole weekend, so it was bacon and eggs for brekky and then geared up and fired the bikes. 

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We left the lodge around 8:45.  Time was critical as we had to dodge the lycra lunatics on the way out!  We were able to hit the dirt very quickly, with everyone rearing to get into it.  We passed a posse of three 4WD’s on the way, which were happy to get out of our way as the boys were all on fire!  I won’t pretend to remember exactly where we went, but at the 10.6 ks mark, we stopped for a re-group to see how everyone was fairing.  When he got off his bike, Gimp Boy started making funny noises and pointed to his front tyre.  Seems he not only had a flat, but had managed to tear a gash in the tyre that went from the centre to the rim!  Pete and Tim set to replacing the tube and it was suggested that we cut a section of the old tube to sleeve around the new tube in the area of the gash. 

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npAjko_wIuM

Once in place, we put a couple of cable ties around the whole mess to hold it all in place.  While we were sorting this out, the 4WD’s caught up with us, and we couldn’t help noticing that the women (in particular) were all well dressed and looking gorgeous.  One car load stopped to see if we needed any help and they advised us that they were headed to a wedding that was taking place at Craig’s Hut.  Good-o we though, we’ve got a wedding to crash ‘cos that’s where we’re heading!

We passed the 4WD’s (again) and soon arrived at the Hut.  Sure enough, it was swarming with very elegant people!  We didn’t really fit in, so we decided to have a quick look in the hut, then head out the back.  On entering the Hut, we were confronted by three blokes in various stages of en-robement.  The groomsmen were getting dressed in there, including the groom, complete with broken leg from his bucks party!  We then headed out the back, and the official wedding photographer came out and asked us if he could take our picture!  Seems the groom liked the idea of being crashed by a group of bikies!  We asked where the Bride was and were told she was arriving soon, via helicopter!  We waited for a while and witnessed the arrival of the maids-of-honor, but made ourselves scarce before the bride arrived.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGIS1e4SmO8

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Back on the bikes and headed towards our river crossing for the day.  The King River was up and flowing, so we all decided to walk across it.  There were no dramas, but we all had to contend with wet boots for the run into Abbeyard. 

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB3SEHvc7YE

Out of the river and we were confronted with the Staircase, with more rocks than you can stick a shake at.  I had a few ‘seniors’moments on my way up, but everyone cleared it and were on the way to Cobbler.  A brief stop at the lake and we headed for Cobbler Lake track, where unfortunately, Tim had a bit of an off and bent the front of the Husky all out of shape.  He straightened it at the heli-pad and we made to final run into the Yard.  We dined on ham and salad rolls, lovingly made by Darren and told Pete (again!) how good his, John’s and Rod’s work on the electrics of the shed was.

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The run back to Buller was uneventful, although Gimp Boy got another flat and Brad advised us that we didn’t need to go through the river ‘cos there was a bridge we could cross!  We came into Buller via Monument track (which was a blast) and rode up to the Summit car park to have a look.  Then back to the lodge for a bbq dinner and bevvies.  Later in the evening, Pete decided he wanted desert, so he whipped up a batch of scones (with jam and crème).  God we’re tough!

Sunday morning we headed out again for a proposed 50 k loop.  We followed a similar route out and headed toward Corn Hill Logging track.  This (I thought), was one nasty piece of terrain, with more rocks than I’ve ever seen.  Brad had a nasty off half way down and a few others had a little trouble navigating the track.  At the bottom of the run, we had to cross ‘the ravine’ and then another wide, but shallow river. 

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO3BOcQc0x0

We did 16 mile Jeep track (?) and into another track that was impassable due to rock slides, so we had to back track a bit.  The decision was made not to go back up Corn Hill track, so we came back into Buller via Monument track and Sterling again.  We ended up doing around 70 ks with no problems for the day.

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Once back at the lodge, we showered and cleaned the place up, loaded bikes up and said our good-byes.  Dennis, Scot, Brad and I went into Buller to have some lunch and left the mountain about 3:00.  And so ended a great weekend!

Thanks to Brad for organizing the ride and Dennis for tailman duties all weekend.  Also, special thanks to all those who cooked, cleaned, repaired and helped out to make this a great weekend.  Already looking forward to the next one!

Great reports guys - sounds like a killer weekend

I have been a while in responding as I have been away in our van again. It was a great weekend, thanks Brad and all who attended. It was a good group to ride with. here is a photo of the group at Craig's hut.

Dennis Dorman
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Try'n to upload some pic's !!!

Sorry for the delay, I've worked it out fellas !!!
Lefty.

More from Mt Buller !!! Sorry, these were for the family album...

More from Buller !!!

Great work Lefty very nice, was this also the helmet cam footage?

Thanks Brad, no still have hours of footage. Had problems get'n it on DVD but try'n to up load some to youtube, then on here. U goin to Al's Fumina ride ??

No Lefty, not going to Fumina heading up to the Strathbogies. Running a L2 ride up there reliving the route of the High Country Ride the year it was run up there due to bush fires at Abbeyard. Its in the ride calendar disguised as the Royal Wedding ride.

Lefty. Are you having troubles getting footage from helmet cam as its in MP4 format? If so Nath found a free down load that worked as he ran into the same issuse. Al

Al, not my jurisdiction, I'll ask Sean to pull his finger out and post some up...

Cheers..

Hi Brad,

Are you organising  another  Mt Buller ride next March?
If yes put me down as going.
Regards
 Jim Sheedy

Jim,
The ride is on next March (in calendar), however it is currently overbooked. I have put you on the reserve list.
Trying to manage the ride to DSE ride numbers which means I will have to let you know as we get closer to the event as other constraints impact current people on the list and they pull out.
Few things to note, next years ride is a L2 plus ride ,will not be going to Abbeyard, will go to Craigs Hut and we ride as one group.
If anyone knows this far out they can't make it please advise?

Cheers,

Brad