Oh Golly...what a day
. Im am very tired and sore but was every bit worth it.
Zeb got us all together for the ride briefing and appointed a ride buddy for us lesser experienced folks..Alas Brad was appointed as my buddy seeing as Johnny was on 4 wheels instead of 2 for the day.
Marls was our leader for the morning loop and Zeb would co-pilot her. So Freddo said he would hang at the back to shadow me a bit..so had lots of help, I had Brad Fred and Tailman Dennis...off we went for a days riding. Wow is there some ruts out there! Some of them i found really easy to negotiate but a couple of them were a bit more of a challenge...but a magnificent Bob style manouvre saw my bike facing the oppsite direction of the traffic and Brads lense popped out of the light on his bike...oops..hopefully I will be forgiven in the not so distant future
But Brad just picked me up, dusted me off and we were away again. The morning loop was great fun and I was having a ball. At one of the re-groups Brad said i was easy to babysit .. (poor bugger had no idea what was in store for him later
) We got to a steep hill that the gang were playing on for a little while before completing the morning loop to go back to the cars for lunch. Marls and Emma did it, but it is just still a little bit out of my league, so i was happy to sit back and watch (the carnage) instead
. Enter the Hilux as a rescue was needed..poor Billy's KLX had died right at the very bottom of this hill and needed to be picked up. Poor Bill then just co-piloted Johnny in the Hilux for the rest of the loop till we went back for lunch.
After we had a rest and some lunch, we were off again...I had already faced a few challenges and was somewhat unscathed so far, I was carrying a slightly sore rib but apart from that I had done quite well. Brad said so
.
So off we go for the afternoon loop...we went into a track called Western Track....Far out
..this is a long hill..and huge ruts...hills and ruts...together
..I started making my way up...had a moment where my bike sort of power standed a bit half in and half out of a rut..but i managed to hang onto until help arrived...So Brad got the bike back where it should be for me to go again...up I go some more..somehow cross rutted, but saved it...and ended up on the other side of the track, over ruts and and erosion mound (much to Brads delight as he cheers...oh wow that was brilliant)...instead I looked up at the hill and ruts I still had to tackle..and looked at Brad and just burst into tears...I said , I cant do this anymore. It wasnt the rutted hill as there were some really good lines, but its still hard work...it was a matter of me being adult enough (amongst the tears) to say, I cant do this..i have run out of puff. I know i have the skills to do it, but after a couple of silly offs and mistakes, my confidence had taken a knock, i was sore and i was tired, Zeb's ears would have been burning about that stage i think...
..he has since been forgiven
. So after Brad sent Dennis and Freddo on, and my tears had dried up and my bike was turned around and ready to again thanks to my buddy...we went nice and quiet and slowly down what we had already come up and took a nice easy cruisy ride around to where we would meet up with the rest of the gang..we beat them there incidently
. So it was a nice chance for me to catch my breath and get ready for more riding as i didnt want to bail out of the ride early.
Off we all went again, we were ticking along and i was feeling alot better about myself so relaxed into riding again...and went up this mongrel hill that was quite exhausting, anyway got to the top of it (by that stage Zeb had sent everyone else on so he hung back with me at this hill) ..when i was at the top of it..Brad couldnt come over and congratulate me quick enough...apparently I had just ridden up the notoriuos "Hells Gate"..incident free...woo hoo A BIG HIGH 5 FOR ME..YAY!!
At this stage Zeb sent the rest of the pack back through a loop with Brad to go back to the cars and Zeb took charge of me and Marls...taking me a bit futher downhill to acheive another personal goal of being able to tackle hills..Marls went on bit in front coming back up, and I got to the spot where Hells Gates starts again, only this time going down hill...Im not really sure what happened at this point...neither is Zeb I dont think..
I was at the top looking down, checking what line i was going to take, bike was idling, in gear, Zeb was looking up at me to see how i was going..and i just let go of the bike
..the dang thing just flipped out from under me (as it would)..bike dropped onto its side. i landed on my back on top of the bike (reckon im not sore today?
)..i was so tired, all i could do was say was ouch, ouch, ouch..Im sure when Zeb appeared he was lauging at me...asking WTF!!
...Must have looked halarious from his perspective.
So that done..up and going again.. (Zeb did walk my bike down and then back up a hill to get to his bike...what a champ)
.
Oh and if you have a leg cramp out there...Zebs your man, he sorted that out too...Thank you.
So the rest of the ride for me Marls and Zeb was cruisy and lovely...even the getting lost bit...it was just so nice to have a gentle ride as i had nothin left in the Bob tank.
Marls saved me right at the end as just before we got back to the cars, there was a gnarly track Zeb wanted to test me on for just one more challenge...i heard Marls yell out "NO"...poor zeb...i reckon he looked like a kid who just had his lollypop taken off him
...so back to the cars we got, the others beat us there since we took longer to get back due to the detour
.
Johnny: Thank you for having the little camp stove going when i got back to make me a cuppa...mu hubbys great, he knows how to look after me. xxx
Zeb: Awesome Ride leader, thank you so much for the riding along side me on the open roads...that really helped to keep me going and you were great for my conficence too. TOP RIDE!! THANK YOU
Marls: As usual, you are fanatstic to hang out with and you were great as a ride leader and you seemed to be having a blast...love your work xx.
Emma: That blast we had along the tracks together standing up was great...thanks for the gal pal stuff
Freddo: Always great to have you hanging in there at the back with me..love the laughs and love your company.
Dennis: A tailmans job is huge, and people like you are great to have along, It means the world to me to have someone like you there to keep an eye out. Thanks
Brad: My ride buddy...well didnt you get to see the best and worst of me!..I cant thank you enough for everything..sorry about the tears and sorry about the lense.
Your encouragment was fanatstic. Thank you
To everyone who came along and made the day what it was, thank you, and thanks aswell for being the gentlemen that you all are and treating the girls and all other riders on the ride with respect.
I'd love to say I'll be back...but my poor body today is saying "Noooooooo"...ask me in a few days...I'll be back
Cheers all and thanks...luv Bob.
p.s ... photos to come later today
