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I love a sunburnt country! Yea right not in Victoria @ the moment! 18 riders turned up on the day. A great selection of bikes with some happy faces ready to enjoy the day.

We headed of with a couple of normal tighter tracks to set the mood, nice mix of slippery tracks with some rocks & a bit more slippery stuff to match the first bit.

Early one of the bikes suffered an apparent head gasket failure, luckily it was close to our start point & able to make it back.

The tracks were varied but transport on the forest roads was interesting as most roads were freshly graded & covered in various depths of blue metal or mud. Much to the detriment of one rider who high sided on a right hander, being thown stright off the bike and into (now this is his interpretation) "the ADA tree & I was doing 400kph". Reality was very different but the result was the same really, with a major break to his right thigh. Luckliy we were able to manage the accident with cool heads, ambulance & police attended quickly. So we were able to continue on reasonably soon after he was removed.

Dave rang last night to thank everyone who looked after him so well at the accident. So thanks to everyone!

The only benifit from the accident was that the lead riders were stopped only after completing one of the nicer sections of track & were asked to return to the accident to regroup. This ment that these guys were able to hit up this great track again! LOL

Time was starting to move so we had to cut the morning ride up a little to ensure we were at the Toolshed on time due to a booking.

Next sections created new issues, as two days earlier we had been & cleared some storm damage off the tracks, now it was thick fog! couldnt see one meter in front of you which made the track a challenge for everyone. Plenty of spills saw most of us with great ride stories by lunch.

I had given everyone a brief rider talk at the start, the only real point was that some of the bog holes should not be attacked with full noise & front wheel up, as several we would pass were big & deep enough to swallow whole 4WD's let alone little bikes! Our first hole we passed was empty & reinforced my comment as it was 2 x 4WD's long & genuinely 2 meters deep. In the afternoon several riders had to negotiate the same hole as some unlucky 4WD drivers were floundering around this same hole. As our group rode through the riders simply disappeared from sight as the dropped in & then rode up the other side.

Lunch at the Toolshed was great, most guys were ready for a feed. Many thanks to Luke for doing the fuel drop. I think every drop was used up as the ride had been enough to see fuel consumption fairly high.

After lunch & into it again, luckiy all the riders were of the same mind & decided that a whole days ride was what they had come for, so we were able to hit up the great series of new tracks at morning pace.

One more departure from the group due to a mechanical issue & one rider off as he only wanted a 1/2 day ride. Saw the group down to 14. The afternoon saw some excellent ride tracks at a nice pace to suit us all.

Back by 5.00 & around 160km on dirt so we all had smiles. I know I had a great day, special thanks to Chris for working so hard to provide a great day of tracks, again thanks to Luke for fuel drop & clearing tracks a couple of days before & a special thanks to all those who assisted Dave at the accident.

Bring on the next one!

2 x short general videos will be posted,

Pete
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99lK6ZEBtz4
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq6Xdxe0YCk

Thanks Pete, Chris and Luke for your parts that made for a great day on the bike. The day contained a little more roost for me than im use to, but still had a ball. And as the tracks got slipperier more at home i felt, with my lack of pace not being such and issue. Even got some over taking done in the trickier stuff. Thanks again for a great day and hope Dvae isnt to long mending. Al

yep cheers pete,chris and luke that was a cracker ride and an orsome day.i think dave's off slowed some of us down a little and hope he's not gone for too long.spewing i dont have my cam anymore would have got some ace footage,oh well thats life.

thanks heaps for an ace australia day see u on the next one fella's

Yer thanks heaps Pete, Chris & Luke for sharing your well known areas with other AMTRA members. I had a ball and will be on one of your rides again as those tracks were sensational. Pity I mised some fun in the afternoon due to a minor mechanical problem. Chatted to Luke back at the car whilst loading about the area. Great day. Thanks heaps.

Great ride Pete, 170 k's of mother natures finest. Shame about Dave breaking his femur, put a bit of a dampener on things, he will be back on his bike sooner than we think ( speaking from experience )
Not being able to see more than 3 meters in front of you at times added to the challenge, and i had an absolute ball!!..Looking forward to showing you guys around the Black Range State Forrest!