Two Day Nav Ride Pre Running

Hi All,

Ok for everybody who is following the upcoming Navigation ride you have lots to look forward to :woohoo: :woohoo: . I don’t want to build it up too much, but……..the tracks are awesome!!!

It has something for everybody. Some bits will challenge people, particularly those on big bikes :dry: . There are a several optional extras to keep the more experienced dirt bike riders on their toes 😆 , especially if it is wet or if the ground is still slippery (like it was while we were out there!!!)

TB has again put together a great route!! Without a doubt this ride sums up an excellent adventure bike tracks.

Here is quick rundown to whet your appetite without giving too much away!!

TB mentioned he put in a nice warm-up track early in the piece, and he wasn’t wrong. It will get everybody warm and focused early. Don’t stress it’s no Erzberg, but it is a little tricky, particularly given its in the first 10km :ohmy: .

Now, as hard as it is to believe……I’m not much of a morning person :whistle: . I generally like a slowish start to my day. Thankfully a coffee and heated handgrips had me in good spirits for this section and I popped out the other side with a big smile on my face :woohoo: . Sure there was no egg Benedict for me in Lithgow :blush: , but in the true sense of adventure riding I soldiered on and was rewarded for it.

Icy Puddles, turn on heated grips!!!

As TB has said in the other thread, we recommend everybody should get an early start, just because it is a reasonable distance for day one. We recommend you hitting the tracks by 8.30am, remembering you can’t start before 8am, the led riders still need time to mark some sections, so give us a little grace to get this right.

After the first technical section we cut on and off some reasonably well known local tracks then into Capertee for Breakfast and a mandatory fuel stop. The servo is ready for us and provide a great bacon and egg role with OK coffee.

After fuel, we run though a series of beautiful valleys, and though Turon River. Please be careful of gates that can sneak up on you :angry: and the fact that we need to respect the private property.

Then more great adventure trails, a few more meandering fields. The roads get very slippery especially when dry due to the pea gravel and sharp bends.
Slippery Gravel Raods, if you look closely you may see some skid marks where somebodies bald tires washed out!!

There is a section of fantastic fun stock route. This is a cracker of a short track!!!. Deep ruts, mud holes, careful line selection needed, especially with big bikes. The long grass and 4wd ruts make for a tricky little run, trust me you will be talking about this section later that night :woohoo: :woohoo: . It had TB and I going all different directions and braving our instincts in the conditions. There is no one line that is the best, just have fun with it, but go steady!!!After this we went into a large central town for fuel.
Then a series of stock routes and some private property again please show respect to the landowner and stock (lots of very dumb sheep :S ), into orange though some more cracker routes and a creek crossing.

TB has some mechanical problems over this last section and we limped into Orange still in daylight. This proved that the day is not too long, but there isn’t too much time for faffing about during the day :side: .

Day two

We hit the road a bit later than we expected due to mechanical issues with TBs bike, but like a well oiled pit crew TB had the parts ready and changed …….while I went and had coffee :whistle: .

Then we checked out the start for day two. Without giving too much away I love the adventure style start he has planned. What that means…well….. you will have to wait and see!!!. :blink:

It was definitely chilly the other day and it will be colder on the ride. You could almost expect snow, so turn on your heated hand grips and put on your thermals. But all worth it for the tracks to follow!!!

We had a ball in the virgin pine forest, this is sweet country but keep an eye out for goats!! :unsure:

In this section we had some challenges in the muddy slippery condition. It can catch out the best of us……… with bald tires. Careful wheel placement is the key here. My light little WR (with new tires) bounced over the ruts but TB’s balled tires made it very challenging for him.

Then some more amazing high country forests and ripper trails, but navigation will be important and even a little tricky. Trust the GPS, this section had TB and I turning around a couple of times.

Into Lucknow for Fuel and the best big breakfast I have had in a little while. The Two Fat Ladies cafe are ready for us all to rock in for breakfast, they are even putting on extra staff especially for us, save you appetites. The coffee was great!!!

Queue serious music :ohmy: :ohmy: ……..The section after breakfast is not hard, but there are a couple of sharp corners after Lucknow. I’m sure it won’t be a problem for most, if not all of you. But I managed to severely mess up a corner and had the biggest stack of my shortish riding time.
I completely miss judged a corner (probably not concentrating) and managed to cartwheel me and the bike off into the bush . Amazingly I missed a very big tree, a small tree and a guide post and thankfully I walked away from it all. Albeit with a very sore head and strange colours for a little while :blink: :S , but OK all the same. I think TB thought I was a goner for a minute. :ohmy:

Speaking from experience, please just pay attention after breakfast!!!

Once the fog (in my head lifted) and colours returned to normal we cruised though more pine forests and some just sensational single trail. This may not be super easy on a big adventure bike for some, but totally worth giving it a go . This section will be an optional extra on the day and can be bypassed :blush: . But I recommend giving it a go and riding at your own pace. I rode like a complete nanna after my stack, and still enjoyed it.

Then out to where gold was first discovered in Australia. A series of fast dirt roads to keep out of town, then into another cracker Australian bush section. Twin trails and then back into a pine forest and again trust your GPS.

Fuel stop here somewhere, the track notes will provide the detail.

More pine forests after a bit of road, awesome twin overgrown rutty twin trail. Take it easy though here, the long grass hides some logs and rocks, but great fun.

The forest had me doubting some hills, it amazing what a fall can do to damage your confidence :pinch: . TB had to convince me a few times that the hills were not too scary, they look big, but once you are on them they are just cool fun and take a little commitment.
There are also several side tracks that could be fun for more experienced riders, for the rest of us mere mortals, get the GoPros ready and sit back to enjoy the fun. :silly: :woohoo: :huh:

Then basically back into the finish at Lithgow.

I had such a good time on the tracks and I can’t wait for everybody to ride them. It is really incredible how TB links great track and trails together time and time again.
I’m looking forward to doing it all again………except without my epic failed stunt rider impersonations.

See you all soon.

Flying Fish