Back at Work – Weekend Rides only now

Well a mate of mine (Dave) had organised a ride leaving from Murrays Corner (Albion Park) around 11:00 and heading into Meryla with a mate of his returning to offroad riding. So my intention all along had been to do my usual and wake up around 08:30 on Sunday, which with typical Sunday slackness would mean that by the time I got organised I would be ready for Daves ride. Well that was the plan.

Instead I awoke around 07:30 and found myself fully motivated, alert and raring to go. This meant that a change of plans was in order and I instead decided to head to a little known forest to explore (well to have a little reconnaissance actually for future rides) with the intention to try to be back at Meryla around 1130 which is when I figured Dave would be through (well a little later but wanted to be there on time). This plan failed.

So what happened instead?

Well the first part went well and I found myself on the road with plenty of time to be back at Meryla. Heading through Albion Park I even found myself being warned of police activity by cars and sports bikes alike (unusual at best) but given I was just gently cruising along around 95kmh it was of no worry. Got to the Pass and decided to cruise but still managed to catch some slow cars which were dispatched with until there was a line up to large to get around until the overtake at the top.

Turning right onto Tourist Road I found that the target on the DR remained as a Wallaby gently moved out of the way only to be followed a few kilometres later by an attack from a bird that decided to literally attack the helmet, missing and striking my shoulder (gently) before flying off. Not sure what type of bird it was but the brief glimpse I caught looked like an owl but had colours of a hawk.

Ok, so into Bowral for some fuel and then it was onto the real destination near Mittagong.

So, now a slight diversion.

People may recall a ride I did a few weeks back out behind Towrang. Well thanks greatly to some information I received as to the name of the ranges I decided to do a little research on the area using the internet and one piece of information was contained in a 4WD forum and was basically the report of their experience on the same roads. Well deciding to check the forum further I found another post about a forest near Mittagong which sparked some interest and so I decided to have a little explore and in the particular find a lookout mentioned in the 4WD forum report (refer pic below courtesy of 4WD forum)

Sadly for me (well not really .. read on) I didnt get to the lookout and in all honesty I have no idea of just how close I got (or didnt), but I sure had fun looking around for the short time I was there. So heres what happened.

Heading through Mittagong the road I wanted was the second one, but I had checked and knew that the first road joined it so took that instead simply to get away from the hard packed sealed stuff. This little piece of road was what I would call a typical country alley, the surface was good and judging by the number of cars it was well trafficked. A damn good fun piece of road to start the day even if it did have two 90 degree corners that seem out of character with the rest of it. Nothing dangerous about them, just not really in character for that road.

Having done the research I had tracked down the road in using Googlemaps and started on the way on. Only problem was I came to a T-intersection and given that I could recall a split in the track with the left fork heading to the lookout I decided to go left.

All to soon I found myself at a gate through which was a “Wildlife Conservation Area” sign which also had “Private Property – Keep Out” although this warning had been warn away. I decided to go ahead for a few hundred metres anyway just for a look anyway as these signs arent uncommon. After around 200 metres it became obvious that this was indeed private property and so I decided to turn around and head back out, not before getting a few pictures of the views though.

Now, while it was said to be (according to the sign) a nature conservation reserve I just find it interesting that every Wombat hole I saw (around three) all looked like this.

Can only assume that they must be causing damage somehow.

So pics taken it was back to the T-intersection and onto the right fork it was soon into the forest I was after, well according to the signs anyway. :

So having absolutely no idea of what lay ahead nor any real idea on where the track went it was a simple case of onwards to see what I could find which proved a tiring yet very worthwhile decision.

The track itself starts relatively easy with a few small sandy patches but nothing to difficult as the standard sedans parked in a small parking area proved. But that parking area is about as far as I would consider taking a standard sedan on the track as around the next corner came a small straight with a sand section about 12 inches deep and 30 metres long with no way round (without plowing through trees). This was the first real indication that I need the knobbies and fast as while the dualsport tyres got through it would be a lie to say there weren’t problems as the front washed out numerous times. No drops though and it was fun.

Getting through the sand the track starts to climb slightly into a right hander after which the track climbs harder up a small slope, all the time littered with rocks that made the ride interesting (remember the tyres) but again the bike got through with no real shakes, slides or scares for the rider.

Continuing on I had decided to follow what appeared to be the most used route, that being the one with the most tyre tracks. This would have been easy if there were a lot of tyre tracks and whilst there was a good number when it cam to an intersection, the tyre tracks seemed evenly split in their choice. So instead I decided to just ride and choose a direction depending on my feelings at the time and also landmarks such that if I had to backtrack I could easily recognise the direction I needed to follow to get out of the forest. Although not really needed the “landmark” is a method I use a bit as it just forms a small safety margin in my head when riding alone. I did say I was along didnt I?

As the track continued the surface changed continually from hard pack dirt, through sand to rocks ledges and onto the numerous loose rocky sections with rocks ranging in shape and size. After a while I came to another fork in the road and decided to take the right fork (had been lefts until now) and sure enough I found a track that tested, teased and entertained.

Generally when alone if I come to a section of track where I start to “question” whether to proceed or not I tend to stop and go for a good walk along the track (both directions) just to clear the head and help make up the mind. For me this just allows me to have a good think about the plan of attack (so to speak) and also decide whether it is sensible to continue lest something go wrong. This little section of track was one such section and ultimately I decided to backtrack, but not without getting a few pics first.

This picture may bore some but when walking the track I noticed some rocks into which a rut had been worn by some 4WD vehicles. The rut was not that deep but was actually complete with the tyre pattern and yes, the rubber blocks did or had appeared to have left their imprint.

As well as that rock, of late it has seemed that every time I ride I find something that another has lost and today was no exception.

So heading back to the last fork (where I had gone right) I decided to take what would have been the left fork for a little look which again ultimately resulted in a retreat but not before some exploration.

This fork started quite rough as there were some ruts to negotiate as well as small rock ledges that would have been easy for a lightweight but had to be taken with care by this fat b*stard and his DR. At times I found myself taking on 12 – 18 inches drops off some small ledges into further ruts, sand or loose rocks. All good testing stuff and but have to say that I never bottomed the standard suspension on the DR.

After more hills, more ruts, more rocks and more sand I found myself at the top of another small hill which was the gnarliest I had found so far.

So I decided to stop and have a little walk to see what lay ahead should I decide to tackle this little hill (remembering tyres and lack of ability here :laugh: ). Walking down the hill I came to another fork in the track and at this stage all looked enticing (although I was still very wary of getting back up if I needed to).

Deciding to explore the left fork it became very obvious that I would not be going this way were I to continue today even if the bottom part of the track looked a bit easier.

The top of the track which was approximately 50 or so metres into a hairpin

The bottom of the track once through the hairpin

So, with the decision made I decided to climb back up the track (well walk actually but the steepness made it feel like a climb) and have a look at the other track that left at the fork.

Again, a quick look indicated that being alone the best thing would be to return with mates as this fork was as steep but not as rocky as the previous one.

So after climbing back to the mighty DR and taking in refreshments (have I mentioned I am not fit) it was back out the way I had come, which given some of the hills and track was to be an adventure in itself. But, the DR performed faultlessly and we made it back out with nary an issue save some more moments in the sandy patches and soon found ourselves heading back to civilisation.

But, we both wanted more so the decision was made to head to Meryla to try to catch up with Dave and his ride, only issue here was that it was already near 1:00pm such was the time spent and fun had in the forest. But we continued on and entered Meryla for a quick pass through run, well that was the intention and as with much else today the intention did not meet the reality and I soon headed up a side track not before explored (by me).

After that little piece of adventure I ended up back on the main road and decided to have a look at a further track I had seen before and never really explored. This ended up being a dead end and not really having much to “write home about” but there did appear to be some little used tracks off this main one, although by little used I do mean overgrown.

Returning to Meryla Road I decided to avoid Gunrock Creek Firetrail for no reason other than I hadnt ridden further along the track and onto Meryla Firetrail for six weeks. But before I got that far I decided to again visit somewhere I had not been for sometime, only this time it was nearer 18 months and so I found myself heading along a recently regraded Patons FT to this little lookout.

By now time was getting on and so I simply returned to the main road and headed towards Meryla FT which was duly found and taken until it rejoined Gunrock Creek FT for the ride out and across to Fitzroy Falls for the ride home.

All up I missed out on catching up with Dave but did find an area that will be explored further once the bike has the knobbies mentioned and I have people to help me pick the bike up when I drop her.

It is an area that I am sure many guys would absolutely love as it seemed to offer something for even the harder riders and I didn’t even get to the powerline track, another day definitely.

Garry