Home › Forums › The Adventure Moto Riding Forum › Adventure Ride Reports › Wyong to Denman Sat 28 Aug
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August 28, 2010 at 12:20 pm #98894
We finally made it to Denman for lunch.
Katgirl, Krusty and myself left Wyong at 7am and returned at 8pm with about 450km travelled.
Photos and ride report to come
August 28, 2010 at 12:34 pm #186613What happened Wayne thats a long day mate :blink: Was there dramas? We have done from Chickens at Cooranbong to Denman Pub and back through the Watagans with singles thrown in and beers at Laguna and been home in Sydney for dinner :laugh: I guess there was only 3 of us :huh:
I meant to warn you the windrows before Rasberry Junction are huge and have the back of them dug out :huh: hope it didnt cause any problems :blink:
Look forward to your report with bloody pictures please, which pub did you go to?
Wish I had gone
(expect riding home in the dark stuff that shit)
TB
August 28, 2010 at 11:51 pm #186625We had lunch at the Royal and not a bad feed it was for $10. No real problems on the day except for Lotsa having a flat battery when we went to head off from the meeting point near Laguna. His was the second bike I have towed in a week now. There weren’t alot of pictures taken that I saw, no time for me to take them as I was sweep rider all day, I have a bit of a sore throat today from eating everyones dust
. I am sorting out a couple of videos at the moment.
The Veestrom went well all day and handled all conditions fairly well considering it still has the road tyres on. The biggest worries were the sandy sections and the couple of muddy sections where I was just a passenger holding on for grim death
. Definately need to beef up the suspension though, bottomed out numerous times and near broke my ankles when I hit one of the erosion mounds a bit quick.
I left home at 6.30 in the am and got home at 7.30 that night, not sure why it took as long as it did as the pace was fairly steady and the breaks were minimal. Only 4 falls that I know of for the day, the first was GavB who tried to climb on his bike and take off at the same time, only problem was that he forgot to put it in gear and so belly flopped onto the grass at 0kmh. The next was Craig, one of the Owls on the XR400, he came over an erosion mound that had a clay puddle on the back side which speared him off into the bushed, lucky he didn’t go over the embankment due to the thick vegetation. Then it was Kat’s turn, on a particularly steep rutted section she started down and then had to stop (as did I cause I was following her, bad move
). We both stopped and I helped turn her bike so she could head down the better section and off she went while I climbed back on my bike. GavB decided to head back up to make sure we were alright and he and I were talking when I looked down and there was Kat lying under the bike. At this point I thought I will just ride down then help her pick her bike up, what I didn’t realise was that she was actually stuck under it and couldn’t get up
(oops, sorry, shouldn’t laugh)Gav helped here anyway and I did thank her for showing me how not to do it. The last that I know of was MickP who was moving only slightly faster than GavB if at all, I didn’t actually see him fall just saw him pulling up to a gate and looked away, then looked back and he was on the ground. I think there was a hollow where he tried to put his foot down. Anyway, more to come once I get the pic’s and videos sorted.
August 29, 2010 at 12:15 am #186614The plan was to travel from Wyong, meet up with more riders at Laguna Creek Rd and Putty Valley Rd, have lunch in Denman and return by a different route. This would be the second attempt. The first was unsuccessful because we were delayed with a missing pannier so went to Bulga instead, which is a great ride in itself. So there were to be no excuses today. It was Denman, even if it was dinner instead of lunch.
Katgirl and Krusty were ready to go at the meeting point when I arrived at 7am, so with quick greetings we set off. After Ourimbah SF and up the hill we arrived at Murrays Run. We set a steady pace which gave me time to think about the beautiful views along Murray’s Run on a perfect not so chilly, sunny day. Who knew there was scenery to look at on these roads…….
Arrived at the meeting point Laguna Creek rd to find mickp, gavb, Jeffro, Choot? (Ian)
The starter on the DR was thumbed, to get going and found a dead battery. Apparently if you leave the ignition and heated handgrips on, the battery goes flat pretty quickly. Woops. Jeffro broke out the towrope and with his recent towing experiences got me up the hill to jump start. Thanks to Ian who pushed and Jeffro and his SV650 and everyone else for their patience. There will be photos I’m sure.
As a group we travelled along nicely at a constant pace without any shenanigans and got to the Putty Rd via Yengo Track. A short blast down the Putty Rd and we arrived at Putty Valley Rd to find the Owls. Krusty got on the phone and mickp went down the road and we were soon giving intros and getting ready for the next leg to Denman.
There were nine of us now. Krusty had the route in his gps which looked more sophisticated than my bit of a4 paper so with Krusty leading we set off for Raspberry Junction.
Pit stop
At one stage there I thought we must be on the wrong track because I remembered rememberable (is that a word) erosion humps. I found the first one that opened my eyes like dinner plates on landing and it was all good after that. With mickp seeing me on that first erosion hump we pulled up at raspberry junction and he said I was all arms and legs flailing on landing. It was pretty untidy from my view as well as I speared into the bottom of the next one. The stock suspension did a great job though.
Krusty
Martindale track start
At Raspberry Junction there was a forestry sign saying ‘Access upon permission of property owner’ or something like that. Unsure of what lay ahead and having heard there maybe a locked gate with an angry property owner we took it very slowly figuring it would be easier talking my way through if we weren’t riding super cross up to his gate. I had prepared for this with cash in the wallet, Katgirls tears and even considered putting a fresh bottle of Jim in the pannier, but giving away a bottle of Jim was going just too far. All good though, no locked gates; a steep windy section claimed a couple of scalps and then open farmland. There was a landcruiser closing a property gate near the creek and they were happy.
Landcruiser having a chat
Creek crossing
We hit the tar and motored into Denman and the Royal Hotel a welcome sight.
To put the food critic hat on, the coffee at the Royal tasted crap and at four dollars, expensive crap. I would have complained but they may have spat in my BBQ Occy salad and I should have done because it tasted like they already had. The beer seemed ok and they couldn’t stuff up a can of coke.
Gav before he tasted the coffee
Royal Hotel nice pub
We had a banter and ribbed Katgirl that we had to go back up the steep windy hill we came down before. Fuelled at the servo across the road and when someone mentioned it was quarter to three I was planing for dinner at Wollombi in the dark.
At Appletree Flat Gav and Mick worked out how to get through the gates and once on the Commission Track it was easy going to Putty Rd.
My camera broke around about …….now
Krusty fuelled Katgirl, we said our goodbyes to the Owls and started on the Settlers Track. We stopped halfway along to regroup and take in the view of sunset over the mountains then turned our headlights to high beam and did the rest in the dark. Ian’s Tenere head light shone through as the biggest and brightest.
From Paynes Crossing we hit Wollombi at 6.30pm and the northern boys went north and the eastern boys and one girl went east back to the meeting point.
Well done Katgirls for your determination throughout the day and everyone else for an easygoing day.
It was good experience for the Cameron Corner ride and definitely points out to me that it’s harder to throw the leg over the bike at the end of the day than it is in the beginning, so I’ll be doing my best to get in as much practice throwing my leg over between now and Cameron Corner.
I hope bollocks can fit a spa in that camper trailer.
It was an ambitious day given the circumstances and I expect everyone was challenged.
After all, it is an adventure ride.
August 29, 2010 at 12:24 am #186635Here’s a video to star with
August 29, 2010 at 12:32 am #186637Here are some pic,s
Glamour shot of the Veestrom at Laguna Valley
Clear Crisp morning, definately crisp 😆
Meeting up with the owls at Putty
A couple of accidental shots from the helmet cam
And the Veestrom not looking quite as glamorous (spelling)
If you look real close at the front wheel you can see a nasty ding :unsure:
Vandals struck
:laugh: :laugh:
August 29, 2010 at 12:37 am #186638Close up of the rim damage
August 29, 2010 at 1:10 am #186639Jeffro wrote:
Quote:Close up of the rim damage
:angry: :angry: I have a decent on on the front of the Tenere as well Jeffro
Road tyres have softer side walls get decent rubber on there will reduce it a bit
TB
August 29, 2010 at 2:56 am #186642Trailboss wrote:
Quote:Jeffro wrote:Quote:Close up of the rim damage
:angry: :angry: I have a decent on on the front of the Tenere as well Jeffro
TBIwas lucky it didn’t go down being a tubless tyre.
August 29, 2010 at 2:57 am #186643Another Video
August 29, 2010 at 4:12 am #186615Kat’s Version:
Left Hornsby at 5.30am and got to the meeting spot at 6.30am and did a slow rendition of getting myself together. I so shouldn’t have gone out Friday night to see Dragon and more importantly I shouldn’t have danced my socks off… my knee was already sore and I only had 4hrs sleep. It’s going to be a long day. (Why do I do this to myself everytime!!)
Krusty turned up minutes later and we got both bikes and ourselves ready. Lotsa arrived at 7am. We headed off and did the Red Hill dirt road then headed up the dirt road to Laguna. There we were met by MickP, Choot, GavB and Jeffro. After a welcome/introductions and general chat we decided to head off. This is where Lotsa found out his battery went flat and after much grunting from Choot and finally a tow from Jeffro up the hill it started and we were already to head off …. but somehow the engine cut out and Lotsa was looking for another tow. But alas we were off again and heading for Putty Road. Thankfully I did this section with Krusty and TB the other weekend and knew what to expect but realised its different when you’re going in the opposite way. The most surprising revelation is the difference the steering damper made as it wasn’t on the other weekend. The sand sections were a lot easier to manage. Jeffro did a fantastic job at sweeping and wasn’t concerned that I was bit slower.
We hooked up with OWL 01 & 02. Thanks to OWL02 I refuelled and ready to roll again. The ride to Denman was eventful with OWL01 doing a spectacular jump into the bushes. The brain had to stop and calibrate how a bike could get into a position like that (you could only see the arse of bike sticking up out of bushes but below that was a steep down hill full of trees). I still don’t know how OWL01 didn’t do a steep dive. Unfortunately by the time I got off the bike to reach for the camera the bike was pulled out of the bushes.
The next interesting section was a down hill that seemed heavily rutted. The first section was ok but realised I put the bike in wrong position for next section. Thanks to Jeffro for repositioning me (no dirty thoughts please!!). GavB was watching with great interest… maybe he saw an opportunity for some entertainment. Well I didn’t let him down and did a graceful flop halfway down that got me pinned under the bike and couldn’t move. GavB sprinted down the hill and it took 4 goes to lift the bike off me. Once at the bottom Jeffro gracefully brought down the VStrom and kindly thanked me for showing him where NOT to go.
We made it to Denham at 1.30pm and by this stage my tummy was on empty. Not having breakfast was a bad mistake. After hamburger and chips washed down with a schooner of rum and coke I was feeling normal again. We refuelled the bikes and after some discussion we agreed not to go back the same way and try Apple Creek rd. Took couple of tries to find the right road but we were off again. We did get some entertainment watching MickP do a gradual roll when waiting for the gate to open. It was poetry in motion and took 2 guys to help get it back up.
TB asked why it took so long for the ride…….it was due to the KAT FACTOR. I’m a lot slower than the guys and I have never ridden on trails in the dark so my speed got even slower…. Again Jeffro was amazingly helpful and the boys were not grumbling tooo much when I caught up. I suppose it gave some of the boys time to have a smoko. We got to Wollombi in the dark and said our goodbyes to Choot, MickP and Jeffro. Then mad dash back to Wyong that seemed to go for ever….. it felt like “are we there yet”. Back at the car at 8pm and then 1hr drive home, pick up thai dinner and bottle of red. Had enough energy to eat/drink and undressing was difficult. I so wish I had help as the cramps weren’t fun. The shower waited until Sunday morning….. all up epic day that has really freaked me out about how I’m going to do this ride across Australia….. Thanks again guys for your patience.
Will post photos on Monday at work.
August 29, 2010 at 6:20 am #186640hey Jeffro,
Thats a nice dint you got there. I got ones in my vstrom also.I had one last tyre change, that caused a leak, so I flogged it out with a soft face [nylon] hammer. The trick is to leave the tyre on and fully inflated during the flogging, but I dont want any responsibility if it does not work…..
I think they can be professionally repaired using rollers[Laurie Alderton I believe is good].
I can lend you my spare while you get that one fixed if you like?
Cheers
ScottJeffro wrote:
Quote:Close up of the rim damage
August 29, 2010 at 10:07 am #186616This ride was an epic one, at least for me anyway.. I have only one word to describe the day.. Rooted.. :laugh:
I drove 2 Hours and 45 minutes for a total of 184 Kilometers round trip to adventure ride 457 Kilometers round trip.
GPS Says:
Move time 8 Hours 30 Min
Stopped time 3 Hours 26 Min (Includes 2 meet point stops but not lunch)
Max speed 120 Kph and overall average 38.1 KphI left home at 5:15 am and I arrived at the meet point near 6:30 am to find Katgirl backing her car and trailer into position. We had a quick hello chat and then began unloading and gearing up.. I texted Lotsa at around 6:55 am to let him know we were ready to go. Within minutes Lotsa shows up.. A quick hello and view at all our new goodies on our bikes and off we went..
I told myself I needed to play nice as my knee is only 3 weeks out from the little incident on my last ride.. I started off in the back for the run to the Laguna meet point but adrenalin soon got the best of me and since it was an easy ride I decided to put some pressure on.. I felt good and standing wasn’t uncomfortable on the knee.. The bike sure felt weighted down with the large tank on the front and all the goodies on the side and back.. Felt rather strange and planted.. The new seat was interesting.. I reckon she is 4 inches taller as sitting on the bike I now tower over the top of the cock pit area and not quite flat footed on the ground now.. Getting on and off was a drama so I will have to work something out.. I’m unsure of the seat at this time.. It definitely was comfy but the width played a little havoc rubbing the inside of my thighs.. Always felt like there was pressure against them..
We rode through some really nice spots on the way to Laguna.. I noticed heaps of places for sale along the way and wished I had the money to get one.. Soon enough we arrived at the Laguna meet point and all the boys were waiting.. Hello’s, some old intros and some new ones were to follow.. Out of all the bikes on the run I seemed to be drawn to Mickp’s KTM.. A 690 which apparently is really a 651.. Oh how I wish I had a money tree.. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
After a short drama with a battery in a certain 650 we were on our way.. The pace was really good.. I played nice and felt good.. The last time I rode this route I did it in the other direction.. It seemed a bit rougher than I remembered and few snotty bits with semi long sections of sand.. Oh boy they were interesting.. The bike felt like it slid its way through.. No incidents and at the putty road in no time.. We were running a bit behind so down the bitumen we went and arrived at the Putty Rd and Putty Valley Rd meet point.. No OWL’s to be seen.. It was about 45 minutes after the time I mentioned we would have arrived.. Did they fly the coop? :laugh: A quick call and we determined they were down Putty Valley Rd a bit parked in a nice open grassy section..
Greetings were done, cornerman explained, lead and sweeps assigned and we were ready to go.. I got the privilege of leading with Lotsa as my back up.. I was a bit nervous about leading as I wasn’t sure if I was going to set a good pace.. The first leg was pretty simple and the tracking on the GPS was working correctly.. All I had to do was follow the green line.. :laugh: Lotsa soon took the lead and Mickp was feeling the need for speed and soon the two of them were racing ahead at a zooming pace.. I couldn’t keep up so backed down enjoying the first of the easy rain water diversion humps.. This was a mistake as on one jump I bottomed out and right knee popped.. It felt like when you crack your knuckles.. The pain was swift and sharp and I knew I had just f$%^ed up and set myself back a couple a weeks.. To my surprise the pain quickly subsides and the knee wasn’t hurting.. I just soldiered on..
We soon arrived at Raspberry Junction.. I got off the bike and walked around a bit.. Some slight discomfort but all seemed well.. Ok maybe not so bad.. We discussed a plan in case we came across a locked gate.. It soon was determined that we would send in Kat and she would cry on demand hoping to gain sympathy.. :laugh: :laugh: Turns out we had clear passage.. Even came across a property owner in a 4×4 who just wanted to know how many more bikes were coming down the big snotty rutted hill.. This brought us to a small creek crossing which everyone seemed to enjoy..
Denman was small and quiet.. Lunch was good and cheap.. I ordered last but some how got mine first.. Hey when your Krusty Molech and roll into town people pay attention.. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Tank took 11.5 liters and we were sitting on 240K’s since departure.. Works out to be around 20 or so K’s per liter.. Not too bad as I reckon we did 20-25% bitumen..
Off we went to find the Commission Track/Road.. GPS was telling us to go to a locked gate.. Some good re-con by Gav showed that the locked gate was a decoy since all you had to do is lift the chain over the pole.. :laugh: Same went for the second locked gate.. Soon we were into the forest and on the track.. It went what seemed like forever but eventually we hit the Putty Road.. The OWLS went back to their nest and we went north to the old settlers track.. It was getting close to dark by this time and we seemed to make it a bit more than 1/2 way into the track before we were in full darkness.. I was surprised at how bright the headlight on the DRZ was.. We popped out of the track an then onto bitumen to Wolombi.. Goodbyes were done and a group went north and Myself, Lotsa and Kat went back to Wyong on bitumen for what felt like days.. It was cold and I was tired..
Arrived back at the cars and proceeded to un-gear and pack up.. By this time the knee was feeling a bit rough.. I knew it was going to be a long few days as the extent of the damage becomes known.. Took a bit over an hour back home.. I rocked up at about 9:30 PM..
It was a hard core day and if everyday is this tiring on the Corner trip, well Krusty is going to need a few boxes of Tampons……………….. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I had a great day and thanks to everyone for the company as well as making it all so enjoyable..
Cheers…
Chris………..August 29, 2010 at 11:03 am #186617Good ride guys and girl. Nice to know you can get through on the Martindale trail.
Gav, you’re supposed to have a bourbon at lunch not coffee, I thought you knew the rules :laugh:August 29, 2010 at 11:11 am #186641Jeffro wrote:
Quote:Close up of the rim damage
Nice ding there Jeffro, did you feel the hit when it happened or was it one of many?
Big ride thanks to all. My GPS logged 480km all up from home but the bike speedo said 500km :blink: I think the GPS is wrong :laugh: :laugh:
Well the new panniers worked well and I had a lot of gear in them and nothing came loose, oh except for my left hand mirror which I tightened 3 times and put it in the pannier the 4th time.
Arrived at Denman with 235km on the speedo from Morisett fillup and used 11.1 litres from the main tank with 0.9 l left. Still 14l left in the Safari tank so the Cameron Corner trip mileage is looking pretty good @ about 500km depending on conditions (heavy going in sand)
Wayne, I’ll make some jumper leads for the corner trip so next time we can jump start yer bike
Mick
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