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Well, day 8 of the Safari rolled around and the bike was pretty much as we left it after Safari 2009, same oil, same front tyre, same front mousse some of the same dust and all of the same scratches and dings! We did give it a new air filter and a bit of a clean up, removed the bum tank and dust light, but there was no point in getting carried away!
We hooked the trailer to my ute and headed off to Condo at about 2:30 good Friday, arriving at about 5pm. Somehow it was easier this year to get through scrutineering, despite the headlight fairing having white numbers on a black background it was no problem at all and we went straight through. A quick run over the ICO calibration course and we were more or less set for race day.
Scrutineering
Saturday morning, we threw in a new and freshly oiled air filter and rolled the map onto the rollers before Dave headed off. We managed to get a shot of TB:
He’s an elusive bugger in front of a camera without his helmet on! Dunno why, he is such a good looking chap!
Anyway, Dave was a little bit nervy but set to go. This event seemed much less daunting given our Safari experience last year, so we were both much more relaxed.
TB’s camp:
Our setup:
Dave set to go:
I didn’t stick around to see Dave start. I had a bad experience at Safari where I did wait for him to start and ended up missing him at the first fuel stop. Shocker. So I headed to the first service and got set up, and before too long TB rolled in and we talked shit for a while, waiting for something to happen.
One bloke had tried to make his CRF imitate the grasshoppers we had splattered all over the front of the utes:
His helmet was a shattered mess too! Lucky lad!
Dave came in and was in a great mood. I fuelled him up, gave him a drink and a bite to eat and put a new map in the roller before he headed to the next selective and I went to a viewing area to get a few piccies.
We were located near a tractor parked on the outside of a fast right-hand bend, just outside the fence. I got a few piccies, but too many to put them all up here. Here are some of the best:
Did I mention the dust?
Paul Sinderberry, sliding sideways but still time to wave to the crowd!
More from the same spot:
This guy had taken a fair hit by the angle of his headlight, helmet peak and the way his head sits on his neck!
Managed to snap another shot of TB:
(Just kidding mate!!)
Dave came through looking pretty good:
And then we headed to the lunchtime service at Vermont Hall. This is Crash about to head back out after lunch:
And another TB classic:
We found a viewing area on a dam where the track curved right and left and I had a higher vantage point. Turned out to be pretty hard to get decent shots there actually, but here are a few:
Dave:
We decided to make Dave wait when he got back to the showground and I stuck around to get shots of Crash. It seemed to take ages for him to show up though. Some other guys came through in the meantime:
Chris
And finally, Crash
Dave moved from his start position of 68 to be in 44 at the end of Day 1. Good running! Crash was going OK and there was still a whole day of racing to get through before the beers could flow in earnest.
Day 2 later.
Cheers!
ECKS
ECKS-Man wrote:One bloke had tried to make his CRF imitate the grasshoppers we had splattered all over the front of the utes:
His helmet was a shattered mess too! Lucky lad![/quote]
That would be Spock on AJ’s 2009 Safari bike Eks. He was in Lithgow on Monday lining up for the 4day already. Hard Bastard.
Ok, so day 2 dawned and we were hot to trot. I hooked Dave up with the map and gave the bike a quick once-over – no dramas. Helped him kit up and then I headed to the first service. As I approached the service area I could see dust off to the north east. Lots of dust. Let me rephrase that: HEAPS of DUST!!
I arrived after the front runners had already arrived and were being fuelled up, cleaned off and psyched up again. I tried to get a few pics as the guys came down a fast straight to the flying finish. More than a few had the bike popping off the rev limiter in top gear as they flew down there! There was so much dust that after one bike came through, anyone behind him was invisible – stuffed if I know how they saw anything!
Here’s a few piccies:
The time control:
Did I mention the dust?
Check this out:
The service area:
Dave came in and I fuelled him up and gave him a drink before we both headed off.
I would have a long wait at Vermont Hall for him to show up, it was a long selective and I only had to go about 40km. I got to see the GHR boys in action as they changed Jake’s rear mousse and tyre in their lunch hour. Bloody unbelieveable!
Had a yarn to Caeser’s crew – Dean was number 28 at the Safari so I had met him before. Caught up with a few other blokes and had someone ask me which magazine I was with… Go figure! Just because I have a long… lens, apparently I am a Magazine bitch! Actually that inspired me, so I have a report I will send to TBAM and see how it goes!
Here are a few general shots from the lunchtime service
Dave came in and had been in a crash. The bike was OK apart from a bent barkbuster, but Dave was not happy. Most unlike him really! I sat him in the shade and got him drinking and eating then sorted out the bike. It was just a matter of loosening the end bolt of the barkbuster and swinging on the thing until it was more of less straight. Might be worth looking at replacing some of the mounting bars though Dave – just in case!
Threw in a bit of fuel and when I was done, Dave seemed a bit happier. Nothing like a bit of a rest and some food to make you feel more human. Next time I will remember to take some Brufen with us, or something similar!
I headed to a viewing area and got a few more shots as the competitors went through a dusty track through the trees. More than one looked up and saw me, then headed for the scrub! As much as it was a bit funny, I was sorry to be a distraction to them, this close to the end you don’t need a crash into a tree or fence!
Here are a few shots from there:
And some more:
Then Dave came through, he was looking pretty good too, but then he looked up and saw me and it threw him off track – then off the bike! I love this sequence:
It was OK, Dave got the position back by the end of the selective, about 5km later on. Here’s Dave coming into the final time control:
Dave followed me back through the transport to town and finished in position 42. Bloody well done!!
Top effort to Crash on finishing at all, let alone making a decent show of it like he did!
Congrats to Chris for his effort this year and to Caeser – that guy is fast!
Here are a few at the end of the show, just to round things off.
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