Adventure ride St Albans or Bust RR Nov 2012.

[Dwayne OMember]

Well, My Friday got off to a great start when the boss sent me home even earlier than I was due to get away,, didn`t need to ask me twice

Got ready after a light lunch and headed over to meet PTW.
Problem 1 started when I thought I would ring Strucky to see how they were going at Freemans Waterhole “Not gonna make it” was the reply,,, they were still at Moonan Flat at 3.00pm.
Gave them some different options for a route & fuel at Laguna before they got to St Albans…

Problem 2. PTW rings and his Tenere has a flat , I mean DEAD battery… SO off to his worksite to try & push start the heavy beast, which was a no go !!! :S
A guy came around and they tried towing it up and back along the service road with Pete hanging onto the tray sides of a ute, bat that was crap too !!! Luckily Morgo came back to check if anyone was onsite and was able to find some wire & give it a jump start from his Troopy. Turns out that Morg knows my old man and they worked together for 30 odd years ,,,

Finally we hit Freemans & met Ace who was kicking back in the shade,, no worries he reckons.
I ring Strucky again to check on their progress and they are still outside Singleton, so I write off meeting up with them at Bucketty after our own delay of about 45 mins with Pete`s battery dramas :dry:

The mad trio then hightailed it up & over the Watagans (damn the dust was thick) and out to Settlers Rd for the blast to St Albans. Love that road, it is awsome in all conditions
A few greetings with the gang that had already assembled and a few cold beverages went down real well as the rest of the ride party arrived in dribs & drabs throughout the afternoon.
Luckily the Wauchopians made it in before sundown,, and we all had a riders brief about the trickier stuff on the routes (there were some options open for the more adventurous) but some hard to spot turns & single lines off the main trails here & there throughout the weekend.

All enjoyed a great feed from the pub & the drinks flowed till late (early morning hours for the usual offenders) :laugh: I think KRAM was the worst trying to mount his GPS and other stuff in the dark halfway thru the night :laugh: :laugh:
Most were tucked away by midnight as we had an early departure time, starting from 6am for some to spread the groups out and clear some of the dust (well that was the idea I think)
Light showers were brewing !!!!!!!

More to come

[Dwayne OMember]

KING BOLLOCKS wrote:

wow TB…i was just settling in with my popcorn and choc top vanilla ice cream :cheer:
Bravo

YOU would have enjoyed the real thing better Boll
And No Lattes were consumed at all (I don`t think anyway)

maybe there were some at Rylstone yesterday morning for brekky ????? :whistle:

[GregMember]

KING BOLLOCKS wrote:

wow TB…i was just settling in with my popcorn and choc top vanilla ice cream :cheer:
Bravo

Thanks King. Its only the trailer Bolls real thing in a couple of days eh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuWkk5Cdu6E

Open it in youtube and change it to 720 for best results

TB

[AndrewMember]

EAGLE`02 wrote:

KING BOLLOCKS wrote:

wow TB…i was just settling in with my popcorn and choc top vanilla ice cream :cheer:
Bravo

YOU would have enjoyed the real thing better Boll
And No Lattes were consumed at all (I don`t think anyway)

maybe there were some at Rylstone yesterday morning for brekky ????? :whistle:

Not me… :blush: :whistle:

[Dwayne OMember]

Day 1 had us winding out from St Albans along the riverside and out towards Colo. This is a stunning area to ride, as was most of the day`s route. We had light misty rain, just enough to wet the goggles or visors and then the sprinkling od fine dust from your ride partner made it tough to see at times. Ace & I were continually swapping the lead in sections between wiping the goggles and de fogging,,,

Before long the rain had gone and we were at fuel stop no.1 Bilpin, where some pies & sausage rolls went down real quick for brekky,,, I have never some the Boulder Bros inhale pies so quick :blink:
From Bilpin is one of my favourite rides Mt Irvine Rd to Black Fellows Hand Track. :woohoo:
The whole section flowed real well and we were running through the rocks and out onto Wolgan Rd.
This is where our navigation started to go south for a bit :S

We followed the Boulders & Fishfinger to the left and up an Erzberg hill climb, Lefty was there too in the lead I think and there was some carnage,,, Boulder was stopped on the first corner on the big 990 but preppig for another go as I went by,
I round the halfway bend climbing up to see a DR on it`s side in the rocky ledges & Fish doing a backwards double roll with a pike thrown in for style :laugh: :laugh:
Ace had punted the F800straight up bouncing all over the place to a stop behind Lefty who was a bit shocked to see the Beemer up right behind him ,,,
I was next up & played it safe but came to a stop upright in the deep rocky line just against the final rock ledge. We pushed and putted the 690 up and that`s when we decided we were off route and had to all go back down

We then took another wrong turn, or lack of a turn and went past a big white sail with Old Bull sticker on it marking a corner!!! Go Figure ,,, I think more than just our group missed it the first time too 😆

Just after this Ace pulls me up & says “How about we ditch the Boulders and go our own way, they have led us up the garden path twice in 10 mins”
We didn`t really ditch them,, we used them as a pace group later in the day & swapped the lead back & forth through the next 20 odd k of winding farm trail & many gates, it was handy to get to a gate & have Boulder there to wave you on only to return the favour at the next gate etc etc

Back on route and the next k down the track we came across a gathering of Old Bulls with a WR250R in deep in what I immediately recognised as Dejay`s Waterhole 👿 👿 👿
No harm done to the WR as Amy had stopped the engine just in time and Jeffro ran in like a Knight in shining armour to rescue the stranded (more like a Knight in wet pants) :blush:

From there we all pretty much had a trouble free run out along the winding trails & service line and made our way to Capertee for lunch & fuel.
After lunch was a great run through Turon Gates & Palmers Oaky, that area is simply stunning and it was a lot drier that the last time I did it in reverse on the Sunny Corner weekend in the rain.
Mt Horrible is still Horrible even in the dry,, loose marbly rocks strewn throught the fine dust, ready to catch you out if your not on the ball…

Next was the run through Sunny Corner SF and some great back roads winding out to Bob`s Creek and Sherwood Rd rather than the run straight up the middle (which is what I heard Toes did squirting off on his own, then they went back to rejoin the route later in the day)
Yetholme for fuel and a mad dash on some great back roads that I haven`t been on before into the back of Kelso to the overnight stay KELSO HOTEL .
Let the fun & shenannigans begin :silly: :blink: :dry: :unsure: :whistle: :sick:

Day 2 later

[GregMember]

EAGLE`02 wrote:

I round the halfway bend climbing up to see a DR on it`s side in the rocky ledges & Fish doing a backwards double roll with a pike thrown in for style :laugh: :laugh:

Funny how the KING of 6 x Ps failed to mention that :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Memory loss there Fish

TB

[Dwayne OMember]

Trailboss wrote:

EAGLE`02 wrote:

I round the halfway bend climbing up to see a DR on it`s side in the rocky ledges & Fish doing a backwards double roll with a pike thrown in for style :laugh: :laugh:

Funny how the KING of 6 x Ps failed to mention that :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Memory loss there Fish

TB

Most likely :laugh:

It was on the hill at the hard left corner we stopped at with the cars waiting for carnage on the first Hill End Ride
Sort of looked a lot like your tumble on the Widowmaker thtt Jacko so kindly reminds us of now & then
That outta give you a mental picture of Fish rolling doen the rocks :woohoo:

Cheers

[Clive CarreMember]

I was to busy watching Ace bounce the 800 up that hill in front of me and got. The front wheel stuck in a big rut and just laid it down to have a rest and then did a back flip but no harm done I wouldn’t change a thing it was well worth Watching Ace battle the big girl up over the ledge. 😆
Cheers Fish

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

[Dwayne OMember]

Sunday saw us up early again (well most of us anyway) :laugh:
There was a meeting organised at the top of Mount Panorama to watch the sun shine over what really is a beautiful area. I led Amy & Wigster up through the city and we wound our way to the top near McPhillamy Park where TB, PTW, Lefty & Dejay were leaning over the wall taking in the scenery and listening to the roar of big thumpers climbing the mountain
A few pics were taken and then the rest of the clan arrived, minus Toes, Moose & you guessed it Kram,,,, Strucky came up for his first visit to the track and wanted a couple of happy snaps, so I obliged, one at the top and one on Pit Straight..

Then it was on, the run out of the city to find the Bridal Track. I have been keen to do this one for a few years and am really glad I got to do it with the gang, it is truly awesome, windy, rocky, narrow in places with huge drop offs, but most of all it gives you a feeling of being in the wilderness. Stopped here and there to marvel at some of the convict built walls and let the dust settle.
We Made it to Hil End in good time, too good in fact as it was only 8.30 and nothing was open, no food or fuel till 9 or later :blink:

So it was a dash then by the group to Rylstone for brekky at a cafe. We all gathered in the middle of the road (that is the parking spot available) and the girls brought a procession a Bacon & Egg Rolls, coffees and I suppose the odd Latte over to the hungry masses (minus the Wauchopians) they were miles behind and probably just getting going from Bathurst at that stage :laugh: :laugh:

The next stretch was interesting indeed, a mix of back farm roads, all dirt with sketchy marble gravel, dust, more dust & the odd patch of white powder bulldust that caused me to stop in the middle of the road more than once. Lefty actually said that he did the same when all turned white :pinch:

At the next stop which I think was near Breakfast Creek (Owls` Nest area) we gathered again, swapping laughs & tales of dusty bits, tom foolery & the odd near miss, including PTW clippig a kangaroo at speed

Then we had the long stretch towards Bylong and the Valley Road that is very scenic but it had become quite hot & windy in places that was drying us out pretty quick.
Was somewhat relieved that my reserve light came on as I turned into Apple Tree Flat, this meant I had made it from Rylstone on the standard tank and had my 8ltr bladder to get me across the Commission Rd & Yango to Laguna. I poured the contents in at the second gate and then came across TB`s front runners chatting to Ace in the shade.

So across the range we climbed, weaving up & through one of the best riding areas we have in the Hunter I reckon. However, I was beginning to tire in the heat and started to do stupid stuff. Running wide, feet slipping off the pegs and I was running low on water. I stopped again and stripped off the jacket and rode only in the armour which was heaps cooler. Then my tool bag broke a buckle & kept coming loose and slipping around, pissing me off even more :angry:

About halfway through I came across the front runners with a flat on I think TB`s Tenere. Ace had gone by & I kept on going knowing that I would have the boys hammering on my tail soon anyway, so I just putted along trying to pick left lines as much as possible.
I had to stop again and tighten the bolts in my pannier frames that had shaken loose more than once over the weekend.
Then I came across Ace at the Putty Road and we snuck over to Howes Trail and though the gate before Tb & co turned up surprisingly. I then decided to strap the toolbag on the back with my fuel bladder which was a pain in the butt, but was better than it round my waist.
Finally I was passed by TB and then the rest of the front runners as well as Boulder and made my way to to intersection near Laguna where the guys had assembled for some goodbyes and to check who was pushing on to St Albans & who was going their own way.
But Dejay was missing :dry: which was a worry as he had passed me just before Boulder had and there was discussion of the possible scenarios,, luckily he had hung left on Yango Creek Rd & i found him sitting near Wollombi Pub wondering where the rest of the guys were ,,,, Safe though !!
We hightailed it back to the group which put some minds at ease :whistle:

I then headed solo across Watagan Creek Rd & up into the mountains before the Wallabies became a problem, only to get near cleaned up by said peanut in a Hilux on my side of a corner… I had to lock it all up & head straigt into the shrubs to miss him and you guessed it, he just kept on going,,, Prick !!! :angry: :angry: :angry:
Stopped briefly at the Pines to put the jacket back on and send the missus a text and then Ace rumbles up to the carpark,, He had changed his mind at Settlers Rd and decided to soot it back thru Walkers Ridge to find me.

We rode down to Cooranbong together and said our farewells after what was a fantastic weekend of riding, scenery and time with great mates….

Thanx to All, you all made it a great time & I look forward to some more stories of other guys adventure

[Amy HarburgMember]

Wow what an amazing weekend of great trails strung together by TB.
Overall I can’t say enough how great the route was. The whole two days were fantastic. Thanks a million TB and everybody on the ride.

So my weekend got off to a slightly slow start because I couldn’t get away from work until 4pm, but then it was load up the bike and all road lead to St Albans. This was the first time to get back on my WR since the APC so it was great to be back in the (small? :unsure: ) saddle again.

Anyway it was great to meet up with everybody in fine form at the pub. It was also great to put a few names to faces that I hadn’t met before. I also caught up a friend that had come along to get involved with old bulls. David or as he seems to be known now Wiggsy has recently bought a Tigger and was keen to put it through its paces. As it turns out it was definitely a great test for man and machine. Safe to say Dave was up to the challenge and punted the big girl over what was a trying course for a big bike. This was also the first time Dave has had this bike off road. All up top job Wiggsy!

So it was off to a great start on Sat with sweet tracks through Mt Irvine and Blackfellows. These are always worth the trip. Again I need to say how great the route was that TB put together………great track after great track all linked together.

Unfortunately I either didn’t listen to, or see, or take note of the large detour sign TB made around DJ’s hole and I almost met the same fate as DJ bike. By more good luck than good management I stopped short of drowning my bike. But I was in deep with lots of mud holding the bike! What’s a woman to do in this situation ! :blush:

That’s when a brave knight came to my rescue! Jeffro strode into the water without hesitation to see it I was alright and to help retrieve my bike. Wiggsy then jumped in and we got it out without damage. Boulder gave it the once over and assured me it was ok, so away we went…….just a little wet. Your my hero Jeffro. :kiss:

The rest of the day was more great tracks and some navigational challenges , but all in all great. Then onto the Kelso for drinks and stories.

More later.

Flying fish.

[terryjhaynesMember]

I love these stories.

[GregMember]

teza h wrote:

I love these stories.

So do I Tez especially hearing that Fish had binned it and not mentioned it over a beer Saturday arvo

Seriously hearing everyone’s adventure is awesome

TB

[Amy HarburgMember]

Day 2

I can safely say that I like a relaxed pace to my Sunday morning – Yes I can be described and a latte adventurer. Nothing’s better than starting a big day with eggs Benedict and a few latte’s before hitting the trails…….well I was shit out of luck wasn’t I :unsure: No coffee and no breakfast. Only a hangover and a brisk ride up to the top of Mt Panorama. But it was worth it!! 6.30am watching a beautiful morning awaken over Bathurst with a line of adventure bikes ready to go! :woohoo:

Then straight to the bridle track. I don’t think I would even get tired of that track and its views. After heading up over the bluff and back down across a causeway I suddenly noticed a Ninga had snuck up on me………so it was on for young and old! 👿 :woohoo: :silly: TB and PTW trying to intimidate my little 250 with their big bikes. Wow what a ride! No time to take in the scenery or to worry about the drop offs I was to busy trying to ride my line and keep the revs into the WR. That was sooooo much fun, I wanna go do it again. There were lots of woohoos when we reached Hill End.

Then there was the run into Rylston for breakfast and onto the commission rd then into Yengo. I’m not sure if I am just use to crossing Yengo in the other direction or we took different tracks from what I remember but it was actually I bit challenging! Great fun, but some section were a bit steeper than I remember and a bit looser.
By the time Dave and I got the rode we had had enough fun for one weekend. So we bailed out here. I hit the Wollombi home with a quick stop at the pub for refreshing ale then onto Singleton. I finally rolled through the gate at 5.30ish.

What a weekend……now that is Adventure riding!

Flying Fish

[Dave WigginMember]

It was all Flying Fish’s fault. “I’m going on an Old Bulls ride next weekend, why don’t you come? They are a great bunch of blokes and it will be good for you”.

About the former she was certainly right, the jury is still out on the latter….

As a fairly recent convert to off road riding my dirt experience (or lack of it) mainly consisted of reasonable gravel roads and fire trails. About the most technical thing I had done was getting in to Thrashers for the TTT rally in the wet. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself until a dude rode in just behind me on a Kawasaki Vulcan.

Anyway, I was keen to hear all about her recent APC exploits. I thought I would get some decent rubber on my brand spanking new Triumph Tiger and give it a burl. What could possibly go wrong?

So I rolled in to St Albans on Friday arvo to be greeted by the chief Old Bull himself, TB, who thrust a cold one in to my hand and soon had his Onkaparingas all over my GPS, downloading the route.

It soon became apparent, as the other riders started arriving and the beers started flowing, that I was amongst a hard core group of men and machines. As the old war stories started to to be recounted I felt a bit like a fourth grader running on with the Wallabies at Eden Park to face the All Blacks in a Bledisloe cup decider. Surely some mistake! Is this a dream or a nightmare! TB’s sage advice “take it easy and you”ll probably be OK”Gulp!

After several beers, a steak and a rum or three I started to feel a bit more confident. I camped next to Lefty who was to do a more than passable impression of Gaston Rahier out on the trails and with his flying mounts and dismounts.

So the next day passed in something a blur. It started off reasonably easily but the pace was something I was struggling with, and trying not to hold Flying Fish up too much I was often riding at my limit (though It might not have seemed like it to other observers!)

It was the tricky rutted and rocky steep decent in to the Gardens of Stone that had me really worried. I had never done anything remotely like it, and for the first time I thought a Kawaski Sherpa might have been a better buy than the Trumpy. Anyway I managed to get down without binning it, more by luck than judgement. The bike looked after to me really well there. Steers nicely on a line and seemed pretty stable for a biggish bike, good feel on the brakes when you need it. First gear perhaps too tall for that type of terrain (oh, suddenly I’m an expert).

As the day wore on I got a little more confident, though not any faster. I had one really arse puckering moment when MT and Jeffro came thundering past just before a long patch of sandy bulldusty stuff, thowing up a cloud so thick I coudn’t see much more than an arms length. Just then I hit the sand and all sorts of weird things started to happen to the front end. I gassed it hard and the front lifted and straightened, and off I went in to cloud. I suddenly emerged amazed to find not a large cow or a sturdy fence post to hit but clear open road. Oh the relief!

Amy was great and while clearly champing at the bit to mix it with the bruisers at the front of the pack she always waited for me at intersections. I did get my feet wet and helped her walk her bike back out of the swamp she found herself in. Up periscope! It was easy to see why she did well in the APC. She took one look at that disgusting swamp and charged straight at it while I watched from the safety of the bank, encouraging her with the words “I am NOT taking my bike through there”.

So after the most challenging and best day of riding in my life thus far, a great night was enjoyed with a trillion beers and more rums. I slept the sleep of the just and woke feeling like I used to feel fifteen years ago on a sunday morning after a game of footy the previous day, but strangely without the hangover.

Day two started with a trip around Mount Panorama. Why don’t they race bikes there anymore?

The Bridle trail was really enjoyable, despite my extra wide Andy Strapz panniers wedging me in the gate and having to be bounced free by a couple of the boys. As an ex rock climber steep drop offs don’t worry me so much so it was fun to punch through the narrow gap where the trail had washed away.

A bacon and egg roll and coffee and Rylstone had me fueled up for the day. Turon Gates was fantastic but the trail started to get very rocky and dusty. Tiring riding for me after the previous day. My centre stand, which I had meant to zip tie in place, was clanking up and down, sounding like an AK47 on short burst on some sections. Could I be bothered to stop and do something about it? No, I could not.

A longish tar section followed and then a more dirt. I think it was Apple Tree Flat, the Commission Rd leading to Howes Track (I don’t have the ride notes in front of me).

By now I was sarting to get quite tired, it was hot and the riding was still rocky with many quite steep hills, and my worst nightmare SAND.

There were quite a few patches of deep loose stuff and my concentration was started to wane. I stopped for a drink, though my water in the bottle holders in the back of my panniers had been heated to just under boiling point so hardly provided any relief.

I kept going, thinking I would be able to tell TB that I got round without falling off when on a sandy narrow bit of trail I got caught in the wrong gear going to slowly. Even the Triumphs triple torque couldn’t get me out of this one, and despite twisting the right hand hard, very little happened other than the front wheel went one way and I went head first over the right mirror mount.

I landed in the sand was was perfectly OK, just pissed off that I had crashed. The problem was the Tiger was wedged between the two banks, so I couldn’t turn the front wheel for a better angle to get a lift on the bike. It just wasn’t going to happen until after a massive hernia inducing heave I finally got her right way up, claws in the sand. Now I was very hot and the Howes Track seemed to go on forever. There was more sand and I came close to binning it several more times but was careful not to get in too high a gear so stayed upright until I caught up with the group on the tar intersection near Laguna.

I shot back to Sydney on the tar, only stopping to have two butterscotch milkshakes and a litre of water at the bikers cafe.

All in all a brilliant week end. A massive thanks to TB for organising it and having me along. Great to meet all the guys. Talk about a steep learning curve!

Cheers

Wigster

[Author]

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