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Well what the heck, still on holidays, still needing to ride so it was decided that I would run the gauntlet and have a look in another of the local forests. But first I had to get there which was not as easy as it sound given that Macquarie Pass was closed for resurfacing work.
So it was onto the alternate route, that being Jamberoo Mountain Road which it has to be said is not a road for the faint hearted being narrowed and tighter than MacPass, so I did dread it in traffic. But I was to be surprised somewhat as whilst there were a few very slow cars (very slow as in 15kmh) there was all told far less traffic than I expected, although I did see two cars collect mirrors but neither stopped so I wasn’t about to.
Once at the top of the climb the road opens out and funnily enough I went from the fastest on the road to one of the slowest as the few cars passed cam screaming past me well in excess of the speed limit (I was doing 105kmh in the 100 zone). Mind you, they did only catch me because I stopped at Budderoo Plateau turn-off to, errrm, well, kind of, nope definitely take a comfort stop.
So from here it was the drone along and through to Moss Vale as I had decided to try to get to my destination (Wingello Forest) via Penrose as I just wanted to have another look at Old Argyle Road and the trails I enjoyed last week. Plus I was interested to see where the road through Penrose came out in terms of using it for a really good long days ride in each forest some time.
So it was onto Old Argyle Road where my first near faux pas of the day occurred as I hit a rut and twisted the throttle a bit to get through it and set-up for the corner ahead. Well that was the plan but I kind of twisted a bit to hard thanks mainly to an unseen bump and the slight twist kind of sent me into the scrub right at a tree. All good though as self preservation kicked in and I leant this way, moved the body that way, leant the bike and shat myself slightly missing the tree by a small margin to resume on the road itself. Funny thing is though that I kind of enjoyed the moment as it really refocused me on the task at hand, that being to get over the remaining rocks and down to the turn I was after.
Finding the turn the intention was to follow the path trod by Ozy and myself last week and revisit the sandy tracks, go through the creek crossing and then take the little off shoot track, but this time get some pics.
The sandy track on the way to the creek.
The creek crossing
The track once across the creek
The sidetrack
Apologies if this pic bores people, but I just found something interesting about the shapes on the trunk of this tree.
There is one section of this little track that is a bit of a sleeper in that it could catch the unwary out. It is part of a series of left/right turns that climb slightly which start immediately after a short sandy section (known as the ‘great Sandy Desert’ according to the sign). The last left/right is blind and if you run a little wide it makes the line even tougher.
The sandy section
You come around this left
And this waits.
The rest of the track though is relatively straight forward and whilst it has a few tight turns, or sandy corners is actually quite flowing.
From here it was onto the main track in a search for that elusive piece of road that would take me to the town of Penrose.
The search was fun as I found a few more tracks that we hadn’t looked at last week and eventually found the exact piece of road I was after, so headed for Penrose. While I eventually got through I have to say that this road was fun in itself and riding it does give an impression as to the size of the forest which did surprise me, although I noticed sidetrack after sidetrack for later visits.
Emerging at Penrose I just had to find my way across the train tracks which was achieved by a few kilometres of road and a small bridge, before emerging on the road to Wingello, the real destination.
Now, I had last been to Wingello forest 18 or so months ago when I had the Weestrom and was impressed by what I found as it was fun without being to difficult, well on the main tracks at least. But sadly (for me) that day was a 40 degree summers day so I didn’t spend enough time in the forest but had always intended to return, even if just to find the landing strip displayed on some maps.
Today was to be that day and so I made my way along Forest road and entered the forest proper and found it just as I recalled it, although some of the trees had grown. So with no real plan I simply rode until I decided to turn, and this time it was left on to a nice little piece of road which allowed for some fun given the loose surface. Pretty soon though I came upon that landing strip so stopped for a pic and rest.
The landing strip
So with fluids replenished I just headed off and followed the tracks by turning left here, right there and occasionally going straight, but then another sign caught my eye.
Sign of mountain bike track
So following the sign on foot (don’t want to get in trouble) I found a little mountain bike track carved out of the trees, although there were signs that even the mountain bikes may have had some trouble.
The MTB track
This tree has me thinking that some times the riders misjudge a little.
The DR as seen through the trees from the MTB track (ok, so I tried to get arty).
The main track
Deciding to just keep riding I found another small track that looked like a firetrail but quickly deteriorated into mountain bike single track. Of course with motorbikes not being allowed I quickly retraced my steps and headed out to the main track and on to other fun areas.
Eventually I found a small dam (no pics) and the second batch of bee hives for the day, so decided to keep riding and took a fully marked side firetrail. Taking it simply to explore it was soon apparent that the track had been recently regraded as the surface was quite soft in places with new erosion mounds, but it was the littering of broken sticks that gave the game up. After following it for a while the track stopped at the edge of a gully but the trees restricted views so I simply retraced my steps and had some more fun sliding around some of the corners before tackling the erosion mounds again.
The little dead-end firetrail and some of the erosion mounds
Being honest the erosion mounds in the pics above were quite tough as they were close together (there are 4 in about 50 metres of track) and as with the track itself they were very soft on both sides, so there was occasional unexpected sideways action. All fun though.
So with this being another dead end, well not going through anyway it was back on the track to the last intersection and onto another trail. This time I recognised the trail name from last time so knew that it eventually intersected with the road I wanted to find, but this road had some nice little aspects that made it very enjoyable as well.
To the left of the bike (on the grass side) was an exit point for some mountain bike single track which it is fair to say did appear scattered through this part of the park. Of course however motorcycles were banned from these tracks so I would not recommend anyone use them.
From here however it was simply ride, turn, ride, turn, turn, ride until I found more road names that were familiar and so decided to revisit them to see the changes, and whilst I didn’t get pics there have been some changes and none for the better (IMO).
Most of the tracks have now been graded and have erosion mound of varying heights whereas there had been none on the last visit, but more disappointingly had been the effects on the track surfaces.
Every surface was rutted, but not in a ‘4WD destruction’ way, more so in the way that dirt roads can get if they are graded, left soft and then it rains thus wetting the surface which does not dry sufficiently before people drive on it. Basically the ruts were simply tyre tracks which were at times difficult to see and often judge.
It was one such rut that nearly caught me out as I lumbered along that track at around 60kmh. I saw the rut so picked the line to run with the rut which I had been doing all day with only a few small headshakes. Not this time as the surface gave way and the front wheel dropped into a rut that instead of being around an inch deep was now around 6 inches deep and changed direction, more of a water rut than a tyre rut. The bike started to fall as the rear hit the same rut but somehow by balancing it on my leg and using the foot to pick it back up I emerged without incident.
But with the day dragging on I did have to get out and I was in the area where I knew from the previous visit that some hill climbs existed so after a left turn, a u-turn and a little ‘crap where am I again’ I found what I was looking for.
And one more of the DR.
I do recall from the previous visit that there is single track around here as well and with the Weestrom having been too heavy I will one day look at it on the DR, but I had places to be so after a drink it was off home.
But this was an interesting day as it offered some excellent tests for me and opened a lot of new riding areas, some of which look quite well used and will be revisited. Yes I had a couple of moments which isn’t all that unusual but in fairness nothing dangerous, nor were the tracks dangerous. Whilst I found these tracks fun as it allows sliding antics they aren’t for everybody but I would say that this forest offers a great selection of opportunity for those so inclined to test and try things.
But the day had been very tiring as I noticed on the way home when I really started to feel knackered so became very glad that I had called it the day as the concentration just was not fully there, but I got home ok and enjoyed the subsequent shower and drinks.
Gaz
Great report. Keep it up:)
KTM01
Anonymous
AnonymousThe pic of that hill looks good with the mound in it, we had a fair few of those on the Wauchope ride. They make excellent jumps
I had my mudgaurd slap my front tyre several times :dry:Garry once more you raise the bar in ride reports! You bugger, you make it hard for the rest of us! I personally think it is because you get so much practice at them! :laugh:
Thanks for sharing!
Moto wrote:
Quote:The pic of that hill looks good with the mound in it, we had a fair few of those on the Wauchope ride. They make excellent jumps I had my mudgaurd slap my front tyre several times :dry:Do you mean this pic?
They sure do make good jumps and I tend to try to be a legend in my own lunchtime on them, but these ones were very somt on the uphill side, but there were plent of them around to practice.
While the pic above doesn’t show it there are three on that uphill stretch and there was one on the right hander immediately after the top. Was damn fun and once at the top there was an interesting area for later exploration (surrounded a small dam).
Garry
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