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With the hot weather we have had of late, I had been looking to the heavens hoping for an inch or two of rain leading up to the ride as the bush is pretty dry at the moment and with a large group, the dust was going to be a problem.
The forecast for Saturday was for 23C with isolated showers, so things were looking up a little.
Saturday dawned overcast and cool, with a southerly blowing , the conditions were promising rain as KTM01,Aarochild and myself left my place headed to the meeting spot.
WE arrived at the secret H tree at 7 am ,to find most of the crew there kitting up and rearing to go.
The crew from memory consisted of,
1. RiderX WR250
2. Gasit Gas Gas 300
3. Ollie Gas Gas 300
4. itsagas Gas Gas 450
5. Aarochild KLX450
6. KTM01 KTM 450 EXC
7. Micknmeld XR630
8. Surfingbellie WR250
9. Ash WR250
10. Toes KTM 300
11. TheRowan Husaberg 450
12. KTMRAT TTR250
13. Greedy 525 KTM525
14. Strucky XR400
15. KTM Bull KTM525
16. Rick 01 WR450
17. Nickoff WR250
18. BUD WR450
19. Chris KTM 300
20. Scott KTM 520Once we got the riders briefing out of the way we headed off with RiderX leading and Ash following up at the rear as sweep.
RiderX gave us the mandatory 200 meter warm up ride before it was straight into the single trail, which appears to be his idea of a joke as he had us warmed up in no time. After 10 or more km of single trail we pulled up for a break and to catch our breath.
That is when KTMRAT notices he has a flat front tyre, beauty I think to myself, the rest break is gunna be a bit longer while the Rat fixes the flat, but no, “f#*k it” he replies, “I’ll just ride it flat.”
I am still unsure if Dave can actually ride or he is just plain crazy but, it is very disheartening, when you think to yourself that you are peddling along well and all of a sudden, you have someone on a TTR250 with a flat tyre overtake you on the inside of a corner and leave you in their dust!! I am leaning towards Crazy though..LOL.
Speaking of dust, it would have to be the most dust I have ridden in ever and with the fine misty rain it stuck to your goggles, which made visability even worse. One thing I did notice though, is if can’t see the rutts they don’t affect you and I was in the groove and cracking along with a ton of confidence until we got to a short little rutted hill where I could see the rutts, I line one of them hit and hit it, only to quickly realize that the rear wheel wasn’t in the same rutt as the front wheel and I prompty bit the dust.
No damage done and the XR was still running so I quickly leapt back on it and kept going, for the next couple of km, I felt that I had lost my edge and was having a hard time of it.
Just as I was getting back into the groove, I came to a corner with a corner man on it and another corner man about 100 meters up the road, so I decided I would show the boys how good of a rider I am and what a bit of horsepower can do.
I gassed the XR, with visions of the sweetest powerslide in my head, the slide lasted all of 1 second before the XR was sliding down the road on it’s side.
Once again no damage done and with my tail between my legs I mounted the still idling XR and gingerly followed the dust cloud down the next trail.The next break was a short one during which, Strucky who all but drowned his XR the week before was presented with a set of pink floaties by KTMRAT.
From there we rode some sweet rainforest trails that weren’t so dusty and the group was making great time so we stopped at The Banana hut for a rest.
Here are some random pics..
Toes, Gasit and TheRowan.
Ol mate, The Rowan and KTM01.
It was also here that they noticed a bike was loosing copious amounts of oil so some investigating was required.
At this stage of the ride, four riders called it a day and we were down to 16 bikes with hungry riders, so we headed to our pre arranged lunch stop which required about 2 km of highway.
The banks of the Hastings river provided a great lunch spot and the opportunity to wash off some dust, it was a great choice of locations.
As you can see we got a bit dusty and why I couldn’t see out of my goggles.
Hartys Plain was a great lunch spot.
The lunch and drink was dropped off by Ridehery and supplied by Wauchope Country Kitchen and hit the spot nicely. So much so I was not alone in thinking a little nap on the riverbank would be nice. It was here I took over sweep rider duties allowing Ash to get out amongst it.
AS with any ride lead by RiderX, there is very little rest for the wicked and we headed off to the fuel dump that X and Gasit had set up the day before.
Once everyone was fueled up, we headed towards Comboyne, which involves a few good up hills and one excellent down hill that I didn’t know was there.
Once we got up above 700 meters the Clouds decended on us and we were riding in fog and rain for a short while,which kept the dust at bay but made a trip to Comboyne Rock a waste of time as it was fogged in, so we by passed it and headed to Swans Crossing, which was wet and greasy, a huge contrast to the dry dusty conditions we had been riding in until then.
All of a sudden we found ourselves in leafy, loamy trails with greasy logs and other snotty obstacles that sorted a few guys out and more than one person went arse over head, with nothing but their pride injured.
Swans Crossing is another magic spot for a rest break.
From there we headed back towards Wauchope. We had not long got going, when I round a corner to find Ollie trying his best to get his chain back on the Gasser.
Once the chain was on we got going again but not for very far as the Gasser obviously had a problem as there was some terrible noises coming from the gearbox that even I could hear following him, so it was decided that we best get the Gasser back to the Highway as quickly as possible.
I lead Ollie back to the closest road and sent him on his way with Rick as his backup.
Now down to 14 bikes we headed into Huntingdon and more dust, visability was now down to no more than 25 meters but were still having a ball,by then it was getting close to 4 oclock and the boys started whinging about being starving again, so it was a short trip back to Gasit’s workshop for a Barbie and a few beers.
Going by my speedo we had covered 134 km for the day, we had a few spills but no real crashes, so congratulations to all the guys who turned up to ride.
There is a couple of things that come to mind that are worthy of a mention.
Firstly Aarochilds effort to get to the ride, he milked 100 cows then drove 2 hours to Wauchope and arrived at my place at 5.35 am, now that is dedication.A funny moment was coming around a corner to find a Gas Gas on it’s side and Gasit down over a bank tangled in vines on his back, trying his hardest to get up, although all he could manage to do, was look like a dying cockroach with it’s legs in the air.
Strucky had a moment over a log on the XR and he had buried the bike the furtherest I have ever seen, into a patch of lantana.
So thanks guys, you all helped make it the great day it was, I had a great time and can’t wait to get out there with you all again.
Cheers
MickWhat a great ride and a great ride report, from the people I have spoken with X you did a good job as always, more the pity I couldnt get up there this ride to give you some more pointers but keep practicing little man;) . Ollie whats doing with the Gasser, have you fitted a rekulse to it? Hope its a simple easy cheap fix although that said from what Mick was telling me it doesnt seem as though it will be, lets hope it is.
Mick you know better than to ask if Rat can ride or is crazy, he is the craziest mother I have heard of in a long while, I am only surprised he didn’t let the back tyre down and race everybody with that as well! And Mick you haven’t learnt much have you, last time you gassed it up on a dirt road you busted ya foot and missed a southern ride, see you tried it again but didn’t hurt yourself, well you have 2 weeks still to do something, chin up keep trying an excuse will come lol
And what would a ride report be without a picture of a pumpkin apart, enough said hope it got fixed, sorry guys cant let an opportunity pass
.Am getting more and more pissed that I missed the ride, cant wait till the march 3 day ride am counting the days, another successful mid north coast ride, well done to everyone (bastards!
)Oh and Mick we will bring some merchandise up in March and leave it with you to sell, find out who wanted guard stickers etc and I will send them up to you asap
TB
micknmeld wrote:
Quote:Just spoke to Ollie on the phone, they got the Gasser to the Comboyne turn on the Oxley highway and went and got the ute as he wasn’t game to ride it at 10kmh on the highway. No verdict yet as to what is wrong with it. They weren’t noises I would like to hear coming from my bike.:unsure:Wouldnt worry about that Mick, a XR600 doesnt do stuff like that
Trailboss wrote:
Quote:micknmeld wrote:Quote:Just spoke to Ollie on the phone, they got the Gasser to the Comboyne turn on the Oxley highway and went and got the ute as he wasn’t game to ride it at 10kmh on the highway. No verdict yet as to what is wrong with it. They weren’t noises I would like to hear coming from my bike.:unsure:Wouldnt worry about that Mick, a XR600 doesnt do stuff like that
Tripper’s XR is making some shitty noises.Albeit it ran out of oil.
micknmeld wrote:
Quote:Trailboss wrote:Quote:micknmeld wrote:Quote:Just spoke to Ollie on the phone, they got the Gasser to the Comboyne turn on the Oxley highway and went and got the ute as he wasn’t game to ride it at 10kmh on the highway. No verdict yet as to what is wrong with it. They weren’t noises I would like to hear coming from my bike.:unsure:Wouldnt worry about that Mick, a XR600 doesnt do stuff like that
Tripper’s XR is making some shitty noises.Albeit it ran out of oil.
But you would confidently ride it 10kms home
TB
riderx wrote:
Quote:yes mick i noticed and you know were that camera is going to end up were the sun don’t shine lolIs that where your hair is also X, where the sun doesnt shine
TB
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