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Wigster wrote:Trailraider wrote:
Hi Trailraider,
yep, pretty interesting day at work on one leg but loosening up a bit. Not unlike an attack of gout which I’m very familiar with.
See you on the next one. It was great riding with you especially the Saturday afternoon bit. We hooked in to those trails, did we not!
Wigster
We sure did mate
What boots are you looking at getting?
I have Garene SG12’s, I find them very comfy and hard wearing with great protection :whistle:[/quote]I was thinking of the very same. Where is a good place to get ém?
Wigster[/quote]
Just need to shop around your locals and see who will look after you with a deal.
I know we get a discount for being an Old Bull at Sutto’s who are a site sponsor I am sure they would post them to you.Good luck mate
P.S: Dont get white ones, they are hard to keep clean
Day two and we were greeted by a perfect winters day. Not a cloud in the sky, cool temps and perfect riding conditions. I was even feeling far better than I had any right to expect. I was really looking forward to the day ahead as our group had missed yesterdays Nambucca Valley trails and I was keen as mustard to see what what was in store for us.
Mick had been relieved of his Sweep duties and had joined our crew making it Fossil, Mick, Toes, Moose and Myself. The shenanigans of the night before had taken its toll and it was a quite sedate start as we turned of the highway into some great trails only a short distance from our accommodation. The early morning found us climbing up the valley along some beautiful twin trail through stunning rain forest. The trails were sweet and flowing with erosion mounds thrown in for good fun. It wasn’t too long before the group seemed to find its mojo. There was a couple of stunning lookout spots along this part of the ride with clear views across the mountains right back to the coast.
What ever goes up must come down and down was in the form of Jacobs Ladder. It was a down hill that kept going and going with erosion mounds thrown in for extra fun. It reminded me a bit of some of decents in the high country rides. I hadn’t been down it before but it won’t be my last visit. Once we hit the bottom I wanted to turn around and have a go at climbing it. Then it was off to the Pub With No Beer to get the dust out of our throats.
On leaving Taylors Arm I thought we might follow some of the sweeping dirt country roads for awhile, but I was wrong. Almost straight out of town we turned left into another fantastic twin trail that wound its way along a beautiful rocky creek. This track was a cracker with everything you could want on an ADV bike and we followed the purple line until we hit Fredo just north of Kempsey.
I live at Crescent Head so it was at this point I departed company with the rest of my riding crew and headed home very happy with my two days on my bike. The good news for me is that I still have the purple line on my GPS so I’ll be out there very soon following the rest of the trails I missed on my way to visit the rest of the Wauchope Mafia.
I really enjoyed the mix of tracks this ride threw at us and must say a big thanks to TB and the crew for putting it together. It takes a lot of work to organise a ride like this and once again you’ve excelled. You can’t please all the folk all the time but I was stoked with the ride.
I would also like to say thanks to Steve from Adventure Moto for helping to get our injured comrade, puddles, safely back to help and hospital
I would also like to express my appreciation for his on-going support and generosity. Every time I’ve been on a ride and Steve has attended he donates heaps of stuff. I was lucky enough to get one of his Tee Shirts and a Head Sock on this ride so thanks again Steve.Thanks also to my riding crew and get well soon Puds.
Kram
I will get to my report soon :blink: as work is very busy at the moment.
I would just like to say a quick thank you to TB, Steve (Adv Moto) Peter Payne (Yamaha) all the Pre-Riders, Leaders, sweeps, Amy the Nav guide and to any one else that I may have missed :blush:
I had an absolute ball riding with Ace and Eags on Day one, thanks gents and to help lead on day 2 with TB
Thanks it was a ripper ride :woohoo: and to do the Kempsey Loop twice on day 2 covering a total of 675km.“The Best Ever” and I can’t wait for the next one.
Eags Pre-Pumped before Plommer Rd
Ace at the lookout
My front rim after big hit!! Dicing with TB on Day 2
Eags and Ace after a Loooong off by Eags :ohmy: (Bit Blurry, sorry)
More later…….
Cheers,
LeftyI had this one all planned – finish a big job for work Wednesday lunchtime, tidy up Thursday and then plenty of time on Friday to prep the bike and saunter up to Beckinridge in the daylight. Reality; job went overtime and finished Thursday night and since it was the end of 14 weeks graft we all had to have a beer (or three) – result I found myself leaving Sydney for the ride home to Newcastle at ten on Friday morning. So much for the plenty of time. Friday afternoon disappeared in a few urgent household duties and it wasn’t until near four I got to the bike, it was then a rush to change the wheels over to the set with dirt tyres, bung the GPS in the mount, rip the Gearsack off the back, ocky strapping a bag and a fuel caddy in its place and commuter is changed into adventure bike (well as much as you can change an old KLR). Then three hours up the highway and I just made it in time for the briefing on the map sharing exercise. Fortunately my riding companion, Allmech was more organised than me, and had arrived not only in plenty of time but had brought some liquid refreshment with him, so I was able to then slow down and enjoy some entertaining conversation with Tryhard and others (sorry can only remember your faces not names) for the rest of the evening.
Saturday, what can I say: a fantastic days ride
. I wobbled up the early bits of track trying to get the feel of riding on dirt again. I haven’t ridden a huge amount of dirt over the years and this was the first since the last Nav Ride – and thirty years of near daily road riding has pre-conditioned my brain to think if a bike is moving around on the surface its going to instantly throw me off. Unfortunately Plummers Road reinforced that thought – albeit at about 5 kph and no harm was done. To the earlier writer who talked about his paddling skills, all I can say is I was there competing with you. The rest of the day passed in a (very enjoyable) blur. I’m amazed at the level of details some of you can remember about the tracks and the places we’ve been; all I can remember is a slightly disorganised sequence of details. I’m too busy trying to stay upright and follow that purple line to look around and allow the brain to store anything more. The details I do remember are that long climb up the single track ridge line (just look where you want to go -don’t look over the edge), the long narrow downhill, the tree across the track (and the relief I felt when I found the sneaky track around it) – and many more. Unfortunately we managed to cut a corner in Kempsey and miss the servo’s so whilst we got to Taylors Creek by the 3pm cut-off realised I didn’t have enough fuel to get to the finish, so missed out the last track and ducked straight to the finish at Nambucca Heads. That last bit on the road was interesting; there were four of us following our leads GPS to Nambucca Heads which delivered us to Macksville Cemetery! We then had the scene of four of us failing to work out how to use our GPS’s to get directions to the finish. We did eventually succeed, but really we should all open the manuals one day.Saturday nightwas great fun and a great feed (top choice of motel TB) – although I did feel the group was a bit more subdued than the previous night, a few weary bodies maybe? Was sorry to hear about Puddles – realising it just as easily been me.
Sunday came around too quickly, but got off to a start pretty much on 7:30 as I had no need for breakfast – the smorgasbord from the night before was more than enough. Just like TB predicted I immediately missed the first turn off the highway, but managed to get it on the way back up the road. Again, the same story as the Saturday, a fantastic days riding but again a blur of details. Jacob’s ladder stands out – lots of muscle clenching as I went down that; I’m glad it was bone dry. And bone dry sums up the rest of the day as I slowly chased Allmechs dust around the countryside. The last couple of sections were especially good and a great way to finish a fantastic weekend
.All in all another fantastic ride TB – thanks for sharing that map. And again many, many thanks to all the others, Amy, Eagle, Lefty and the ones I haven’t yet met who do all the sterling work to keep us marshalled and mainly out of trouble. Also special thanks to Wolfy and Yahama for their support I really appreciate all you are doing to support the sport.
Despite the lack of preparation I was pleased how well my bike got me through the weekend – but by the end it was idly roughly and on the trip back home I noticed the fuel consumption was way up. When I pulled out the air cleaner last night I could see why – enough dust to plant potatoes. Ah well a quick service a change of wheels back to the road ones and she’s running as good as new as a commuter again.
Many thanks to all. My face is still sore from laughing the whole weekend.
The experience of a group like this is awesome in its entirety. From hardened and weathered riders to relatively newcomers. Even the sick and injured had a smile on their dial.
A few pics and points of interest
Tryhard for keeping me awake on the way up and putting up with the banjo music
Everybody putting up with Tryhard
An amusing Friday night with Mackas now giving out Port Glasses
Tryhards turtle story from Thailand
The Thai food snack sampler
The effects of the Thai food sampler. Mickp went a lot faster.
The Ride, The Ride, The Ride
Catching up with all the old faces & the newThe newest best asset to my attire. The Adventure Moto neck warmer beanie. Thanks Steve. How awesome is this.
Steve seamed stumped at the prospect of …… NO BEER !
Watching the Farrier romp off in the distance on the wrong track and knowing there is no chance of catching him.
Puddles endurance and determination skill, to get out alive and with a sense of humour. All the best mate.
Being chased by Ace up the hill on the final section on the Sat arvo loop and being blown away that he could manhandle the beast over the erosion humps and that rate of knots.
Tryhard for taking on the embankment at the awesome lookout. Dropping everybodys jaw. and riding down it again
Scala G4 Communication gets two thumbs up. The G9 works well with the G4’s as well. The comments running through the entire weekend are still evoking an involuntary grin on my face.
The good choice of accommodationThe awesome Lookout
The scenery
Good Mates
Mickp
Tryhard
Who need beer for a good time?
Pies were good. Best Mongolian Lam pie this side of Ulaanbaatar, Hey John.
Apple Pie with a small scoop of ice cream
Thanks again TB and Crew and OBT – Adventure Moto – Yamaha – & The Minister for Finance & Fun Police.
Wahooo
First couple of ADV rides I was wearing full armour and boots, not alot feel on the big bikes but plenty of protection, considering the speeds you do on a 220 KG dirt bike in tight trails. Wookie had a close call when he flipped his GS on a ride and had it landed another foot to the left I reckon it could have been a pretty tragic weekend, lesson learned and for a very experience rider.
I am thinking I had the right idea the first time around. For day cruising standard adv gear. For Nav rides I think full protection given the increased chance of accident due to rivalry in larger groups and knarly terrain.
You know TB, I reckon you should have a grading system for the ADV rides.
Grade 1 – Learning to ride on my new ADV bike, dirt and tar roads please and no creek crossing.
Grade 2 – Been riding for years but never in the dirt. Causeways and occasional creek crossings, mild hills and challenges, good road bike rider but need to learn a few dirt techniques.
Grade 3 – Been riding adv bikes in the dirt for years bring on the pubs and lattes
Grade 4 – Retired Enduro king I can wheelie my GS over logs
Grade 5 – I can ride my ADV bike like a 300 2 stroke up snotty hills all day, get out of my way.With ADV bikes fitness is not as big of an issue as with enduro bikes but when you get into trouble the big bikes bite hard. I reckon while everyone can ride these tracks there are alot of reflexes and techniques that some of these technical sections could require and it may be the difference between a close call and a visit to hospital if you dont have them and you do get into trouble.
I think the advantage of a grade system is that you can either put grade warnings on the GPS route or simply use coloured arrows to let riders know what they are in for. An ADV level rider that locks the front in a rut on a steep down hill for instance is going to learn the hardway what enduro riders already know, not a good lesson on a 200KG adv bike + lugguage. Especially if the big pig lands on your foot
The other benefit is guys that are improving can join the appropriate rides that forum members organize themselves and increase thier technical ability gradually.
My 2 cents
Great idea in theory Squiggle thanks for the feedback. When I do a route I do tracks that everyone can do and we have had a success everytime yes the last one was more technical than normal or was it just that the technical section was longer than normal. Day 2 you missed had one hard bit Jacobs ladder that everybody got down. Now if we cut out Jacobs ladder the route would have missed the awesome 80kms before. It’s all a compromise in a non perfect world. I don’t want anyone hurt, I have some fun and talk it up harder than its is maybe so people don’t be careless and stay aware. I explained the tougher bits, there should have been no surprises if ridden at your pace. The next one will be more like the first 3 but when it’s more open you run other risks ask Lotsa. It all involves risk, we all need to manage it ourselves.
I will see if I can grade the next one, but
1/ How do you grade 700kms in 6 different forests over 2 days?
2/ Imagine trying to find 700kms of grade 2 as you put it without a few 4 sections to link it together that everybody can do if they just ride within their ability. Then you need a grade 2 and people say that’s to easy
3/ Everybody rode down Jacobs ladder, that went off without a fall or drama and there isnt much tougher than that I would do on and adv bike. I had a contingency plan for that and every section both days.
4/ We didn’t have any injuries because the route was to hard a grade, the injury happened because of two bikes meeting on a corner going different directions (which shouldn’t be a problem as its a public track and one bike was running wide by his own admission)
5/ Can you imagine the time to put together 4 grade 1 rides for a year, 4 grade 2 rides for a year, 4 grade 3 rides for a year etc etc then running the ride for 3 grade 1’s the next for 9 grade 2’s the next for 7 grade 3’s etc
6/ We twice on the weekend rerouted bikes because of a reasons, experience and time mainly, a group on Saturday because of their experience and one on Sunday
If everyone listens and rides to their ability and takes their time it does work we have proven it. Eagle didn’t crash after kempsey because it was hard he was going to quick for the conditions. Puddles didn’t crash because of the difficulty of the track it was a mixture of a bike coming the other way he didn’t expect and him being on the wrong side of the track by his own admission.
Thanks for the feedback
As for safety gear, you should always wear the best you can afford ALL the time on any bike on any ride unless you can predict the future
TB
MrSquiggle wrote:First couple of ADV rides I was wearing full armour and boots, not alot feel on the big bikes but plenty of protection, considering the speeds you do on a 220 KG dirt bike in tight trails. Wookie had a close call when he flipped his GS on a ride and had it landed another foot to the left I reckon it could have been a pretty tragic weekend, lesson learned and for a very experience rider.I am thinking I had the right idea the first time around. For day cruising standard adv gear. For Nav rides I think full protection given the increased chance of accident due to rivalry in larger groups and knarly terrain.
You know TB, I reckon you should have a grading system for the ADV rides.
Grade 1 – Learning to ride on my new ADV bike, dirt and tar roads please and no creek crossing.
Grade 2 – Been riding for years but never in the dirt. Causeways and occasional creek crossings, mild hills and challenges, good road bike rider but need to learn a few dirt techniques.
Grade 3 – Been riding adv bikes in the dirt for years bring on the pubs and lattes
Grade 4 – Retired Enduro king I can wheelie my GS over logs
Grade 5 – I can ride my ADV bike like a 300 2 stroke up snotty hills all day, get out of my way.With ADV bikes fitness is not as big of an issue as with enduro bikes but when you get into trouble the big bikes bite hard. I reckon while everyone can ride these tracks there are alot of reflexes and techniques that some of these technical sections could require and it may be the difference between a close call and a visit to hospital if you dont have them and you do get into trouble.
I think the advantage of a grade system is that you can either put grade warnings on the GPS route or simply use coloured arrows to let riders know what they are in for. An ADV level rider that locks the front in a rut on a steep down hill for instance is going to learn the hardway what enduro riders already know, not a good lesson on a 200KG adv bike + lugguage. Especially if the big pig lands on your foot
The other benefit is guys that are improving can join the appropriate rides that forum members organize themselves and increase thier technical ability gradually.
My 2 cents
HI Mr Squiggle,
Speaking as one of the newer riders with less experience and skill I have always taken comfort in knowing that I am in knowledgeable and capable company on these rides, that includes you and every other rider that is above my level of ability. I have just listened to the warnings about certain sections of the route and how to ride my bike accordingly feather the front brake etc.Your right in what you say about armour the Farrier said much the same to me as this ride was tougher than previous and deserved a little more respect and possibly protection than the standard adventure suit.
In regard to grading I personally don’t need to try and remember any more details along the journey as my head has enough stuff to remember already I just listen to the words of caution on the day and try hard not to get caught up in racing and over step the mark and my ability.
If this ride had been graded I may not have got to succeed at it and decided not to do some of it due to a higher grading number the parts that were a worry for me are the slower speed sections so even if it had gone pear shaped it would not be too bad, the rest of it I just don’t ride to fast.
Cheers James
Good call TB, so back on topic……. Thanks again I had a ball
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