I came across an opportunity to do a two day Grade 2 organised ride with KTM tours in Bateman’s Bay (Bay Blast) last weekend and had a fantastic time in the process.
Did the scenic 4 ½ hour drive on Friday afternoon from Hornsby via Kangaroo Valley to Bateman’s Bay – Mariners on the Water Resort just in time to enjoy happy hour and raffle at the pub at 6pm. The rest of the soon to be fellow ‘dirty’ riders arrived at 7pm for drink, introductions and briefing on what to experience over the next two days.
Not surprising it was all blokes (but I’m not complaining). Some came from 6hrs away – Leaton, others from Mosman, Bondi Junction, Blue Mountains and Canberra. We all had one thing in common – ride hard, play hard and suffer later.
The boys from Leaton hit the drink hard on Friday night and tried tippy-toeing back to their rooms. NOT. I think it’s been awhile since they’ve been let loose from their wife’s/kids.
After a hot breakfast Saturday morning we were on our bikes at 8am and heading south about 2km up the rode before hitting the dirt. The sky was overcast and bit threatening but this didn’t dampen our spirits. This was my first real ride with knobbly tyres and wasn’t sure what to expect. Within 10mins we hit a huge slippery, grassy, very steep down hill that was long enough that holding your breath wasn’t an option. Many bikes experienced their back brakes locking up and going out of control. This is where I started to draw down on my ‘f’ counters. With a quick check in with Carl (sweep) on what ‘not to do’ … I went down successfully with confidence…. Yeh right. Well I kept upright but not gracefully.
We did lots of single tracks/firetrails in/out of Mogo and enjoyed the pace and complexity. After a morning tea break at Mogo we headed off in the rain for the next instalment. Lindsay found some interesting hills that tested out the good riders in the group. When it was my turn I had lots of time to work out where NOT to go and what NOT to do based on the carnage that occurred ahead of me….. ‘I can do it’ was screaming through my helmet as I tackled the shitty hill. Well I did ½ of it then decided to fall down the hill. It wasn’t pretty. Counting to 100 wasn’t an option. The ‘F’ word flew out a few times. Even breathing was difficult whilst the pain took hold. After getting back on my feet and sniffling in my helmet the bike was taken to the top. All the boys were waiting and watching and knew it was bad. What do you say to a girl who is crying…. Nothing. :dry: So I blasted off so I could focus on the next hill 100m on.
I wasn’t going to have someone ride up this hill for me so I took it on and did myself proud. Didn’t get to top as two bikes went down in front of me so I had to stop. But regrouped and got to top with lots of cheers from the guy’s.
The bruise is the size of a football and a deep purple colour that you would be proud of.
After lunch Lindsay took us out to the famous Pork Chop Hill. Just getting there was challenging enough with the steep hill climbs and slippery downhills. Lindsay and Carl (Sweep) were the only two who gave it a go. I think they got to the same spot that other OBT’ers got to (Bollocks??). It’s not something I’ll ever tackle in my lifetime.
Afternoon ride was easier and made it back by 4pm (120kms travelled) to clean up and down a few drinks to assist with the enjoyment/pain of the day. After dinner the local lasses came out to play and provided entertainment for the boys. Few of the softer ones went to bed early citing the need to be prepared for tomorrow. The Leaton boys were at it again and did the team proud. They would fit in so well with OBT…
Sundays ride covered some interesting single tracks, hills and awesome lookouts to the north of Bateman’s Bay. Up through Nelligen, East Lynn for the best home made pies/sausage rolls. Chris/Leaton had major stack when attempting a log jump that caused blood to dribble down his arm. I think he was still pickled from last night and didn’t feel a thing. After a quick clean up and bandaid he was back to crashing his bike on most up hills.
We covered 130km and experienced trails that had jumps to play on. Everyone was having fun. One last hill had few riders stumped but to my pleasant surprise I got up it and dodged the bikes that had fallen. Just couldn’t show them the finger as I was holding on like a women possessed.
All up the experience was fantastic. KTM Tours (Lindsay, Dave & Carl) put on a professional tour that I would highly recommend to anyone. It was adjusted to meet all our needs and capability.
The drive home was hard but replaying the experience kept my smile on the dial. 😆
Pictures to follow.
