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Well what can I say,ev an macca put on another excellent ride the hills were unbelievable steep as, rockes clay ruts you name it. I think every one who went on the ride had a great time otherwise they would be hard to please 11 riders and no bad luck thanks again ev an macca for great ride.
p.s boony you missed an unbelievable ride you had your chance mate. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:My alarm clock broke the early morning silence at 5.30am so I logged on to OBT to make sure that there had been no last minute changes made. I had a PM from Nickj at 4.55am telling me how early it was but other than that piece of wisdom it seemed everything was in place. After four failed attempts at a Bellingen ride it seemed our day had come. Nickj was trucking from Yamba with Gary 530. Phelixpremix and DY4 were on the road just behind them. We met at my local servo and after a quick detour into Coffs via McDonalds we were Bello bound.
On arriving at the Bello cemetery car park we were met by Bad Bowie,sb_250y, Tdriver, Biggeral, and most importantly Ev and Macca. Intros were done as we geared up and the excitement was obvious although we all knew we were in for a big day and that we would have to pace ourselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOl6y2Ph_L4Ev assumed lead a Macca donned the sweep jersey and we were off. From the back of the cemetery we were straight into some sweet well ridden singles. The trail surface was dark rich loam and it was cut perfectly into the terrain.
We had only traveled 500 meters of our 150km day but it was already apparent that we were in for some primo trails. As a group we were holding a good pace as we rode deeper into the Bello forests. One section of single runs parallel to a paved road and I have looked at this from the road of day trips with my wife and often wondered just how good it was. It was good and it must be a sight for the Sunday drivers as 11 bodies weave in and out of the forest beside them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29YjnHDb0YY
As you can see from this video even the flat trails had some slippery stuff in wait!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3vLgvKUjG8Further down the trail turned to open double and the surface began to dry out.
This led us into a clear felled forest were we could up the pace. Here you can see the pace Ev was keen to set early
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok-0GLhT878As we continued through the clearing the group stayed tight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47nosJL9IpsOut in the open terrain we could see our first views of what was to come. We were headed for a massive ridgeline and from a distance you could not imagine how someone had managed to cut a trail up.
The bush around here is thicker than in an Afghans undies and it was hard not to want to stop and breathe it all in but that was not about t happen as we had no time for sightseeing.
Cornerman was running beautifully and we continued our charge towards our first big hill. These hills are simply unrideable in the wet regardless of your ability. Made up from a combination of red clay and leaf litter means tha the moisture is never far from the surface. Even after two warm, dry weeks the surface was still moist under the canopy and it was a real challenge.
The first few rises gave us a lot of confidence as we flew up them as a tight group with only a few spinouts.
We were however soon greeted by the big girl! In classic Ev form he did not stop at the bottom to brief us on what lay ahead but simply led us on the charge upwards. Ev is a product of his environment and is therefore an excellent climber but he skipped out in a rut and went down. Biggeral was on his wheel and I was behind Al. Somehow Al got around and maintained his momentum but I lack that amount of skill or luck. What happened next can only be described as a domino train of carnage. One by one every plied into the back of each other and laid there bikes to rest.
Somehow Ev managed to get traction and continue up but the rest of us decided some more momentum was required sp we reassembled at the base for round two.
It was a two stage face with only a small relief in the middle where you good gain momentum but everywhere else you either went forward or back to the bottom. It did not need to be steep to be slick
But this was both!
As more bikes and bodies chopped it up it became increasingly difficult. After a lot of sweat, perseverance and teamwork all bikes and rider arrived at he top.
There were some tired looking boys and a quick look at my GPS revealed we had only hit the 20k mark.
The trail continued to point up but in a more gradual fashion and there were some excellent sections with erosion mounds thrown in for good measure
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR4eyNSDGkUThere was some great mid pack action and with the increased speed our sweat drenched jerseys soon cooled us off and once again we were making good time.
The physical stuff was behind us for a while and we hammered through some epic trails which flowed so well you got completely lost in the moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkgoYsWyi3AThe trails opened out again into leaf littered twin trail
and then into fire trail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLLI7r0ULtUWe were all locked into our own rhythms’ and DY4 and myself were hooking along a fast open section when disaster struck. I was in 5th gear and my bike simply slid out from under me. No lean, no braking and certainly no warning! The only saving grace was that the road was so slick I simply glanced and slid on impact but this then created the problem of where I would stop. I pushed the bike away from me and realized I was on a crash course for a trailside log. You know the sort you skim by and think you would not want to catch your foot on that, well I piled straight into one. Macca was not far behind me and as my bike lay across the trail he was doomed. For the second time that day he had a 70kph+ off and this one was entirely my fault. I was hurting a bit but felt much worse for Macca but he assured me he was ok and we both limped onto the next meeting point.
It would not be a trip to Bellingen without rain and about 30mis out of Lowanna the heavans opened. We made our way through some tight singles with plenty of bog holes that were filling up by the minute before popping out on a main dirt road that led us into Lowanna and our lunch stop. It was 1.30pm by the time the first burgers were ordered which meant we had been on the bikes for 5.5 hours. With a slightly shorter route planned for the way back we looked as though we could make it in the 10 hour mark and with that in mind we sat back, enjoyed lunch and did what all Old Bulls do when assembled in groups. We talked about bikes and took the piss out of each other.To Be Continued
STM
EV and maccas ride was unforgetable in many ways.huge hills after every bend.down hills soon followed what we went up.single tracks followed after every corner,creeks and river crossing were top shelf.. :woohoo: this ride was one i will remember for a long time.big tanks to Ev and macca….
With a slightly shorter route planned for the way back we looked as though we could make it in the 10 hour mart and with that in mind we sat back, enjoyed lunch and did what all Old Bulls do when assembled in groups. We talked about bikes and took the piss out of each other.
STM[/quote]
You might want to have a yarn to the Tamworthians STM, over here they just take the piss out of me!!
Brilliant report mate very well set out and the trails look great
Yes that biggeral is very talented indeed! Happy to hear you cheated total disaster in that off. Love your work. Can’t wait for Stage 2!!great ride report guys :cheer:
Looks like some mighty nice lookin country up that way
Gotta hate those 5th gear offs STM :ohmy: .Glad to here your both ok though
Great pics and Vids.Bol :woohoo:
A couple of photos didn’t get much of a chance to get many as we were setting a cracking pace.
Meeting Point the dead part of town
At the top of the first major hill
MMMM lantana
Bigger Al washed out bridge
Nearly there
Lunch time
Ev brake pad change
Break time
The group almost home
Great report as usual STM
Makes me wish I’d come along on this one.Pity I was on Hols at the beach
Well done Ev and Macca. i hope you put another ride on soon
Glad to hear all made it back in one piece.
Kram
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