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I wanted a ride. More specifically I wanted to ride at Catombal. Rang a couple of mates.. “Yeah, sounds great, I’ll see if *Insert name here* wants to come as well. I posted here and DBW and hoped for the best. We needed at least 10 for Catombal to be opened, and as of Thursday we had a rough count of 17 starters.
So it was a bit of a shock when the riders kept rolling in, and then kept rolling in until finally there was about 30 blokes!
There were those who were there with the idea of training for the A4DE, and then the blokes, like me, who were just out for a ride.
The A4DE crew picked themselves out a loop and ran it as many times as they could, then stopped for a BBQ. It will be a tough A4DE for them by the sound of it! We didn’t really mix a lot, but it sounded like they had a good day.
The rest of us mugs lined up and headed off in a group through the Front Paddock and then the Twisties.
The bikes ranged from TTR250’s to my WR250F, a couple of banana’s (DRZ400) and a TTR125 for good measure. There were a couple of beginner riders who needed a bit of extra looking after, so we moved fairly slowly. It is encouraging to see someone improve over the course of the day though!
We found a little hillclimb that I hadn’t seen before and Ribs, Andrew and I had a shot – only the WRF made it up, the others were stranded at about the three-quarter mark. Didn’t seem that steep to me, until going down, when I used a couple of small pines as emergency brakes!
We headed back to the camp for lunch and then headed off again, this time with a more advanced group. Up the Fire Trail, Step Up, Braketester:
Andrew
Ribs
Ribs
Luke (Mr Laid-back!)
Jim on the gas!
Then it was time for Fern Gully!
This is the hill before Fern Gully, just a warm-up really! Ribs in trouble…
Andrew
Jim
Luke
Catching a breath or two!
Ribs & Jim
Coma-boy (Luke, if he was any more laid back he would be in a coma!)
Once past the warm-up hill, we hit Fern Gully proper. I was super-chuffed to make it up first time, no problems – for the first time ever! Others struggled here and there, but we all made it up in the end.
Andrew – this would prove costly later on
The hard way:
The top of the easy way!
Vids:
We diverted past Rubble Hill which was beyond my rear tyre’s capabilities! It was at this stage that we noticed…
IT CAN HAPPEN TO DRZ’s TOO PATTO!!!
Yep, crack in the crankcase after a laydown on a rock. Andrew’s day was over, so we pointed him at the shortcut home then had a quick run through Chase Your Tail back to camp again.
Most blokes decided to call it quits at this stage, but Stu showed up with his new (to him) KTM300. I decided to go for a ride with him, and Mick (owner of Catombal), Axel and Grant put their hands up to come as well.
Stu’s new bike:
It was a pretty gentle run through the Worm to the Twisties, then the Boundary Chaser before Axel and I decided that we were cooked. No incidents to speak of, but the dust sent a few of us off on the odd occasion. I love a ride with no injuries, shame about the cracked banana, but that’s Catombal! (Eh Patto?!)
Finally, we packed up and headed home. Great days ride with a great bunch of blokes!
top work there ecks, looks like yous had a wicked day.
bet your all still smilin now:)
menace wrote:
Quote:top work there ecks, looks like yous had a wicked day.bet your all still smilin now:)
Man, I just had the best day! And yes, still smiling!
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