Coffs riding makes a very very Good Friday !

[Nick JacksonMember]

I called STM on Wednesday to see if he felt like a ride over the break and he said he was taking a few guys out on Friday if I wanted to tag along.
I left my place and made the 1 hour drive to Mullaway battling holiday traffic and dozens of police. It was going to much safer in the bush than on the highway today that’s for sure !
I arrived at STMs house and after meeting his cool new little boy Kody we geared up and went to the servo to meet Bellingen Ev, Corey8 and his brother Nathan who would be riding Bigger Al’s(his dad) DRZ.
We left the servo at a cracking pace and it was obvious this was going to be a fast 4 hour ride. I ran sweep and battled with my DRZ for a good hour. After riding the Tenere so much lately I felt like I was over doing every maneuver on the lighter :blink: bike.
STM put together a great loop as usual although because of the amount of rain we’ve had some tracks were overgrown but he managed to by-pass the worst to make a really interesting loop.

Only 1/2 hour into some top singles Nathans DRZ died , it had been playing up since an earlier water crossing so it was tank off and spark plug out while Corey spent his time abusing his dad about his DRZ that’s failed 3 out of 3 rides with STM. I fitted my spare plug and the DRZ was alive again. Just as well as STM looked like he was going to shank someone with a spanner if we didn’t get going soon.

We carried along some more single track until we dropped onto a fire road and I knew what was next…

The Widow Maker :ohmy:

I have sat at the bottom of this hill before and didn’t have a go but today was the day! As we pulled up 2 other riders were looking at the hill but not making any moves up it so Corey went for it and made it look easy , next Nathan , who by this time I knew was a great rider , straight to the top. Bello Ev asked STM about the surface of the hill and was off and up no worries. STM next and powered the wr250 to the top. I was next and took the same line the others took and got over the ledge easily then I crossed to the right and though ‘ I’ve bloody done , YES’ and with an exited twist of the throttle spun myself 180 and off not far from the top gutted!
Corey and STM were their to help me stand the bike up and I got on , shit, looking down was worse than up. Corey reassured be by saying ‘fast is best’ and off I went back down. In truth fast is the only way down something that steep , no choice. :pinch:

I won’t even mention my next failed attempt before we headed into more fast single track.

All of a sudden I got my mojo and the next half of the ride was very quick, I gave everything to try and hang onto Nathan through Tramway and log jam and I have to say I was happy had the end of that section when he said he had to go hard to try and shack me off !

This was an epic afternoons riding and by far the quickest I’ve had in Coffs for a while. Their were a couple of good offs with Ev dropping of a 10 ft high bank and free falling to the ground with his bike on top. The tough bugger only mentioned after the ride that he will have a good bruise to post up! :ohmy:
And Corey had a nice trip over the bars into a rocky creek bed but got up laughing and gave us a bow !! :laugh:

Thanks again STM you do live in single track heaven mate and I’m stoked I get to enjoy it with you!!

Nick

[Aaron WildeMember]

Sounds like a ‘Technical Nock Out’ Nick well done. That top bit with those ledges is a bitch and while its not scary like the bottom is much harder in my opinion as you have to turn the bike left while the front wheel is tying to go over your helmet.

[Nick JacksonMember]

Aaron wrote:

Sounds like a ‘Technical Nock Out’ Nick well done. That top bit with those ledges is a bitch and while its not scary like the bottom is much harder in my opinion as you have to turn the bike left while the front wheel is tying to go over your helmet.

I really don’t know how I manage to spin the back out like it did mate , but I’ll take your technical knock out !! :laugh:

[GregMember]

Great report Nick well done mate it certainly is heaven up there

Technical knock out :huh: whats a technical knock out as far as climbing a hill goes :unsure:

Make it or you dont I reckon, sorry my Tenere brother :laugh: yes same as me and the Murray River I made it to the middle, fell in got up restarted and rode out but its not the same is it :angry:

Now you have a monkey to get of your back watch me ride the 200 kilo Tenere up and I will show you the line

Again great report guys, STM you are the man

TB

[MichaelMember]

Sounds like a great day Nick as allways STM would of put somthing togeather thats good.

I look a that Black Widow at the Nov ride it sure is a test

It would of been a bit of change to the riding you have been doing lately

Cheers
Strucky

[Nick JacksonMember]

Trailboss wrote:

Great report Nick well done mate it certainly is heaven up there

Technical knock out :huh: whats a technical knock out as far as climbing a hill goes :unsure:

TB

I took a technical knock out as me f…ing it up and not making it mate !!
That’s what happened !! :laugh:

But I will get it one day :cheer:

[corey heatherMember]

I will be doing a report up for sure guys but right now i am sitting in waiting room of coffs surgery as my poor little 4 year old girl has done serious break to her elbow. But i know nathan had a good day even if it was missing about 900cc to his normal ride lol

[scott bockingMember]

It was indeed an epic afternoon and the best part was it was a Friday. Corey8 originally posted that he was looking for an Easter ride and with my newborn only 6 days and my 2 year old running amuck I was given a four hour leave pass and offered him a local loop. I did not post it as it was only going to be a low key affair but I called BellingenEv, Nickj and Tdriver. Tdriver could not make it and let me know Shell was in Byron so it was the five of us who headed out. Myself, Nickj, Ev, Corey and his brother Nathan.
We met at the servo as I was frothing like a wave starved grommie so as soon as we met I had the little 250 fired up and ready to go. I knew Nathan would go alright considering who his old man and brother were and the rest of the crew were proven rippers. One look over my shoulder and I was gone. Nickj ran sweep which took a lot of pressure off me as he knows his way around which left me only having to try and stay ahead of the pack. I went out hard and fast and with a crew like this I only had to slow down at an intersection and the next man stopped on the corner. We had a good flow going when I sat on a corner for five minutes and saw nobody. The previous corner I had dropped Ev and I could see Corey so I knew they could not be too far behind. After waiting another few minutes I knew I had to go back and as soon as I saw Ev he turned and headed back down the trail. I followed him into the next gully to find Nathan stranded on a dead DRZ. He had borrowed it from his old man Biggeral and it had given up. It was the third consecutive ride that I have been on with this DRZ and once again it had shat itself and it was about the worse possible spot to be stuck. Corey called his Dad to let him know that he was welcome on any OBT ride but his bike was banned. I am sure he will be on the net as you read this shopping for a WR.
Nickj came to the rescue and diagnosed it as a fouled plug and he pulled out his spare, we stripped it down and put it in. It kicked over and we were off. Now I was frothing even harder to link some singles and from here we set a cracking pace. I put together a sweet loop sitting at the base of the Widow Maker. Two other guys were there when we arrived and without stopping to scope it out Corey hit it and nailed it first go. Nathan was not about to let him have all the glory and attacked it just as hard and rode clean to the top. Ev was next to fire up his bike and he hit it committed and met the boys above. By now the two other guys had bailed and it was just me and Nick. I knew he was going to have a dig today so i fired up my bike and drove it up that vertical bitch. Standing on top we all looked down and quietly hoped that Nick would soon be on top with us. He gave it a good dig and was past the worst when he spun out and was snagged in the worst possible spot. Corey and I edged our way down to join him and turned his bike around. Riding down is a bigger challenge than up but he made it to the bottom, manned up and hit it again. Unfortunately his brakes lever was bent under and he dragged the back wheel a short way up and stalled. Nick will live to see that hill another day so we moved on.
The next hour was as good as it gets and the five of us flowed through the bush as if we were one. I would go to drop a cornerman only to see all four behind me so we punched. I added some extra loops as we were making good time and before long we were back at the cars.

Big thanks to the boys for making then trouble to fight Easter traffic and especially Ev who showed up solo after two of his mated bailed. Ev had hosted two epic rides recently so I was stoked to be able to show him my backyard. Massive thanks to Nick for running sweep all day.
I heard tonight that while we were out Corey’s little daughter broke her arm so I hope she is ok and I wish him and his family all the best for a quick recovery.

STM

[MalMember]

Good report Nick.

Sounds like a great fast ride. :woohoo:

Mustering the courage to have a crack at a hard hill is the biggest hurdle mate. Now you’ve had a crack at it and know you can make it, you’ll nail it next time.

[Aaron WildeMember]

Drz too unreliable and going to look for a WR…… I must write that down as I have never heard it before, and probably will never again :laugh: The only things I have ever seen to let the trusty Doctor Zee down have been electrical problems. I Suppose you could call a spark plug an electrical prob :unsure: Felt like I was there STM Good report Cannot wait to get back over there again :cheer: :cheer:

[simon burkeMember]

nice report guys :cheer:
Don’t worry Nick…that awfull hill put me on my arse…next time i’ll nail it as will you.
hope your little one gets through the night ok Corey .

Bol :woohoo:

[corey heatherMember]

what a action packed day :laugh:

started off easy enough last sunday morning at bridie’s 4th birthday party when my brother shows up after a straight 12 hour drive from rocky. tells me he is going to be around till next weekend how about i pinch the old mans bike and we go for a lap. Of coarse STM sprung to mind but i thought new kid and all might be a strech to ask him so i just put it out for a ride good friday.

Sure enough super dad of 2 hooks us up

after geeing the bro up about coffs being some of the best riding i know of he was keen. Has not ridden dirt for about 6 years i guess but kept his skills fresh on his hayabusa

we meet up at the servo only to find our selfs in a situation of get ready to go by 12.30 or help the 2 hot chicks that were having car trouble :laugh: so after our “look” at the car and general chat we got back to gearing up when EV arrived then nick and stm and we were good for a go.

as normal we took of down the side of the highway and under the bridge and soon i relised today might make the big ride a few months back seem dry and i was in heaven again. All up till that F#@KING DRZ broken down and i thought my day was done 15 minutes in. But lucky we had our sparky on board LOL.

we covered the best bits from coffs i remember and then some. to see the smile on every ones face and the pace in which we were covering ground was just awesome.

highlights were widdow maker, watching a DRZ and a WRF come flying out the top of a muddy bank minus the riders. the pace, the laughs

lowlights broken down drz again, having to pack up to go home.

thanks for the guys who asked about bridie’s well being. she is now home after and op that was suppose to be 30 minutes that lasted 1.45 hours and a big cut to open her up and wire her back together was a very long day in the end and frustrating night as well waiting for the op to finish but she is now sound asleep and seems happy enough.

Corey

[GregMember]

Hey Corey glad to hear the littles going ok mate, nice report too;)

Did you have tools or a plug? I am only asking because I am thinking of getting something organised for the birthday ride

TB

[scott bockingMember]

When we got back to the cars Nathan and Ev seemed shocked when I told them we had covered 68 km and we were never more than 8 k’s from where we parked. I saved a screen shot of the loop and you can see just how much is packed into a small space. This represents only 1/10th of the forest so we have plenty more to explore and if you factor in everything around it and the terrain down Ev’s way we have a lot of epic days to come. :woohoo:

STM

[corey heatherMember]

Trailboss wrote:

Hey Corey glad to hear the littles going ok mate, nice report too;)

Did you have tools or a plug? I am only asking because I am thinking of getting something organised for the birthday ride

TB

To be honest if it was not for Nick and EV on tools and plug we would have been waiting in the middle of no where for 2 hot chicks to come rescue us

i had my hydro pack and zip ties and i figured with the mud and leaves around i could have gone macgyver on the DRZ. i thought my phone calls were getting my message through as the last thing mum said was he wants to sell it now bahahahaha

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