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First off, apologies for anyone who may have seen this report elsewhere but a few weeks ago some mates and I went for a little ride in Meryla Forest and the surrounding area.
In the forest there is a Firetrail that has a little gnarly hill on it and whilst I have looked at it from the top on the ride mentioned one mate decided to cross the creek and attack it from the bottom. The result is shown below in the pic.
Greg’s last effort.
Well Greg is not one to admit defeat and so organised a small ride to have another go at the same hill, this is the report.
With only Greg and myself as definite starters, the arrangements were made to meet at Fitzroy Falls visitor centre at 0900. So far so good.
But, whilst putting fuel in my DR at Albion Park I notice the first possible problem. A police car rocketing towards Macquarie Pass with full lights and sirens on display. Given I was heading that way it didn’t look good.
Then a small stroke of luck as a guy from work who lives at Robertson comes the opposite direction and whilst still fuelling up, I hail him to find out what the issue had been. He advised that whilst he had not seen accidents there was a truck loaded with hay stuck on the top hairpin.
So armed with that information I decided that MacPass it would be and after paying some hard earned for fuel the bike was aimed at Robertson and I started out westward on the Illawarra Highway. Making sure to keep an eye for any more police cars heading to the blockage I had one of the best runs for a long time up MacPass which even at the limit is an enjoyable ride and I eventually was stopped just beyond the waterfall. Here the police explained what was happening and that the road would be clear in about 10 minutes so I decided to stay put and sit it out.
As more traffic arrived and with a semi trailer stopped in the overtake lanes the officer asked everyone to get close to the railing so that the stuck truck could get past, which for me was easy.
A small pic of the line up. Have a look at the last car, the falcon as this guy was asked to move around 5 times and wouldn’t until the police officer walked down and gave him a last chance.
Arriving at the meet point we had a quick chat before heading through the usual trails, out onto Redhills Road before taking Gunrock Creek FT. Whilst these have all been recently graded the condition is not good and I expect that the first rain (if ever it comes) will end up in some heavily rutted mud pools. Must go back.
Taking the turn to Gunrock Falls FT was the easy part as we arrived at the creek crossing and headed up the small hill in the direction of our real destination. But before we got to the hill we had to negotiate the track itself which was difficult in places as it was vert strewn with rocks of varying sizes and was in itself quite slippery. But eventually we arrived at the hill and after a quick walk to pick the best line it was Greg’s turn.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=MSvxN-FQiK8
Well he made it look easy so it couldn’t be that difficult ……………… or could it.
Greg had knobbies, uprated suspension, a 14 tooth front sprocket and above all else, more skill and ability. I had no ability, the standard 15 tooth sprocket, standard suspension and the good old often complained about standard Trailwings. I was in trouble.
The first attempt started well, the bike moved forward and I hoped, but soon I hit the loose stuff at the bottom of the climb and, well you can see what happened.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=2FbkDTRlGxU
So with retreat in order I made my way back to the bottom for another go. This time I carry a little more speed, not a lot but a little …………………….. or so I thought anyway. Not enough as it proves as the rear gets sideways and I end up parked on a rock.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=cusJA531SQQ
So, finally I retreat further back along the track to the point from where Greg started (yes I am a slow learner). Catch the breath, knock the bike into first and decide it has to happen.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=jij2YtFB-yQ
Well the video shows the result and whilst it was incredibly ungainly and closely resembles a no talent, no skills, fat and unfit guy try to paddle his way up hill, it also shows a nice little rock induced wheelie and that perseverance pays off. Yes I got there and while it may not look good on video the hill was quite gnarly so I am quite happy with the result.
The bikes at rest after the hill. They didn’t need the rest but I sure did.
After having a lengthy rest at the top of the hill (no secrets here, I was stuffed) we then continued out before taking to the tracks on the opposite side of Redhills Road. Again this is fun and whilst the DR may not be everyone’s ideal in these conditions I found that it can be thrown and slid around far better than my skills allow, which for me makes it heaps of fun.
Rejoining Redhills Road we started towards Fitzroy Falls but then decided to explore a little side track we had spotted before. This turned into a good idea as we found something interesting and had fun, but no mention of anyone or bike falling over in the sand..
Greg’s donut made him happy :cheer:
A few pics that show what we found.
Yeah so I got sick and tired of taking pics of Greg so decided to get one of my bike waiting for me to ride it.
Greg liked his first sandy donut so much he tried again, only this time on video.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=gT1N984sdlIOk, whilst this little spot was fun we still had heaps of time left and wanted to explore a little further around Kangaroo Valley. By following one of the local roads we found a little dirt and ended up deciding to see where it led and as the pictures show, we were glad we did.
Looks like some prefer the quieter method, I will stick with the bike.
The track in was interesting. It is very narrow and after the initial drop off the ridge top and basically skirts the edge of the ridge with a wall one side and a drop the other. Although quite low speed it was very testing due to the condition of the track which was slightly rutted but mainly quite heavily pot-holed with a few sandy patches mid corner, but it was fun.
Given there is only one way in, we had to back track out and soon found ourselves crossing the river and heading towards Tallowa Dam with the intention being to have a look at Bugong FT.
Finding the turn and taking it the early part of the track is quite good as it makes it way the thickish forest, but I had no idea just how populated it was as the number of houses simply surprised. After a while the track deteriorates slightly as the surface changes to more clay based which meant a few small ruts and rocks to go over or around, but nothing difficult or dangerous.
After a while we ended up where we expected which was the bottom of Mount Scanzi where we simply headed to Nowra. But with time on our side we decided to have a look at the sidetracks we saw and whilst most quickly rejoined the main road, we did find one little fun track.
Coming to one of the powerlines we decided to see where the track went and quickly found a nice little track complete with bumps and bushes, but sadly and eventually it ended at a fence. Glancing around we spotted what looked to be a single track that followed the fenceline so we decided to explore but after a few hundred metres we found it blocked by a tree.
So with our minds made up by circumstance we decided it was back the way we had just come travelled but did experience some great little ‘whoops’ caused by slight erosion and even stopped for a photo or two.
If you look closely at my bike you will notice a stick underneath it. This stick was stuck above the chain, over the chain guide and exited beyond the rear sprocket.
Near the powerline track we found a piece of road that had a little crest which proved to tempting for Greg who asked me to check under his bike for a stick.
Realising that time was dragging and with me having to put up with holiday traffic on the way home we decided to head to Nowra and part ways, but even this had a twist.
Riding along Illaroo Road I noticed that Greg’s rear tyre appeared somewhat flatter by the metre, just as he started to wonder why the rear felt loose (we were now on tar so it shouldn’t have been loose). So, a quick stop found that as suspected his rear tyre was well on the way to being flat but with a service station around 1 km away we topped up the tyre with CO2 and then with air from the Service Station. From there it was onto the Princes Highway and our separate ways home.
All up a good day’s ride with some testing of skills, some fun in the trails and some exploring which is what it is all about.
Would people have any objections if I posted a few older reports (older as in over thelast few months)?
Garry
AnonymousNice report Garry, well written and well put together with the videos and pictures inserted and relevant points. We’d love to see some some more so feel free to post em’ up
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