Kat & Amy’s APC ’12 – OBT – 2 chic’s, 14 day’s, 1 tent RR

[katrina ratcliffMember]

Pre Start Day (Saturday 28th July’12)
Artarmon to Wiseman’s Ferry (via Berowra)

Had organised to meet Smick400 at Berowra so we could do a slow ride via Berowra Waters and River Rd to Wiseman’s stopping off for a lunch overlooking the river….plans changed and realised I had oil leaking out of the oil filter cap. Turned out the o-ring was incorrect size but SMick400 had it all under control and left me the job of freaking out. The bike was on its side, oil cap off, grabbed some silastic from service station and oil leak fixed….We ended up having a later lunch down by the river at Berowra and it hit home that I have no friggen bike maintenance skills but if the shit happens out there just find someone who knows what they are doing. I think I could manage that!!

I had never ridden along River Rd before and it gave me an opportunity to get use to the feel of a fully loaded bike.

We got to Wiseman’s Ferry at 3pm to find Amy and Mike (on this Triumph) arriving at the same time. So time for a calming drink or two!!

We headed to our Bed/Breakfast and enjoyed some nibbles on the balcony and watched the sun go down

The owner of the B&B had trouble parking his car late one night after having one to many Schnapps

Hooked up with TB at the Wiseman’s Ferry pub for a meal and enjoyed it with the whole team and other APC Rally participants.

Won a meat tray…. Question is what to do with it

[simon burkeMember]

I’m sure TB would have inhaled that meat tray when you weren’t looking Kat :laugh:

Bol :woohoo:

[GregMember]

KING BOLLOCKS wrote:

I’m sure TB would have inhaled that meat tray when you weren’t looking Kat :laugh:

Bol :woohoo:

UMMM you idiot why would you say that :ohmy: Its not true and I find it hurtful I wouldnt do that

it has vegetables on it :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

TB

[simon burkeMember]

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Amy HarburgMember]

Hi All,

I have been a little slow with my ride report sections…I promised Kat I would start this a few days ago…..but work has been successful at delaying me again, so sorry about that, but here is my pre start run down of the ACP.

Pre Pre Day (Thursday)

Without a doubt this day came all a bit too quick for me. I had a few really busy weeks at work in the lead up to the APC, so except for bike prep, everything was a little behind. Therefore the Thursday before I was to leave for Wisemans was the only real chance I had to pack the bike and get myself ready. I had amassed a large pile of stuff that I wanted to take, but it was all in a large pile in the back room of my house.
The first thing I had to do on the Thursday was to get the bike to a local grapghics shop to get the awesome Old Bulls Grapghic put on the bike. Thankfully this went really smooth and within an hour the bike looked amazing.
Next was a quick trip to Newcastle for an appointment with my Orthopaedic Surgeon to get a Cortizone injection in my pesky Tennis Elbow. I certainly didn’t want that hampering me on the ride. Finally back to Singleton at about 2pm. That afternoon and night was spent sorting my gear then packing, repacking, ditching unessential clothing and finally consolidating it onto the bike. Like I said, all the bike prep had been done and thankfully this included tools and spares etc. So it all just had to go on the bike.

Finaly by Friday morning I was reasonably happy with what I had packed on the bike and I was ready to go!

Friday – Singleton to Wisemans Ferry.

I had organised accommodation at a B&B for Team Old Bulls, and I had planned to meet, Kat, Mick, TB and Dan there later that day. So after a little faffing around and some last minute phone calls to family, Mike and I hit the road at about Midday. After a quick fuel up we rolled out of Singleton.

Up to this point I don’t think I had had much time to really think about what I was about to head off and do, and also up to this point I hadn’t had a chance to doubt my ability to do this ride…..that all changed about 20minutes later. As we rode into Broke I absolutely fell apart, this may have been partly due to listing Dixie Chick Wide Open Spaces, but whatever the cause, I was a mess of self-doubt and fear. I had expected to cry at some point on this ride, but that had certainly come sooner that I had expected.

After stopping and being reassured by Mike that I can do this, I pulled myself together and we carried on. After that I focused on the exciting adventure I was heading off to do and so the rest of the ride was relatively uneventful.

We arrived in Wisemans at about 3ish and as we rode up to the pub I spotted Kat and Mick so we pulled over, had a few drinks and started to get really excited about the trip.
We were joined by TB and then all went off to get settled into our accommodation. Dan soon joined us and then later that evening we went back to the pub for had dinner and caught up with a few other APC riders.
We all agreed that an early night was a good idea, so back to the accommodation and to bed it was.

Stay tunned for day 1………..

Flying Fish

[GregMember]

:woohoo: :woohoo: Been waiting for these reports girls

TB

[katrina ratcliffMember]

Thanks Amy …. over to me for my version of Day 1…..

Day 1
Wiseman’s Ferry to Gloucester (via Singleton and Moonan Flat)
Distance: 370km

Some highlights from the first day:
• Big breakfast cooked up by the owners of the Bed/Breakfast
• Supported by TB, Smick400, Dan and Mike at the start line
• Amy and I set off at 7.30am with TB, Smick400 and Dan in tow
• Took many wrong turns that caused a blonde to get dizzy. TB and Smick400 where waiting on each corner for us to turn around. Lots of laughing occurred
• Kat dropped her bike 5 times that day trying to get through muddy sections that required some paddling… problem was my feet couldn’t quiet touch the ground to paddle and more importantly I didn’t have the skill to stay upright.
• Came to a tricky section that had TB fly up a difficult hill and made it. We soon realised that it was “Eagles Hill” and the course had us going around it and up the other side. It was still difficult with the muddy ruts and it was responsible for me dropping it twice on this section. Thanks to Smick400 he was close by to pick up my bike without any complaints.
• Amy had a fall and tried to radio me for help but I was also under my bike and couldn’t help. Thanks to another APC rider Amy was back upright.
• We got into Gloucester about 5.30pm and soon after the Yamaha Team (Clubby and Steve) arrived after providing assistance to Andrew who fell and hurt his ankle (dislocation). It appears the boys had concerns regarding their bikes and TB was in there giving them a hand.
• TB had a quick beer with us at Gloucester Pub then fanged it back to Cessnock for the night sleep before picking up his car/trailer on Sunday morning so he could spend time with his misses…
• Decided to stay in the Gloucester Caravan Park in a cabin as we were too stuffed after a hard day’s ride to think about putting our tents up

6.30am start… on bikes and foggy/cold

Our support team at the start line (from left to right – Mike, TB Dan and SMick400)

Amy’s bike was a loud and proud Old Bull

Group shot of the Sydney starters

Heading to the Watagan’s via St Alban’s

Action shot of Amy flying along

Kat going through many of the causes ways after Singleton

More causeways

Kat getting a cool down… plus wet socks

Yamaha team at the end of day 1.

Over to you Amy on your perspective of Day 1.

[Mick PilgrimMember]

It was good to hear you girls made it to the end – I would have liked to have been around to give you some moral support but alas I was on my own adventure to Cape York in 4wd’s with some friends from work.

Looking forward to the rest of your RR. Caught a few snippets of your adventure when I had internet access – great stuff.

Congratulations Girls, glad to help in the small way I did and bravo to all your other supporters

Go the Old Bulls

Mickp

[katrina ratcliffMember]

Well I’ve tried contacting Amy for her Day 1 view but seems like she is busy so I thought I would continue to post up my ride report

Day 2 – Sunday 29/7/12
Gloucester to Bellingen (via Barrington Tops, Gingers Creek, Taylors Arms)
Distance: 340km
• Couple of tricky sections …. Only dropped the bike twice today.
• Lost one of my nine lives today on a slippery wooden bridge. We were on our way to Gingers Creek and coming up a little hill so gave it some to only find out that you had to cross a wooden bridge that was wet and slippery. SMick400 was behind me and got the best view!!!. The bike went completely side ways and stayed in that position for the length of the bridge. The only down fall was the front tyre was moving to the edge of the drop off (approx 9ft). Somehow I didn’t drop it… the potential outcome was too ugly to think about. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to calm my nerves as we immediately hit a long gnarly hill that required concentration. Once we got to the top SMick400 was overcome with what happened and gave me the following statements:
1. Didn’t I remember what TB had said about wooden bridges…oops
2. I would have been an overnight sensation on YouTube if that was captured on video
3. Cyril Despres would have been impressed with my riding skills…
I took a breather and calmed the nerves… it took some time for the bike to stop shaking after that experience…
• Had quick drinks at Taylors Arms but knew we needed to push on so we didn’t arrive into Bellingen in the dark….
• After leaving Taylors Arms we decided to not do the next dirt section due to the lateness… but after getting lost on the tar we circled back and decided to do dirt. It was tough going and I realised that my headlight was useless at night. Amy’s bike was better setup for night riding so I called her back and we road side by side.
• We stopped in a Belligen before heading up to Steve place and did the normal routine of fuelling up each night ready for tomorrow’s ride. This is when we found out that SMick400 lost his fuel and house keys somewhere. After some grunting he had the fuel cap off and just got fuel in before the Service Station closed. He was remarkably calm and showed me the qualities necessary when addressed with challenges. We also picked up drinking supplies for the night.
• We stayed at Steve’s retreat rather than head to Dorrigo. The Yamaha team, Scott and Gav (KTM Team), Glen were all present for the huge dinner (steak and vegies) which was expertly cooked by Scott. It was an amazing cook-up.
• We heard that night that Steve Tunley had a falling out with Andrew over team dynamics then Andrew sustained a broken ankle and meant Steve was without a riding partner. Amy suggested for Steve to join our team and after discussions on objectives and riding approach Steve was in Team OBT fold.

Up and early Amy on her way

Amy cruising on the easy dirt roads

Early morning and crossing one of the many causeways

Amy in the distance heading towards the tricky section

I had a love/hate relationship with this hill that caused me to kiss the dirt.

It was moments after this shot that I dropped my bike. Both Mick and I had trouble picking it up as our boots were sliding all over the place.

Kat flying so fast….. NOT caused the photo effect….

It was nice getting a breather on the tar every now and then

Nice afternoon cruise

Couple of late after causeways to cross

Then trying to get to Bello before dark…. Wasn’t going to happen

But got to ‘slum’ it at Steve’s place for the night and enjoy a steak/vege cook up.

[katrina ratcliffMember]

Day 3 – Monday 30/7/12
Bellingen to Urbenville (via Jackadgery)
Distance: 430km

• The rosters were howling at 5.30am and so the day was underway with a big bacon and egg cook up and on the bike ready to roll by 7am.
• Few of the guys didn’t have fuel so we headed off and grabbed a coffee whilst they got their bikes sorted out……grrrrrrrrrrr
• Clubby had a slight mishap when he came to a stop at the service station and laid the bike down. After quickly checking his muffler there wasn’t any material damage except for his pride.
• This is where I said good-bye to Smick400. He was heading home after spending two days riding with Amy and I to ensure we settled into the rally. Without his support I know I wouldn’t have been able to do this.
• Well after the slow get away we were on the road and got to our original start for Day 3 at Dorrigo by 8.30am…. so we were at least 1 1/2hrs behind.
• We went past Russell Crow’s pub at 10.00am and wasn’t open thank god so we pushed on.
• We did a small diversion into Jackadgery for a fuel stop.
• The next section we followed the Mann River then through a forestry section till we reached Mallanganee which is an old timber cutters town.
• After Mallanganee we heading along the top of the Richmond ranges and there was 70km of rainforest.
• We came back out onto the tar and Steve took off on his KTM (being faster than our little bikes). We noticed that we were to head back into the bush but Steve wasn’t anywhere to be found. We decided to wait 15mins to see if he returns considering we weren’t behind him. As we waited a guy came out of his house and was riding to his letter box on a clapped out bike and asked if we were ok. We told him we were suppose to head up into the bush and work our way to Urbenville. He suggested that since it’s 4.30pm it wasn’t wise and the track was in bad condition. So after some discussion we decided to hit the tar. We got to a township about 13km out of Urbenville and fueled up ready for tomorrow….. still no sign of Steve. Then we headed to the pub and arrived about 6pm and sure enough all the Sydney starters we out the back working on their bikes.
• We heard Team America (BMW Team)– Dan had a fall and broke his wrist on the last section. After hearing that it confirmed to us we did the right thing.
• By 8pm the famous steak and vege dinner arrived and the size of it was enough for three dinners. The only sleeping arrangements were bunking down in the dinning room with about 8 other blokes. They make interesting noises
Get a coffee fix first thing in the morning at Bello

Was getting hot so a strip tease was in order!!

Petrol station at Jackadgery

Riding along Mann River

It was in this area that we found some ‘interesting’ skid marks left by other riders that were going off into boulder territory. It paid to go slow and enjoy the view.

Going through Toonumbar National Park

[GregMember]

Good stuff Kat keep them coming mate

BTW Amy is of doing the BMW safari

TB

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