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After yet another Bello wash-out BellingenEv made an eleventh hour call and moved the ride to Macksville. We had all been watching the precipitation tallies and the worst of it was from Coffs to the QLD border so we drove south to avoid it. This is an area that Ev and his crew have been riding for a while and thanks to his inbuilt GPS he had the place pretty well dialed.
Ev’s crew consisted of himself, Adam and Macca. These boys get through the bush at a good clip and all ride WR’s so you know they are smart. The rest of the group was made up of myself, Corey8, Biggeral, Nate80 and Hamer.
We met at the servo at 8am ready to go with the knowledge that the forecast for the next 2 weeks looked grim. If it was going to happen it was to be today and we all knew it.
Ev briefed us that the first section was the area that retained the most moisture so it would be a good indication of the conditions. It was slick! The terrain was epic but unless you could attack each uphill with serious momentum you were screwed. Even if you did make it, it meant that the job was that much harder for the poor sucker that came behind you and got to ride your greasy track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etOOHTKojWYWe pushed on but Hamer was under the Hammer. The first nasty one we came to saw Biggeral riding his bike out which is a miracle in itself considering the state of his rear tyre. It had nothing! Ev had made the 65% tread call before the ride but Hamer obviously missed the memo.
We got up that one and turned to head back down to grease town. The sinlges were epic and the place would be the real deal on a dry day but this was not that day. We made it through some more slick stuff as we watched Ev disappear up a super steep face peddling his heart out. If the local boy had the legs out we knew it was going to take a good effort to get us all up. Al was in front of me and as he does he hit it hard. The valley echoed with the anger of a DRZ on full song only to be silenced by a DRZ shut down. I thought it was just a stall but as it turned out his battery had shat itself and he was without power. That is not a big deal on a bike with a kicker but on a DRZ it was a disaster.
We tried to clutch start in the bottom of a steep ravine whilst the leeches and mozzies took the piss but it was hopeless. It was too slick to clutch her so we sat down to contemplate our next move. We decided that Al could take my battery as it is only a decorative piece anyway on a WR250. This plan seemed perfect except that it does not fit in the DRZ battery box. Out with the cable ties, me on the kicker and we turned to head for higher ground.
When we arrived on the next ridgeline Hamer decided to call it a day and donated his battery to Al so that he could go on. Ev rode him out whilst we did the battery swap and I reinstalled mine. The call was made to stick to ridge lines where possible as conditions up high were near perfect. It seemed that every fire trail had an adjacent single track running beside it so we sessioned these for the next few hours.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9m4_mo7oscEverytime we hit main trail v would link us into the next peice of single. He was running cornerman well and we started to get a good flow going.
So much trail work has gone on out here and the efforts were appreciated. You were only ever 20 meters form the main trail yet you were riding epic singles on tacky soil. Sweet!
It was inevitable that we would have to occasionally drop back into the gullies and on one descent we ended up in a creek bed. Apparently it had a lot more water than it normally does but it was our only option. We had come down a steep slope to get there so we were only going forward to get out. Mostly it was fine but towards the end it got fender deep and I thought we were going to drown a bike for sure but we all made it through.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK2ELL4midgFrom here it was onwards and upwards and onto some epic terrain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8KKsEVs-U8The ridgelines out here are gold and for the next few hours we rode fast and hard. The crew of 7 were on song and we were making up a lot of the time we had lost in the morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQhDazJKvCo
There are no pub lunch options out here and the only people we saw all day were ourselves but everyone seemed fresh and we hooked in. It seems every ride I do with Biggeral we end up next to each other all day and today was no exception. As many of you know he rips on a dirt bike and every time I get behind him it inspires me to twist it as the old bugger is closer to 60 than 50 and every time he is behind me I try as hard as I can to gap him. It never happens but I have fun trying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1NZi7j05FYI would love to see a special between him and Noosa Mike! That would be tough to bet on.
Ev was doing a great job leading and Adam and Macca are top blokes who were always good for a laugh when we regrouped. Ev got a front flat so we took a breather and sorted that out while the banter continued. Once Ev was up and running again we hit some more ridgeline singles and some excellent fireroad. The rain had groomed them to perfection and as dust was a non issue it turned into a speedway race. Al tore through the pack with a good example of flat cornering and when he took Adam on the inside it was on. Adam pushed a little harder to get him back and I hung in to watch the duel. I was getting peppered by roost and backed off as they disappeared side by side in a back wheel drift.
Corey had run sweep and seemed to be happy to take care of the orange jersey and Nathan would hang back with him for a while before getting a rush of blood and pushing hard through a section and then drop back with Corey.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izeE1QpeSA0
Adam and Macca ride well and Ev was doing a great job upfront.
The call was made to head back to the cars and Ev reckoned it would take us about 20mins. After one of the deep creek sections we all had the odd cough and splutter as the moisture made its way out of the bikes but Al’s stopped dead. We rode back down to him to see what the issue was and it turned out to be a fuel issue. Something was fouling the carb as not a lot of fuel was draining out when we opened the float bowl. For the second time that day the DRZ was in need of the tools. I had to be back at the cars by 3 so EV rode me out and together we had one last rip. It was 20mins at a good speed with just the two of us and he did a good job to navigate us back. When we got back Corey arrived at the cars and had called his Mum to come and retrieve Al and his bike.
It was a great day out and a huge thanks to Ev for arranging the day and to Adam and Macca for showing us some great trails. I have promised the boys that the favour will be returned with a tour around my local so it will be good to get them on home turf.
As I type this the rain continues to belt down in Coffs and I am stoked that I got such a great day in and only had to drive an hour to do it!STM
That ride looks awesome Ev.. its good to see you have found some user friendly trails that dont have to many hills :laugh: There is nothing worse than having to backtrack because one rider cant make it up telecom hill :laugh: I hope you didn’t get to much mud in your handbag!! I am also stoked for you that all those dodgy yamaha’s made it home on the day
So very jealous of you guys, here I am back at work tomorrow and have been house bound with the sh!ts for the last 3 days
Dirty Sanchez wrote:
Quote:That ride looks awesome Ev.. its good to see you have found some user friendly trails that dont have to many hills :laugh: There is nothing worse than having to backtrack because one rider cant make it up telecom hill :laugh: I hope you didn’t get to much mud in your handbag!! I am also stoked for you that all those dodgy yamaha’s made it home on the dayHey Sanchez
I noticed its you first post. Always good to have new members onboard especially with a username like yours. :laugh:STM
BellingenEv wrote:
Quote:Im confused do u give dirty sanchezs’ or receive, you sound more like a catcher than a pitcher. Ps if you ever do turn up i know a good hill u could fly your kite on.Pitch or Catch.. depends on how much i have drunk.. But i am guessing that smudge under “your” nose in your profile pic is not riding dust.. You remember that stuff (dust) it would have been a while for you bello boys
Anyway i am off to the beach for a kite.. its 30+ degrees and sunny here 
How good is that creek run,
they are some sweet trails Ev will have to get up thereTB
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