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Flying Fish wrote:So before I go get some proper graphic stickers to make this look a bit better, what do you think?
If somebody can come up with a better idea or style I will take it into consideration, no promises though………
Flying FishWhat about a bit of OBT sticker kit action made up in your colours to suit your bike off course, play with the design happy days
Just an ideaRadiator Shrouds
Side panels
Front & Rear guards
TB
Great work on all the prep Kat & Amy
It`s all part of the journey doing your own prep & repairs on the go ,,,Amy already showed how keen she is on our trip to Sunny Corner when her front guard almost went west :laugh:
Jumped right in and did it all herself while we watched, hamded tools & laughed ,,,,I am really looking forward to the APC and even counting down the days myself đ
Good Luck and rest assured I will be watching the SPOTS and willing you both along the whole trip (wishing it was me out there with ya)
Maybe, just maybe if the stars align,,,, I am keen for APC 2013 :woohoo:
Hi Team,
Here is a bit more of a detailed update on our APC prep and our versions of the Shake down ride â without the incident stories. This might be a little long winded, but it was a big weekend. :blush:
Sorry, I didnât take any photos over the weekend and so canât add any to this update. Kat and Mick were the office press for the weekend.
Both Kat and I have been hard at work getting our bikes ready up to this point and we really took this weekend as an opportunity to check out the status of this work. We also used it as a chance to put together our camping gear and trial a few new things. I bought a new sleeping bag and had few other little things I wanted sort out. We were also planning to use this as our first test at navigating, as neither of us has ridden using a GPS as our only form of navigation :unsure: .
The week leading up to this ride was really bad for both Kat and I :blink: . We have both been really sick and work (again for both of us) has been the week from hell. But not to be perturbed we were super keen and looking forward to the weekend. Like Kat said âbright eyed and busy tailed…with lot of antibioticsâ. I also figured that if I get a cold or flu on the ACP I will have to tough it out, so what better way to practice than with the real thing. I went to the Doctor today and thankfully I just have a run of the mill chest infection and a great case of laryngitis
. I started the weekend with a croaky voice and finish with no voice. So it looks like I will have tomorrow in bed recovering…..so look out Old Bulls forum.On Friday I road down to Dural so I didnât have to rush too much in the morning, I also just wanted to get a long way away from work. The plan was to get Steve to load the route into my GPS. Iâm somewhat useless with that sort of thing. Unfortunately midway through the process my GPS had an epic fail and completely stopped working. It wouldnât even turn on…bloody thing… :S
The next morning (feeling rather under the weather) I hooked up with Kat and Mick and we put a game plan together for the weekend. The plan was to stick together and generally take it easy. We well and truly had an agenda for this ride and it wasnât to ride fast or take any chances. We just wanted to have time riding together, cover the distance, and look after the bikes and us, learn how to navigate with the GPS, and have a bit of fun thrown in. Well, generally I think we succeeded.
Because my GPS was dead, it was all up to Kat. As Iâm sure everybody would suspect…Kat did a great job. Sure we missed the first turn, but so did everybody :laugh: except Steve. We were then lead a little astray by Ian who had accidently pressed the wrong route in his GPS. Anyway it didnât matter we were there to learn. We just regrouped at St Albans and skipped the Watagans, but that was actually almost part of the plan.
Steve and Clubby then accused us of cheating when we arrive at Laguna at the same time from a different direction…… So while Steve and Clubby were showing how hard core they are by having plunger coffee and raison toast (Steve even had pink flowers on his cup :kiss: ), Kat, Mick and I fuelled up and hit the trail again. We were also joined by Dan on his mighty 990R. It was great to have Dan along so he can keep an eye on my bike and all the work he has done setting it up. Unfortunately he later left the ride to recover Waynes bike from the Commission trail.
We had a total ball through Yengo. That trail is so much fun with all the contour banks, and Mick certainly made the most of the jumps and making it look so easy. Kat was also ripping up the trail and clearly enjoying it. I was having a few problems with my clutch and generally getting use to the changes to my bike and my new boots. Whoâda thought different boots would make such a difference, but it took all day to get use to them. :blink:
Then onto the Commission Rd. This is Dan and my home trail, so I was having great fun on it.
After an hour or so helping Steve and Clubby at Wayneâs crash site, we decided that if we were still planning on getting to Hill End on the planned route, that we needed to get going. So off we went. The rest of the day was a mix of roads, open dirt roads and some smaller farm road, all good fun. We got into Hill End just as it was getting dark. In my excitement of getting there I missed the photo at the Hill End sign.
We went straight to the camp site and set up our tents. To say it was cold was an understatement and we were trying to figure out exactly why we were stupid enough to camp. I think it was actually my bright idea to camp……what was I thinking?? :blush: Anyway off to the pub for dinner and a few well deserved drinks.
The next morning we were just about to head off when Steve and Clubby came and told us about the decision to change the route to avoid the much anticipated river crossing. While Kat and I had decided to walk the bikes across and had our plan ready, we were still relieved to hear we would have to do it.
So as a group we hit the trails once again, went to the Bridle Trail. With Kat at my tail, we made the most of the good conditions and had a great ride. It was so much fun riding together like that and I was totally pumped when we pulled up.
After Ianâs mishap up the hill, we again had to change route to seek out some phone reception and ensure he was getting the help he needed. With the 8 of us left we instigated a cornerman system and got moving. After we got the mobile reception and check on the situation we all continued on together and went onto Turon gates, then Blackfellows Hand trail. It had started to rain a bit and the start of the track was a bit slippery and muddy. At this point I messed up a little and dropped my bike in the mud, then slipped getting up and rolled back into a big mud hole and got totally covered in mud :ohmy: . I had a nice queue of 4WDs watching it all as well. No harm done only a little bit of pride…..there was no hiding that I had clearly dropped it because I seriously had mud from head to toe đ . The source of much amusement later for the rest of the group.
The rest of the trail was totally amazing because it began snowing. The snow was heavy enough to settle on the ground and create truly beautiful scene. What a day, what a weekend, what an experience!!!
The weekend was rounded out with lunch at the Apple Bar at Bilpin with Pizza, wine and stories for the previous day. There was also a great sense that we are all totally pumped for the APC..Bring it on.
Would you believe my trip meter read 1,111km when I got home. Legs 11 times 2. How cool is that!! :woohoo:
Thanks to everybody who was on the ride especially Kat and Mick for their support and fun and Steve and TB for putting it all together. I hope our two fallen comrades get better soon.
Now I need to figure out what is going on with my clutch, and then do the final changes in a few weeks.
Flying Fish
Looks like all the prep is paying dividends then
Great achievement so far girls , keep it goin`
Cheers
Well with only 3 weeks away till the start we decided to sort out the tyre repair kit, tool kit and cooking equipment…
and had some help fitting it to the front mud guard. This is guaranteed NOT to come off
Then the toolkit was thinned down to the what was necessary
NOTE: the white things on the right side are rubber gloves…. just in case you thought it was something else
Lastly got the cooking stuff sorted…..
This is photo of it packed
If I’ve missed anything or you have suggestions please feel free to comment!!
Kat
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