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Sunday’s ride went great thanks to a great crew and some pretty good weather, well mostly anyway hehe. Bit of a ramble to follow sorry but its a quiet day on the job
I started my adventure the night before getting in from the relo bash at 830pm and checking over my bike to be sure it was 100% only to have a bit of panic and stuff around till midnight then up again at 5am to get there early and have a test ride. As I turned onto watagan forest rd I noticed a couple of cars behind me and thought it may have been the trailmates guys going for their demo but then they turned off down towards the pines park walking track and when I arrived at the camping ground the KTM and trailmates blokes were already there getting set up.
While I was getting ready 300jack showed up and then looselink and he mentioned that Hitch and his mate might have been down at the walking track so I left them there and took off on my bike down there to collect them and found diddel hiding down there as well. The guys weren’t ready yet and then it started to spit rain and then diddel had a problem with his float level so I once they kitted up I took the Hitch and his mate back up to the camp grounds so that we could collect the others and set off. Got back and thankfully Jack had put my phone out of the rain, maysee had shown up and the guys were good to go and scottyh had let me know he couldn’t make it.
I chatted with looselink and we all agreed that the wolfpack would do our own run down to Jilliby and back so we warmed the bikes up by dropping down to pick up diddel and then returned to the camp ground yet again to start off in the s/t but with the cool drizzle it was going to take some more work to warm up the bodies. We pulled up and ran through the cornerman system and maysee nominated himself as sweep so everyone was good with it and I also warned the guys to keep a look out for the trailmates blokes testing the bikes in there though since I was leading it was really mostly a concern for me.
The track was great and it was nice being up the front for a change and starting in an area I knew reasonably helped the confidence. I made a few different turns than normal and found some great new stuff south of watagan forest rd which was good because I knew we’d still come to the same spot. I was consciously thinking about posting corners and felt like I was doing great till I heard someone follow me through a couple of intersections and pulled it up and noticed we’d gained a couple of blokes. That was cool though and they said they’d drop off shortly so we kept on through some more great single and came up to a familiar section where maysee (mongo?) got a flat last time so we pulled up while a couple of the blokes struggled over a tricky log and the guys added some fuel. We headed on a bit further then came out onto watagan forest road heading south to the top of hitchcocks taking singles on either side on the way down then down hitchcocks. I had an oh-shit moment almost going over the front but pulled it back in and looked after hitch’s mate by showing him which lines to avoid!
We ran that out back into the s/t and over the little creek which was pretty dry so no dramas there that I saw but I had two lay downs in short succession so I could tell I’d set out a little hard and was feeling it and I think looselink had a bingle there too from memory. We regrouped then got out onto Jilliby road where it belted down on us! I noticed a few blokes at the hall loading up their bikes but we were tougher than that :p We pulled up at the entrance point back into the forest and broke for a bite to eat.
After we’d rested it stopped raining and we headed up the hill and I zigged right when I should’ve zagged left but that led us down to a rutted clay hill heading in the right direction. I’ll dob myself in before jack does – I wasn’t even going to try it 😮 I hooked into a clay rut just before it and cramped up trying to get my bike out and then my tire was caked and I untucked my skirt and had a brief moment. The boys made it look pretty easy so I gave it a run and made it just short of the mid way turn and the guys helped me get it onto that ledge so I could finish it off. Jack and maysee followed up pretty simply too I think but to be honest I was busy trying to get the cramps out of my legs and didn’t see much there! 😮
There was a few moments where Looselink and I weren’t positive but I had a pretty good feel for the direction we should have been heading and we belted through some of the wider stuff a bit quicker. Heading down some rocky steps we came across a traffic jam with cars coming up and some going down and managed to weave our way between all of them and almost come a gutsa amongst the crowd
Once we were through all that we dropped back down into some more single and came to the bottom of a rutted out steep dirty hill that was thankfully quite dry.Diddel didn’t bother waiting for the crowd to gather and just ripped straight up making it just short of halfway when his bike flipped and sling shotted over him and back down the hill in what can only be described (from the bottom) as a spectacular display of acrobatics! Once we checked he was ok he picked his bike up and lumbered back down as the rest of the group arrived. Hitch went up and surveyed the best line and everyone had their pick and most made it without any of the fancy stuff diddel offered earlier
We moved on through more s/t and down a couple of steep sections where diddel took a dead end short cut, actually I just recalled that and was wondering how the hell he was going to get out of it! We got out into the open and I’d pretty much given up leading and dave and the boys were doing a pretty good job. Jack and I agreed we’d keep with the group as long as it didn’t get too snotty again which appeared to be the case before we came across some great tight technical stuff that would’ve been even more fun if my legs weren’t locking straight!
We made it up to Null road and headed west thinking it would eventually head north and back onto watagan forest road but instead we just looped around and found ourselves back at the same spot! Jack pulled out his map and Dave figured us out so we headed east back up to watagan forest rd and mostly followed the single stuff back up to the pines where diddel dropped off to his car and we lumbered back.
All in we did about 90 clicks with a bit of stopping and were back at the cars by 3pm with smiles all round and no serious carnage unless you count diddel’s rear fender and his already missing airbox lids! Mate I reckon you were lucky we had that rain because it’s normally a lot dustier than that when you’re in a group running through there.
Great ride thanks guys and a special thanks to Dave for helping lead back and maysee for sweeping most of the day Having done that run a second time I reckon it would be even smoother next time though I need a bit of bike fitness to cut out the cramps and cut down on the stops.
Cheers.
Nice report AB.
You might want to think about taking magnesium tablets leading up to and during a ride. They help with cramping – a lot. Also, some sport drink helps. I usually run 1/3 strength in my camelbak and don’t get cramps much any more.
ECKS-Man wrote:
Quote:Nice report AB.
You might want to think about taking magnesium tablets leading up to and during a ride. They help with cramping – a lot. Also, some sport drink helps. I usually run 1/3 strength in my camelbak and don’t get cramps much any more.
Thanks ecks I thought I read a while back that it was manganese but my memory is hazy :S I’ll grab some magnesium today and I think that ought to help alot as you say. I ate a couple of bananas for breky thinking that’d help but obviously it didn’t work!
Don’t know much about puttin up pics Austblue so here goes
Hitchy
Mayzee at the bottom beig patient
Didell
Austblue
Austblue again I think
Mayzee
Mayzee again OOPS no it;s not that his twin Mongo I’m confused
Another hill
300 Jack
Austblue footracin his bike
He caught it
Hitchy
Didell got it 2nd go
“How are the banks down your way” Sounds like something out of Butch Cassidy and the Sandance Kid.
I haven’t been for a surf for more than a week :angry:
I’m a bit out of sinc with work and all
Will have to do something to remedy that but unfortunately my next roster days are Monday, Tuesday and we are in for some swell but crappy winds
Maybe another bike ride????????????
Cheers
MurphWoops! seem to be a bit off topic here :silly:
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