Teralba to Colo Heights run 29 August 2009

[Anonymous]

My ride report is almost ready. I am just waiting on the pictures to be loaded. I will warn you that like all of my ride reports it is long so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

[GregMember]

Well when I caught up with the crew at about 12 on Saturday arvo about 25kms from Colo the pace that the whole lot of them came towards me was impressive. I rode back to Colo and had lunch with them, Kylie was very dusty but very positive about her ride, Chicken had suffered a flat and had another afterwards I am told, I think your gauge is wrong and your not running enough pressure :huh: Dan was very pumped and doing a grand job from what I heard, Boulder was good as gold but I expect nothing less and Wikdbeemer seemed to be enjoying his first long ride and the BMW was returning some impressive fuel economy. They had covered 220kms to the lunch stop which took them 6hrs, I had ridden out from the Blue Mountains on the NX to meet them.

TB

[Anonymous]

I honestly thought that this ride was going to be doomed you know. First we found out TB wasn’t going which was a real bummer and then DanD realised that instead of breaking one wheel spoke, he’d broken 2. This was a problem because he only had 1 spare spoke and because it was Friday afternoon we would have had buckleys trying to get another one at that time.

Anyway thankfully Novice came to the rescue and lent DanD his rear back wheel for the day. So all was good, we thought. :unsure:
Boulder arrived and we had some tea and then headed out to the shed to make sure everything was all ready for the early start on Sat morning. One of DanD’s checks was to check the oil which involved starting the bike.

Normally this is not a problem but on Friday night it didn’t want to
play. It just didn’t want to start. He tried clutching it down the hill and it started but then quickly died again. They checked the spark plug, which looked OK so they took Boulder’s ute and just kept trying to clutch it.

Anyway I won’t bore you with all the details here but it ended up being the spark plug which luckily we had a spare and it started first go after that.

DanD was even talking about canning the ride at one stage (even though I had talked to Novice who now not only offered his back wheel but the rest of the bike as well, he’s such a great bloke). Anyway it ended up being a much later night than anticipated but it all worked out in the end.
So we get up at 5:30 Sat morning ready and rearing to go. Wikd Beemer turned up with the beemer sporting a new accessory. :laugh:

DanD said he was going to look out for road kill along the way so that he could have one too. :laugh:

Chicken arrived and we were good to go so we ended up leaving 5 mins early at 6:25. I know this because TB tried to ring us at home at this time and we were already gone. We headed out to Killingworth and then from there to Freemans Waterhole down some twin trail and single trail stuff and then up through the bush towards the Pines. We headed down to Laguna for our first fuel stop. I was following Wikd Beemer on the run to Laguna and we came across a potty calf who got a bit flustered with all the bikes going through. It wasn’t entirely sure which way it wanted to go and we were all very cautious when passing it. We then came across a kangaroo who looked as if it was going to play chicken with us but Wikd pointed at it and it took off in the opposite direction (maybe he’s a kangaroo whisperer).

Although we were really warm coming through from Killingworth it got really cold coming in to Laguna and I think everyone was starting to regret not putting their jackets on. I had my one and only whinge for the day that my grip heaters weren’t working but a jiggle with wires and the fuse at Laguna soon had them going again. Yeh!

Here’s everyone at Laguna still looking perky at this stage.
Here’s Boulder

WikdBeemer

Chicken

Kylie

DanD is always behind the camera so we missed out on getting a photo of him unfortunately.

So we headed up Yango towards Putty Rd with a very quick stop to ring TB and let him know where we were. He decided that he was going to meet up with us at Colo Heights and have lunch with us. According to his estimate we should have gotten there at around 11am. I was behind everyone through this section (I should add every section) so I can’t really let you in on what happened through here but we got to Putty Rd without any issues and then had about 30kms of bitumen to the next track.

We got a good look at the Putty Halfway house, which is of course cactus.
So we reached this track and I was started to get a bit worried because I knew that it was about 30kms and the first 50 metres was really rocky single trail. I was relieved however to find that this was just the track to get around an obstacle. Phew! I don’t mind that sort of stuff but 30kms? I was gonna be rooted!

Now this track was special. I was a bit slow at first because I like to get comfortable with the terrain but I did end up getting quicker. Nothing like the other guys though. The trails through here were a mixture of types. There was heaps of sand and I don’t mean just sand over the tracks. It was like riding on the beach the sand was so deep and went on forever. If the track went for 30kms then 15kms or more was sand. But once I got the hang of it I really looked forward to it because I stood up, poked my butt out behind me and accelerated. It was really fun.
I don’t know what else to say about this track other than I would love to do it again. I was slower than everyone else and felt really bad that they had to wait for me so I tried to be as quick as I could. It was a very challenging track and hard work but fabulous.

It was through this track that we got our first flat. Chicken hit a rock and needed to change his front tyre.
Here’s Chicken taking the wheel off

Boulders watching on getting ready to help out

Ummm… here’s WikdBeemer and Kylie – hope you can work out who’s who from the photo

My face got a lot dirtier than this by the end of the ride

The tyre change started off pretty smoothly and when DanD asked Chicken if he wanted some baby powder he looked at him as if to say ‘Yeah whatever’. Then DanD brings out the baby powder and he got a good laugh out of it because he thought DanD was pulling his leg.:laugh: Then Chicken gets out his spare tube, puts a little bit of air in it and starts putting it back in the tyre. Something didn’t look right however because the tube looked too small for the tyre. After some puzzling looks they take the tube back out and find that it’s actually an 18 inch tube not a 21 inch. Chicken laughs though and says that he’s been carrying that tube around for ages thinking it was the right size tube. D’oh! :laugh:

Anyway Boulder offers up a 21 inch tube and it all goes smoothly from then. So we start heading toward Colo Heights and I see that the group is stopped at the top of a hill talking to some dude. That dude ends up being TB. I think he got sick of waiting for us and took the NX along the trails to see if he could find us. He then leads us back to the road and we end up getting to the Colo Heights servo at around 12:30.
Here’s Chicken and Wikd heading in to the servo

WikdBeemer again

Kylie and Boulder

We were all pretty keen for something to eat and lunch was devoured pretty quickly. TB actually commented that DanD must have inhaled his lunch it went down that quick. It was nice to stop for a little while and chat to TB but as they say, all good things come to an end.
So we geared back up and headed back exactly the way we came after bidding fairwell to TB.

Things ran really well on the way back except one little snotty hill saw all of us come to grief. I got most of the way up by myself but I just couldn’t get over the last obstacle so DanD helped me out here. Chicken was the legend here though because when he first got stuck he went all the way back down, waited for us all to clear it then attacked it. He made it look really easy.

I was so proud of myself when I reached Colo Heights because I hadn’t come off once. I should have known that this trend had to end though and had three off’s on the way back (although according to the rules they could have just been drops). But in saying that I only needed help once, which was on the snotty hill. The other times I got my bike back up and kept going.

Unfortunately the track ended (if I was typing this last night I would have said fortunately, funny how one nights sleep changes your perspective) and we headed back along Putty towards Yango. Once again I was at the back so I missed out on what happened along here but we finally came to a stop along the track where WikdBeemer’s up on a log. He had done a front tyre and needed to change it. This time he’s actually got the right tube for it. After a nasty little cut to the finger he gets it all back together and we head off again.
Here’s Beemer changing his tyre

Here’s me, exhausted and a very dirty face.

And here’s Chicken.

We get back to Laguna for a quick top up of fuel and at this point (it’s now 4:45pm) we decide that we would take the road back from the Watagans because it was getting late. At the Pines we say goodbye to Chicken and start the road ride home. This was the toughest bit. You could almost see the finish line. It was getting dark and we were all weary.

We pulled in to our driveway at about 6pm and I actually felt like just dropping the bike. I didn’t even want to put it on the side stand. I’d had enough of it. My arms felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife every time we hit a bump and I had other bits that felt like they were rubbed raw.
We decided on 450kms after checking DanD’s and WikdBeemers speedo which was a mammoth effort. After a quick drink Boulder and WikdBeemer headed off and we dragged our sorry butt’s inside.

Last night I never wanted anything to do with bikes again. However I woke up this morning and regretted feeling like that. Although I am tired and very sore I could’ve got up this morning and rode again. Not as hard as yesterday’s but I could’ve done it. As I said it’s funny how a nights sleep can change your perspective.

Thanks have to go to:

DanD for leading the ride and doing a great job
Boulder for helping out with DanD’s bike on Friday night and for keeping an eye out on everyone on Sat
Chicken for just being Chicken
WikdBeemer for making sure that no kangeroos ran out in front of us and giving us a laugh with his roadkill seatcover

Everyone for putting up with me and thanks for a great ride:)

[PaulMember]

And thanks to Kylie for such a good ride report, well covered.

A couple of points I will add;

Believe it or not, I am checking my oil level here and had no idea the camera was out.

The calf and the kangaroo were both spooked by the seat cover, they couldn’t get away quick enough for fear of being the next seat cover.

The cut on my finger is tiny, it just bled a lot. That one little bandaid was all it needed.

My butt hurts from this ride but nothing like it would have without the seat cover.

[Anonymous]

I forgot to add a thank you to TB for organising the ride and gracing us with his presence for lunch. I actually did have this in the 1st version of the report but Word packed it in and I lost the last part of the report.

Thanks TB!

[Dwayne OMember]

Congrats on another big achievement KD;)

How are we supposed to keep up with ya now???:blink:

Good to see you all had a good run, spoke with Beemer today & he was as happy as a Beaver in a Log Jam:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: except for his sore butt:P

That was a lond day for you guys as well,,, 5.30 till 6pm:ohmy:
Well Done everyone,,,

[Anonymous]

It was a good ride, with some good bulls and bullette. I will work on my report tonight. And yes it will be another DanD novel.

[Brendon CarreMember]

Thanks to TB and Dan for yet another great ride. It was a big ride but made easy by the company on the day, every one very competent and we moved along very well all day.
Kylie’s skill level just improves wih every outing and she really put in a big effort and was always there no matter what!! Good to see TB come and meet us for lunch and thanks for letting me stay in your room at the D’S place.
Dan you did us proud up front mate!! Thanks again for your efforts.

Looking forward to Louee and meeting everyone for the Xmas Bash. :woohoo:

[Anonymous]

looking at your mug shots kylie. we can see the smile progressivly turn to pain.

big effort

who is the guy in the yamaha jersey?

[GregMember]

champo35 wrote:

Quote:

looking at your mug shots kylie. we can see the smile progressivly turn to pain.

big effort

who is the guy in the yamaha jersey?

The dude was a random that was asking directions at Colo, I spoke with him for a while sharing tracks and trails we knew. He then hooked up with them later, he was on a TT600 belgarda, ohlins suspension and could go ok Dan said

TB

[Brendon CarreMember]

Hey Champo, the guy in the yamaha jersey?? Dont know his name we first met him at colo heights when we had lunch and then he followed us on a trail and we sent him back to the road as he was not too happy riding in sand. He then met us again further down on our travels and stayed with us for a while before going his own way. He was riding a TT600 belgarda and could set a fair pace!! As Dan’ D will confirm. He carried very little in the way of spares and his riding gear left a bit to be desired but he was a capable rider, he maybe should not have been out there alone, had something happened to him no-one would have known where he was. He new of Old Bulls website and we might hear more from him in the future.

[GregMember]

So where is it Dan, congrats on a job well done

TB

[Anonymous]

Given that Kylie has already given an excellent report on this ride, I am going to be hard pressed to better it or give a more detailed report. But considering that everyone has a different recollection I will give you mine.

Teralba to Colo Heights – The DanD perspective

I knew that this was going to be a huge ride, both mentally and physically. I don’t do any special preparation for myself but I like to know that my bike is not going to let me down (why would it anyway it’s a Yamaha).
I knew that I had a broken spoke in the rear wheel so Thursday arvo after getting home from work and having a beer with TB it was time to fit the new spoke. We were suppose to go up to Moto’s to have a drink and tea but Emma (littlest of the little D’s) was crook so we stopped at home. I stripped the tyre off and knew that I had a spare spoke to fit to it. After stripping the tyre I found that there was another one that had broke. Oh crap what to do, considering that one won’t turn into two too easy I was stuffed. TB suggested giving Novice a ring to see if I could borrow his wheel for the trip. A phone call to Novice and the wheel drama was over for now. A quick trip to Novices and the wheel was sorted. Got home and put my sprocket on and fitted the wheel up. All was good for now.
With Friday at work out of the road it was time to get ready for Saturday. TB had decided to go home on Friday arvo but meet us at Colo Heights on Saturday for lunch. Boulder arrived shortly after TB had left and we decided to have a beer and get the bikes ready. We mucked around for a little while out in the shed having another beer and a bit of a chat. Kylie an the kids went out and got us some tea and bought it home. With tea devoured we decided we better make sure everything was go with the bikes. I hadn’t checked the oil yet so I went to start my bike and nothing. Usually it starts first go but Friday night it didn’t want to play. I tried it again and nothing. This went on for a while with only a couple of times it sounding promising. We thought give it a roll down the hill and try to clutch it. Still nothing. Next step was to try and clutch it using Boulder ute as propulsion. Still nothing. We bought it home and I thought that the ride was doomed. We started doing all the checks, fuel, spark and air. Everything was looking normal. What the hell was happening. Was this a sign that I shouldn’t be riding tomorrow or was it that my bike didn’t like the way I had been treating it lately? Novice even offered the rest of his bike to keep the show on the road. But I wasn’t that keen to ride someone elses bike on a trip this big. Thanks anyway Novice.
To cut a long story short, finally after checking everything again we took the spark plug out of Boulders bike and tried it in mine. It started but was running like a pig. We took the plug out again and set the gap. Bingo all was good she was purring like a kitten again. Only problem now where do you get a bike plug at nearly 10.00pm on a Friday night? A bit of a search of the shed and Kylie found the original plug that came out of it. Chucked that in and she was running again. Things were looking like they were going to happen after all. I was nearly going to pull the pin on the ride but Boulder persisted and found the problem for me, I was ready to throw my hands in the air and call it all too hard. I knew that throwing the towel in wasn’t really an option as Kylie had really been looking forward to this one and Boulder and Wikdbeemer had travelled to get here. Also Chicken hadn’t been for a blat for a while and was probably looking forward for a ride. Thanks Boulder you saved the day and kept the ride on the go.

Saturday morning came around with the clock going off at 5.00am. I got up after hitting the snooze button a few times and letting the dog out to do his morning business.
Boulder got up at pretty much the same time and we had a cup of coffee to start the day. Kylie got up a little bit later and was keen to get ready and get going. We were all dressed and pretty much ready when Wikd arrived. I looked at Wikd bike and thought that he had picked up some road kill on the way either that or the beemer had grown some hair on the way as the seat was covered in something that resembled a skinned Persian cat. I was told that it was to stop a case of the monkey bum.
Chicken arrived shortly after. We finished gearing up and were gone by 6.25. Five minutes in front of schedule.
We travelled out to Killingworth and hit the bush. Everyone kept a good pace going and there was no real need for a cornerman.
We travelled along pretty much the same trails that we used on the Jurds ride out to the Watagans. When we hit Mount Faulk Road it was pretty slippery with the dust. We really need some rain to wet things down again. Because we had such a big day ahead of us we peddled through to Laguna before we stopped for a decent break. We used this opportunity to top up with fuel and have a drink.
Our next stop was Finchley lookout to give TB a ring to let him know of our progress and what time we thought we would be through for lunch.
From Finchley to the Putty Road we had a super good run with a good pace being kept by everyone. We came across a group of bikes and quads close to the Putty Road. That was the only traffic that we seen all the way. When we got to the Putty Road we re-grouped and headed off again. We had a stretch of around 30km on the road before we got to our next bit of bush. A road stretch on a big ride is sometimes a welcome relief from the bush. Gives you time to clear your head and relax for a little while.
When we reached the next bit of bush we stopped again. I noticed that one of my fork seals was weeping so I gave it a bit of a clean up with a rag borrowed from Chicken and a feeler gauge that Boulder had in his bag. Once again my fellow Old Bulls bailed me out of the shit. Chicken took the opportunity to nip his chain up a little bit as well.

We were off again, this bit of the ride gave us a bit of everything, from rocky hills to soft sand. I took a wrong turn and had us heading on a minor detour. Never mind just adding to the experience. Along this stretch Chicken copped a flat front tyre. With that we got to have another break which no one was bitching about. Chicken couldn’t believe it when I asked him if he needed some powder to fit his new tube into the wheel. He gave me one of those “your shitten me looks” when I produced the powder from my bag he said he thought I was kidding. Remember what you always say Chicken “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail” guess I am just prepared for flats. One day I might even but a pump so I can pump my tyres up.

With Chickens bike ready to go again we were off. Our next stop was to be Colo Heights to meet TB for lunch.
Imagine our surprise when we came up a bit of track and a familiar face was standing there waiting for us. He had ridden the NX out and I think he was getting a bit impatient waiting for us on the road so he headed out on the track to meet up with us. TB directed us on the way needed to go and asked us to wait for him at the next intersection. The NX doesn’t handle the sand as good as TB’s fiddy. From the intersection there was only a short stretch of dirt before we hit the Putty Road again. We then made our way up to Colo Heights for lunch.
The lunch stop was a chance to fill the bikes with fuel and us with food. With lunch over it was time to hit the trails again. We said goodbye to TB and were off again. There was a bloke on a TT600 lurking around the servo, out for a ride by himself. Little did we know that old mate seemed to have ideas of tagging along with us. We dropped back into the bush and bugger me we had picked up another rider. I was sitting at an intersection waiting and I counted 1,2,3,4 and wait 5.
WTF
Old Mate on the TT had joined us. He didn’t say a word just started riding with us. At the next intersection we directed Old Mate back to the road, as he asked what was the best way back to the road. We were off again. We carved up the track and were heading back towards where we had started from. There was only one bit of the track that caused any real grief. It was a shitty little rock strewn hill that had a couple of steps in it. Everyone stopped at one stage of this hill and had to have a little think about it. Chicken was the only one that had any real success on it, he got so far and turned around for another go. Walked straight up the second time.

The track kept going and going, we eventually made our way back to the start point and headed back out onto the road. We rode back towards the track that takes you through Yango and back to Laguna.
Our next stop and re-group was at the gate off the Putty Road. Once we re-grouped we were heading towards Laguna through Yango.
The ride through this section was at a good pace again and once again Old Mate on the TT600 decided to join us again. WikdBeemer picked up a flat along this stretch, so we got to have another stop and breather. Once Wikd had his flat fixed we moved off again.
We stopped at Laguna for Kylie and Wikd to top up again. Getting started at Laguna was a bit slower than the other stops that we had had during the day. I think the wall was getting close for all of us – well it was for me I know that. We got moving again and Chicken took over leading, I was happy to drop to the back of the group as every one had ridden this part of the ride before.
We got back to the Pines and decided that we would go down the hill towards Martinsville and ride the road home as it was getting late and everyone was starting to feel weary. We waived Chicken off at his turn off and made the dash back towards Teralba.
We got home at around 6.00pm. we had covered 450km for the day with only a couple of flats and a couple of offs.
A good day was had by all.
I have already thanked everyone that made the day what it was, but thankyou again to Kylie, Boulder, Chicken and Wikdbeemer.
It was the first time that I had led a ride as long as this one and think that I did a decent job. I thank my ride mentor TB for giving me the opportunity of leading this ride and for the tips and tricks that he has passed onto me along the way.
Also thanks for setting up my suspension TB. This was the perfect ride to see how good it is now set up. Nothing needs to be changed – perfect setup from the start. It doesn’t dip into corners like it used to pre-set up and lands better off jumps now. Also it hooks up a lot better now.

I must make special mention to Kylie for the colossal effort that she put in on Saturday. Never once whinging (only the grip heater saga but that was more of a gripe than a whinge). Watch out fella’s Kylie is getting quick these days and has a go at everything.

End of another DanD ride report.

[dennis da menaceMember]

top report dan, well top reports go out to everyone really;)

450kms, you lot are mad, id need a week off after that:laugh: :laugh:

[Anonymous]

Were tough up here in the North – you Southerners must be a little bit soft.

Don’t worry I was incoherant and starting to not make much sense Saturday night after this ride. Yes more than normal:P

[Author]

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