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i dont really know where to start this one.
firstly thanks to everyone for turning up.
friday, it was dry and hot and f**king slippery
i couldnt find any mojo to save myself and like a truely bad tradesman, blamed every piece of my equipment before finally collapsing in a heap to gulp a panadol and water cocktail.
i had to admit to myself it was 100% pilot error :laugh: :laugh:
i knew what i was doing wrong… everything!!but d’ya reckon i could fix it …NO :laugh: :laugh:
having a headset on with TB blabbering in my ear was certainly different too.
at least he could see how bad of a day i was having and took jest in telling me how close i came to death on many occasions. :laugh: :laugh:
i really dont know how i stayed on.we tried to get into the Avon Wilderness tracks from a different route and we kept hitting private land and having to divert. adding extra km’s to the already 110km i had planned. then i learned that the BRP only has a 90km fuel range :dry: bloody hondas :laugh: :laugh: so plans were changed :blush:
the big fella had spotted some singles around the area. me and choppa have been meaning to scout these out for years but have never got around to it.
we took a couple of them and they were pretty good.
ill give him credit for “coming down to Vic. and finding the 2 best tracks of the f**king day” as he so graciously put it. :laugh: :laugh: cause, technically he did.
it was a shit ride. in shitty, rocky, dusty terrain. prolly a 1 out of 5, compared to whats up there to be had.
i shoulda just stuck with the standard tracks, sorry. :unsure:i sure was glad to hit the bitumin and get back to camp.
we even had a fly by from the Supa-Jesta on the way home :laugh: :laugh:good times were had for the rest of the day and the stirring was rife :laugh: :laugh:
it is all a little blurry to me though :laugh: :laugh:everything was fine until Sammy rang me just before 9 in a panic. she had run up someones bum on the way up to the van. she was shaken but OK, the other people were ok and both cars were still drivable.
my dog Tonka, wasnt so well. he wouldnt stand or get out of the car.
i lifted him out and he stood but was rather wonky. my first thought was shock or concussion as he was looking groggy. we got him back to the van. he was off his food and water so we put him to bed next to Sam and let him rest.
i was worried he would be gone in the morning as he is an old dog but he is a battler.
im sorry if it put a dampner on friday night.
sometimes shit just happens i spose. i dont deal with it too well when it comes at me in large doses.
i apologise for anything i may have said/done to offend anyone. i dont remember much after putting the dog to bed….Saturday.
well the epic Walhalla ride wasnt to be after all.
TB had to pull out and leave at 3am saturday morning for another unfortunate reason. full respect for you for doing that too mate.
Tonka was looking sort of better in the morning. he was up and about a little and more responsive. Sammy didnt want to leave him to meet us for lunch but told me to go riding anyway and we will re-assess him afterwoods.
JAK arrived and told me melbourne was expecting 100mm of rain. :ohmy:
the creek track would become a river pretty quickly…
that was the end of that idea.we decided to do the standard tracks with a few extras thrown in that i had ridden years ago. it had rained just enough overnight to moisten things up a little so we took off heading up old joes road/mc envoys track to stony 1. instead of riding the dirt road we took a few side tracks. one of which dissappeared and left us making our own :laugh: :laugh: .
it was dusty afterall, im told… :laugh: :laugh: but damp enough for some grip. it was 100 times better than friday and….i had some mojo back. :laugh: :laugh:
i hadnt ridden Stony 1 track for a few years and i dont know why because it is a wicked track. nice and rolling and drifty
we reandered down to Cowarr Weir for a look. its a good spot to do lunch next time we go for a big ride.
i was standing for 95% of the ride and having a ball but today my tricepts are screaming “you d!ckhead” at me with every word i type. :laugh: :laugh:
a few kms of nice drifty dirt transport road and we hit Stony 3. i let JAK lead and be dust free. i was cracking up at XYtransit doing no footer jumps off the erosion mounds :laugh: :laugh: and dodging rocks from Billt’s berg :dry: :laugh: everyone had a dust free lead.
the only semi major stack for the day was JAK laying down in the river. :laugh: :laugh: i was cackling away at him till i realised he was stuck under the bike :blush: i RAN over and lifted the big heavy DRZ off him, only to drop it back on his leg :blush: sorry mate đ luckily it was only his pride that was hurt :laugh:
by the 3/4 mark i was knackered again. it was pretty humid and i was out of water with my heart pounding in my ears :S
i was too tired to stand up anymore but i had to so my head wouldnt shake around so much :side: :laugh: i just wanted to go home, i was worried about Tonk.
we tried to get around the lake on the way home but it is too full. the bit we did try ended up taking us through a foot of, well slop, i spose youd call it, so we aborted and took the easy way.we had a bbq when we got back, i was bloody starving, it was good.
Tonka wasnt looking any better but Sammy said he had been up and around a little bit and had a few licks of water. we decided to go home in the morning and take him to the emergency vet.
Billt and JAK packed up and made tracks leaving me and Drew to kick back in front of the telly. i was so thirsty i nearly drank the place dry of NON alcoholic drinks, before finally even feeling like a scotch about 8.30 :S i must have been dehydrated :laugh:we got up early sunday morning. Tonka was looking much worse. we packed up and went straight to the emergency vet.
they did an ultrasound and found a tumour had ruptured in his belly.
it broke us both to make that decision but it was for the best.
he went to sleep in Sammys arms at 11.30 sunday.
we are pretty devastated even though we kind of knew for a while.he was loved like a son for 13 and a half years.
may he forever rest in peace.
im sorry but even with all the laughs we had guys…
it was the worst weekend ever.
anyway, on with the reporting…..
I have to start by agreeing with Jeffro mate, I felt gutted for you yesterday when I got the text about Tonk and as I was on my way to the other gut wrenching event it sucked all around.
Now to the much anticipated âWhere do we take the Boss ride weekendâ
Firstly, the fuel range of my bike wasnât an issues, Bill had plenty of fuel, and Menace had a hose and I had a bottle. It turned out to be a convenient cover for someone that couldnât ride for shit and was desperately looking for an out back to the van
It started to come apart on Tuesday when I rang Menace to tell him I couldnât ride Saturday because I had to get home as a close friend of mine and OBT, he has cancer and its aggressive, and itâs developed He was having a family and close friends get together which Salina the kids and I were invited and I wasnât missing it for the world. Menace agreed and a loop was decided for Friday. After I finished in the bush at a team building camp I drove down the Menaceâs, he had worked 1000 hrs in the last 2 days he reckoned and was tired. He had sore toes and fingers, blah blah blah :laugh: :laugh: . Sammy went and got us a feed of Mexican (what else do you have in Mexico) and we had a couple of brews while Menace played the FMF to summon lord Kato who didnât turn up as was evident the next day :laugh: . :laugh:
Once we got up in the morning, loaded the cars and Menaces very dirty KTM (told him lord Kato wouldnât be happy) Bill fronted up we drove to Menaceâs van. A quick brew, suited up and off we went. WTF!!! Menace canât ride for shit!! :laugh: ( I always thought this but here in the flesh it surprised me) :laugh: I have never seen anyone person try to crash so many times and not be able to crash because he was riding to bad to crash. Oh then it started, yup you guessed the excuses :laugh: . My front tyre wont grip (no ones would it was bloody slippery) my back keeps spinning up (as is mine, try some throttle control) at least you werenât in the stuffing DUST. Anyways after riding around having a look, I discovered TBâs single, awesome is the only word, technical, tight, flowing, fast (if you werenât riding a KTM, although he did say to you wish to go past on the blue tooth and let me by) but it was humid and hot. From there we went down to a river/ creek and had a break. There was a jump up / bank to the top and I said to Menace ride up there, he wouldnât, I did and I am the King of VIC because of it Menace :laugh: :laugh: . There are a heap of singles around there, as its in Shane Wattâs back yard I would bet a lot would be his. I told Menace if he links a heap together I will be down with bells on to go riding
We rode some more, heaps of fun I was on the way to VIC looking to have a run with Menace but he was having an off day (understatement, couple of times I said that he should just take it easy as I didnât want him c crashing) We tried a couple of 3rd gear throttle roll ons which the mighty XR won , although during one when getting up around 140 I backed off thinking he was done and dusted and he was just there and flew past . It goes ok the 300 compared to say Champoâs TM which was the last 300 smoker I dragged and the XR flogged it. Menace was disappointed with the days riding at that stage but I told him I hadnât seen the area and there was a lot there I wanted to see to adventure ride the same trails one day. As we decided then anytime on the bike anywhere is better than no time at all, 100%. Back to the van, Drewpy did a run into town for piss and meat, we cooked up some Kranskys and chicken sticks, Menace drank he trail riding sorrows away while we listened to some shit music. While Menace wasnât looking I got a roll of 100mph tape and completely taped all openings of his helmet. And then it happened, Samâs accident ( I wont go into detail as Menace covered it)
We sat around and talked when Tonk settled and I went off to bed knowing I had a long drive ahead of me the next day. I left at 3am and drove up through Omeo, Orbost, Cann River, Bombarla, Cooma home on a mission.
A huge thanks to Sammy, what a trooper and beautiful patient person! Menace you crack me up, funny funny dude thanks for the whole weekend mate. I will be back soon its do good a fun not to. Bill thanks mate and Drewpy, your riding has improved 10 fold since the Kenda!
And for the record he did enjoy the Bluetoothâs, as I enjoyed him singing âBoony donât take your goat to townâ From the Kenny Rogers song âRuby donât take your love to townâ
TB
That`s a sad story there Spidy,,,
My condolances to you & Sammy, I have been in that same situation a few times before with pets & it is never easy.Jeffro hit it right on the head, at least you have good memories to hold onto mate
That’s very sad news about Tonka mate.
Our thoughts are with you and Sammy.Glad Sammy is ok after the bingle.
As for your riding, well we all have shit days. I try to limit mine to when no one else is around. :laugh:
mal5.1 wrote:
Quote:That’s very sad news about Tonka mate. Our thoughts are with you and Sammy.
Glad Sammy is ok after the bingle.
As for your riding, well we all have shit days. I try to limit mine to when no one else is around. :laugh:
What happened on the Friday Menace. How can you ride like such a squid when my memory of our ride together was that you were ripping!
singletrackmind wrote:
Quote:What happened on the Friday Menace. How can you ride like such a squid when my memory of our ride together was that you were ripping!Dare I say pressure, the big XR breathing down his neck :laugh:
:laugh: :laugh: Pressure affects us all different đ Him having to try to hold out the fire breathing XR, up hold KTM’s as such, lord kato left him alone wobbling :S :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:TB
As i said yesterday my thoughts are with you mate he was a great dog
On the other hand im glad you all had a shit ride seeing that i couldnt make it :laugh: supreme leader next time your in melbourne i will take you to wombat so you can have a decent days riding :laugh:Trailboss wrote:
Quote:singletrackmind wrote:Quote:What happened on the Friday Menace. How can you ride like such a squid when my memory of our ride together was that you were ripping!Dare I say pressure, the big XR breathing down his neck :laugh:
:laugh: :laugh: Pressure affects us all different đ Him having to try to hold out the fire breathing XR, up hold KTM’s as such, lord kato left him alone wobbling :S :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:TB
He may have been worried that the XRs jake brake would fail on the down hills and you wouldn’t be able to change down 16 gears quick enough to pull to the big bitch up for a corner and run clean over one of Lord Katos deciples. :laugh:
mal5.1 wrote:
Quote:Trailboss wrote:Quote:singletrackmind wrote:Quote:What happened on the Friday Menace. How can you ride like such a squid when my memory of our ride together was that you were ripping!Dare I say pressure, the big XR breathing down his neck :laugh:
:laugh: :laugh: Pressure affects us all different đ Him having to try to hold out the fire breathing XR, up hold KTM’s as such, lord kato left him alone wobbling :S :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:TB
He may have been worried that the XRs jake brake would fail on the down hills and you wouldn’t be able to change down 16 gears quick enough to pull to the big bitch up for a corner and run clean over one of Lord Katos deciples. :laugh:
I can report first hand that it is much safer in front of TB than it is behind. That XR throws boulders!
STM
I rocks up at 7.40 am with the words âon the bikes by eightâ ringing in me ears. Waltz into the van and all is quiet. Theres Bill still in bed doing heâs best bear hibernation impression. He eventually manages to get out that Menace is down having a shower. I pull up a pew outside and light up me Winnie Blue breakfast when all of a sudden i get the feeling iâm in the âSwamp Thingâ movie when i see this slothy figure making their way towards me. I soon realise its Menace.
I soon get up to speed about TB and Tonka. An hour later everyone is ready but then Bill realises XY isnât there. Did anyone go down to his iron lung and wake him up. Another half an hour later we were all ready. Because of the fear of torrential rain forecast it was decided to stay close to home.
The pace was on from the start with a few jibes thrown around about having a person with the initials, Aido, not holding us up. We hit the higher country where there was traction after the rain but unfortunaltly dust. A few new tracks were taken which i found to be great, eventually we arrived at a weir, which the name of escapes me. It had campervans there with the old grey nomads sitting around chatting. We all felt like Wild Hogs as we rode past. A rest there and then back to the trails. On one particular river crossing i thought i saw some of Smurfs tadpoles swimming past so i thought i had better jump of the bike and try and catch them. Unfortunaltly when i did this me leg got caught under the bike. So there i am laying in the river, luckely on some rocks, when Menace comes over and in between chortles and snickering asks if iâm alright. He begins to lift the bike of me when he thinks it would be a good idea to drop it again on me leg. A few words of encouragement from me and he lifted the bike up.
Eventually we make it back to the van and a welcomed bbq was had. So much for the weather forecast.
Load up and head for home. Sunday morning i receive a text that Tonka had passed away. RIP buddie.A few pics.
A taped up helmet by the phantom taper.
Menace giving Bill directions.
The result
A great day but other events put a dampener on it.
Video to come
singletrackmind wrote:
Quote:I can report first hand that it is much safer in front of TB than it is behind. That XR throws boulders!STM
I reckon Nickj might back you up on that one Scott:D
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