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Awoke on day 2 to the sound of creacky floorboards and banter coming from the little kitchen at the end of the hall Wolfie, Jeffro and from memory Eagle were up early having breaky.
After the stuffup the evening before I was now having trouble blocking out that little voice of self doubt which had by now turned into a shout rather than a wisper đ Wolfie had asked me how I was going so on and so forth and gave me a little rundown on what I could expect on the day ahead.
Now this being my first big adv ride and all I did rock up underprepared to say the least :blush: .The tyres I was running were the Heidinaus, which when matched with my skillset made for some interesting times on the really loose stuff :ohmy: .The skies looked clear of clouds which was a relief as Wolfie had told me if it rains I may struggle on a certain section of the days ride and may want to get on the bitumen and rejoin the group later.
So good advice but I found myself now cloud watching praying it did not rain đ :pinch: .Fuel was also going to be an issue for the Farrier and myself today after yesterdays performance as we did not refuel when we should have.Lucky for us Chicken came to the rescue with a jerry can which by chance the Farrier split perfectly between the Tenere and the 950.I ended up coughing and spluttering into Oberon and he was the same.
The ride itself got of to a good start,and we got away to an earlier start thinking we wont be holding people up by being last.That soon changed as most of the riders rounded me up covered me in dust and disappeared into the distance :laugh: :laugh: .
It was around this time when the Boulder brothers caught us for the first time.This would go on to happen a few times as we made our way through the pine forests.They would catch us I assume stop and have a smoke to give us time to get in front then charge on up behind us again.
As silly as this sounds at a time when fuel consumption should be more of a concern I found myself calculating cigarette consumption thinking that for every time they catch me that’s two smokes.Iwas hopeing they had a pack of fortys not twentys as at my speed the supply may not make Oberon :laugh: :laugh: Thanks guys for being patient with my pace.
Rolling into Oberon and seeing all the bikes lined up was a relief knowing we were still in touch with the group.Chicken schnitzel roll and chocky milk for lunch then back on the bike.After lunch we were amongst more riders which was fun and it was easier to stay with the pack as there were a few bitumen sections were I could stay with the pack.
More pine forests and dirt roads until a fair bit of tar which brought us to Mt Wilson.Down into the valley and at the little bridge at the bottom some more advice,this time from Eagle.Try to stay close to the clifface because if you make a mistake you don’t want to go over the edge,he wasn’t kidding :ohmy:
I actually really enjoyed the climb up out of there and it didn’t really pose much of a problem to me my moments of uncertainty were the really steep loose downhill sections more on day one and the fist sized gravel we seemed to encounter on both days.
Up and out of the valley and the scenery started to become familiar,Mountain Lagoon ,Wheelbarrow Ridge and the like I had survived :woohoo: A quick River rd and on to the pub for a coke and goodbyes.
Thankyou to everybody for your advice, words of encouragement and willingness to help.The pit crew on day one cheers lads,Chicken for being that safety net,both sets of sweep riders Crash/Andrew day 1
Boulder brothers day 2,Pete and Amy up front marking the way and of course my ride buddy the Farrier thanks EZ I realize you and the big katy were chomping at the bit to get amongst it with the other faster riders
.Now TB don’t know how you manage it but thankyou so much for organizing such an epic ride and welcoming a relative newcomer into your sport.From advice to offers of mechanical assistance you really do go above and beyond the call of duty and for that I am sincerely grateful.
See all you people on the next one cant wait,
Cheers James
Great read James, loved it bare bones and honest. Always listen to that little voice in your head, that way when it goes pear shaped you can laugh and go he warned me :laugh: :laugh:
There was no holding people up. I spoke with everyone and they didn’t even mention it. As explained at Woodstock the slowest is the one that rides over THEIR limit and everyone waits while a helicopter comes to get them
Get effort it was a big ride that had everything (needed snow actually
)See you on the next one
TB
What a great weekend of riding!
My weekend started at around 10.00am Friday when I headed of for the ride to Mittagong. My partner Giselle was already in Mittagong by then and had mentioned some light rian on the way down and that I should prepare for it. But did I listen, no. Iâll be right I thought, the rain wonât get me. WRONG
Within 2 minutes of leaving home the rain started, only light at first then steadily increasing as the ride wore on. By the time I got to St Albans Common it was fairly bucketing down, or at least thatâs how it seemed. It wasnât until later that I got to ride in real rain.The start of Dirt in the Wattagans
St Albans Common
As I got near to Wilberforce the rain stopped and the sun came out, I stopped there to refuel the bike and have a quick bite to eat. I then headed out through Penrith and was soon almost dry but I wondered for how long, looking ahead the skies were pretty black. As I approached left Mulgoa the rain started again and by the time I got to Thirlmere it was truly bucketing down with torrents of water across the road in places.
Ominous Skies
Let the rain begin
Eventually the rain eased as I approached Mittagong and day 1 was done 4hours 42 minutes after leaving home.
I met up with some of the crew later on at the Mittagong Hotel and had the opportunity to meet some new members and some of the regulars. Talk turned to tyres at some point as PTW had to fit new ones to his bike. As I looked around at all the other bike I bagan to question my decision to go with an intermediate front tyre and an almost worn out Trailwing on the back. The only rider in a worse position than myself was Reece who had road tyres on his Tenere. Oh well as long as it doesnât rain (again) I should be fine I figured.
Day 1 of the Navigation Ride
I was teamed up with DRally for this adventure. Dave was new to the world of the GPS as so asked me to take the lead. Prior to leaving I scanned the route and knew we were heading out towards Wombeyan Caves where we had started the Caves to Caves ride a few years back. This meant it looked like I knew what I was doing as I easily navigated out of town and onto the right road. I think eventually he worked out that I am not that good as we made the occasional wrong turn or non-turn along the way and had the occasional turn around. Overall though between the 2 of us we did a pretty good job I thought.
The riding was brilliant with a great mix of winding fire trails, hill climbs, huge windrows and the occasional goat track to keep us entertained. We were having such a good time that we didnât stop until nature called 172km into the ride. It was at this point I finally got the Gopro out but had already missed some terrific trails and possibly the best of the day. By the time we got to the first fuel stop, some 270kms in we had only ridden I would think less then 50km of tar.Water Crossings
As the day wore on the dust got thicker and Dave and I took turns in front out of the dust, I tried sitting off his hip just out of the dust but his corner speed was better than mine so every bend in the road I would end up dropping back into the dust and have to fight my way through it to get back up to him again, either that or I would tuck in behind on blind bends and crests only to get showered with rocks every time he twisted the throttle of the 690 so in the end just dropped back until the dust cleared.
At some point it was decide to cut the route short and so we regrouped at Bigga and road to Wyangala Dam together to refuel before heading into Woodstock. It was here we learned that there had been some dramas with drowned bikes and lost souls but thankfully everyone was accounted for, eventually.
Regrouping at Bigga
Wyangala Dam
Refueling
And so it was that the bench racing began. The Publican at The Woodstock Hotel was a great bloke who couldnât do enough to help and the food was great. If you’re ever out that way itâs not a bad place to stop. After a big day and a fairly sleepless night before hand and a few ales I was in bed around 10.
Woodstock Hotel
Tyre at end of Day 1
Yeah,,
Great story James, you did well mate and looked like shit Sat night and even worse Sunday morning at breakfast :laugh:I followed you down into Mt Irvine and thought to myself “James is getting the hang of this no worries, lets see him ride up & out the other side”!!! AND YOU DID
On the bag of chargers subject,,,,,
Nothing yet, Pub no answer or return of messages,, only hope is now that someone picked them up and handed them in I suppose :pinch:Nice trailer TB,,,,
I think I`ve seen that Tenere sliding up the hill at least 20 times now :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:My report will be later, too busy this arvo with the kids sport stuff :whistle:
Just looked at the Garmin stats,
Friday arvo- Newy to Mittagong 318k
Sat – Mittagong to Woodstock 508k
Sun – Woodstock to Newy via the world 542k :whistle:Total – 1368k :pinch:
My biggest weekend by about 150k I think, And surprisingly don`t feel too bad this arvo ,,,
I was getting glad to see the end yesterday arvo though with the thought of the 4am wakeup call for Monday
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:Trailboss wrote:EAGLE`02 wrote:Sun – Woodstock to Newy via the world 542k :whistle:Amy rode her 250 from Singleton to the start and back from Wisemans, harden up :laugh: :laugh:
Was good having you there but mate
TB
I know that,,,,
But she also told me about a day off to recover :laugh:All good, it was a great weekend, magic route
I really enjoyed the Woodstock to Oberon section, never ridden that before.
The section from the hole in the wall down the valley is magic, and hadn`t been there since the Caves wet wet wet weekend actually :whistle: BrilliantCheers, gotta run into town now ,,,, report coming later
Day 2
I woke around 6am, even though we were asked not to leave before 8 to allow TB and Co some time to check some trails, I got up and found Woolfy and Eagle having breakfast so I joined them. One by One the rt of the crew found the breakfast room and though I shouldnât throw stones, some were looking pretty ordinary in the cold light of day.
Bikes
DRally and I hit the road just before 8 and headed off into a beautiful clear morning on the tar. We hit the first dirt about 25km later and the dust in the low morning sun was not fun to ride in so we had to space ourselves out. When there was time to look around out of the dust there were some great views available as we road along a hilltop.
Views
The gravel roads gave way to tar then back to gravel again as we wound our way through the country side. Some of the tracks were just loops off the tar through some pine forest and around back to the original road but made for some great riding.
At one point we had to go through a closed gate which apparently confused a few people who opted to skip that section. Unfortunately for them it was some of the best rdining of the morning through there as some sections were not unlike the odd Nundle single trail. At one point I found myself herding cattle as I tried to get past.
Once we hit Oberon we refueld the bikes then headed for a local cafe made famous apparently by Clubby and Wolfy by putting it the magazine.
Smoko at Oberon (Peters Cafe)
After a good early lunch/smoko (it was around 10.30am) we hit the road again. It is all a bit of a blur from there until Mount Irvine where DRally and Jason Barrett headed for home and I joined Wolfy and Pete for the remainder of the ride. By this time I was getting pretty worried about my rear tyre. Not really the lack of grip but more that I might be more likely get a puncture with little or no tread left to keep sharp objects away from the case. As we headed through the tight twists and turns over the mountain on the tar I tried to conserve the rear by only accelerating through corners or downhill and avoiding using the rear brake.
When we reached the dirt on the other side we had quick stop where Wolfy and Pete opened up the vents in their jackets for the hard work ahead. I was asked if I had been along the road before and being the navigation retard that I am said ânoâ only to realise halfway through that we were on the Old Bells Line of Road which I have done a number of times but usually from the other direction.
Bald tyre or not, I wanted to keep up with the guys in front to get some video footage of the new Tenere (Wolfy), the Super Tenere (Pete) and the old Tenere (me) bashing up the trails. I was surprised at the level of grip the rear tyre had by this stage and luckily for me the pace wasnât too quick for me and I didnât have to push past my limits.
I will post the footage of the 3 of us heading up the mountain later on but I will say that someone was lucky that I ran out of memory about 1 minute prior to him dropping his bike so there is no evidence.
From there we head down Mt Wilson (maybe) and regrouped with most of the riders for the ride to the ferry and into Wisemans. The road into Wisemans was tar but a great twisty run and by now I wasnât conserving the rear tyre any longer. One last navigational error as pete and I dropped behind the pack then into Wisemans for a well earned refreshment after having been on the road for around 10 hours with very little rest since Oberon.
After refuelling and a few bevvy’s Ace, Amy and I headed back through St Albans to the George Downs Drive. I was leading for the first half but after the earlier bevvy’s I had to stop as did Ace. I told Amy to go ahead but not too fast so I could catch up. When we got going again I tried to push the pace a little and thought I was doing alright untilAce wnet flying past and within moments was out of site. I got to the main road to find them both there, helmets off waiting, they were both too quick for me. Here Amy split for Singleton and Ace and I headed into the Wattagans and out to Cooranbong. Ace and I then split as he headed South and I went North. By this time it was 7.15 and I figured I might as well grab a burger before heading for home.
I eventually arrived home just after 8.00pm some 14 hours after first hitting the road and having covered around 1355km for the 3 days.
Tyre at end of ride
Feeling pretty good today despite all the riding, cleaned the bike and gear today and gave both my babies an oil change. Before the ride I cleaned the airfilter and oiled up a chux which I wrapped over the filter with the idea of removing it after the first day if it was a dusty ride. In the end I was too lazy but I pulled the seat off today and ripped it out.
Air Filter
Well I`m just gonna throw my pics up, they are not good quality (I POD only)
Stopped at the downed tree
Only the Lead group & us 3 did this little detour, we sa at the top and watchd 3 gropus ride on by, good navigating :whistle: :laugh:
The guys doing the climb. Short vid click on the pic
The gys doing the creek crossing. Short vid click on the pic
The crew heading off on the off camber Powerline detour
This stuff was a tad slippery if you weren`t careful
More to come
Lots of this on the route
Tube change OBT style on Jame`s Tenere at Barraga
View from the room at Royal Hotel Woodstock
Ground views in the Beer garden
She needs some work and us under renovations inside & out, very comfy room though
Great report and pictures Jeffro,brings it all back nice and clearly, brains still fried from concentrating for so long :laugh:
Nice pics and vids Eagle,what do you mean I looked like shit :silly: đ
Cant wait to watch the movie TB just to relive it all again
Day 2 morning views
Plenty of Pine Forest to be explored
The logs sorted the pack out after it bunched up,, there were a few bike on their side at one stage
Some wide open throttle opportunities in here
IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c319/hotroxjr/OBTNAVRIDE2013042_zps2d08c8f3.jpg[/IMG]
Snack time
james wrote:Great report and pictures Jeffro,brings it all back nice and clearly, brains still fried from concentrating for so long :laugh:Nice pics and vids Eagle,what do you mean I looked like shit :silly: đ
Cant wait to watch the movie TB just to relive it all again
Hey James,,,
You know what I mean !!!! :laugh:Hope to see you out there on the trails again mate, it gets easier each time you give it a go mate,,, trust me, I`ve learnt the hard way :whistle: :S :pinch: đ
Cheers
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