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g’day groovers…..groan…..
the ‘unofficial OBT victorian chapter’, well, micks brother, anthony and i… went on a ride last sunday. it was an organised ride put together by the morotcycle racing club of victoria (MCRCV). it wasnt a race however, but a 100 km loop thru the lovely yarra valley counrtyside.
we lobbed at yarra glen bakery at 7.30 for a coffee and met dean, the organiser and another seven blokes, making 10 in total, before heading another 30ish kms to the dropzone.
we all unloaded and prepped before heading off. from the word go, the dust was bullshit. ya couldnt see your own ass.:angry:
we rode down a dirt road for a bit before taking a left into what could only be called a goat track (bunyip track for victorians). i know a lot of blokes love the single track stuff, me being one of them, but this was rediculous. so overgrown.
after beating our way through that we came across the days first major obstical. a very big, steep, extremely rutted hill.
after not really riding for about a year and still coming to terms with the snarling orange beast below me i was a bit timid. i wound her up and attacked. about half way up my front end dropped into a rutt and stopped me. i tried to eat the bars and knocked the wind out of myself. all i could do was sit there wheezing. another rider named joe came down to help me and offered to ride my bike up, he had a 300 too. with no breath i accepted and watched him take off mid hill and roost up like a champion. i was hammering myself down a few pegs as i stumbled my way up the hill, grumbling..and wheezing!!it was only 20 kms in. not a good start.:angry: :angry:
we rested for a while (thank f**k), so i could choke down a ciggy to get my breath back, as other people made their way up. anthonys bike had a niggle and had to be tow started. dont know why, it was fine for the rest of the day.
we meandered our way thru the scrub taking some great tracks with all sorts of surfaces and obsticles, from tractionless marbles to deep loam;) . i only saw one puddle/boghole, about a metre before hitting it, in 3rd band…..
i held on to it but it was messy!!!
i had the pleasure of watching anthony pull a massive rear brake lock with a triple pendulum pike, saving him from shirtfronting a rather large tree. a pisser!!!
at about the 75km mark we headed up ‘jims track’. there we found another gnarly, rutted hill. i hit it in 3rd but as it steepened i needed to gear down. i tried to shift down but my foot kicked the bashplate (d’oh) and i lost that magic momentum. bugger..:angry: .roll down and try again. i waited for a bit, trying to let some dust clear only to have someone roost up there and stir it again. i sucked it in and took off, just in second cog this time and was makin good ground, dodgin rutts, logs, rocks, stopped bikes and riders only to find a basketball sized rock dead ahead. somehow i jumped into the next rutt and avoided the bastard only to hit a bigger one a bit further on. BANG!!! up i went….
and down i came..HARD..
:side: 
:angry:
it wasnt good. winded again, rib pain, an instantly swollen left hand. shit. there was no way i was gonna get up there now.
just quietly, i think a few of the others were just as happy to leave that hill alone too. a bloke that anthony knows from last years stockmans rally,(cant think of his name dammit) was with us and while climbing the same hill, somehow managed to turn his bike 180 degrees, pointing back down the hill and then flip it. all sorts of shenanigans goin on!
it was decided to head back to the start of the track. i looked at the map with dean. goin the other way there was only one gnarly downhill and the rest looked easy. feeling pretty small for f**king up, i grinned and beared it. i was feelin every bump thru my bones….
on the way back i couldnt hold on over some rocky shit and bit the dust again, landing the same way i did before, ouch.:blink:
all the fellas were quick to assist and help me back on the horse. i felt like a true f**king spaz:unsure:
finally we got back to the cars. we loaded up (thanks Ant for helping your old war buddy) and cleaned up. dean opened the esky and we all had a couple of beers to wash down the dust. did i mention the dust!! :X
i apologised to all the boys for ruinin the day but they were all good about it. “it coulda been a lot worse i spose” they said. they are a good bunch of blokes with a heap of talent and skill. they teached me some much good stuff!:laugh:i may as well have been ploughing potatoes with the amount of understeer i was getting. it just wanted to push. im gonna have a read up on the workings and learn just how to set her up. ive never had a bike with adjustable forks and shock, well my VOR did but it handled great already. i must admit, come to think of it, i didnt even check that the settings were as recomended in the book. d’oh. what a turkey.
anyway, me and anthony went back to his joint for another brew and to watch a bit of the cricket. we got there about 4.30, it was a long day.
i got home a bit later, ready to face the music, but there was none. for once i got some sympathy from the missus. ive been milkin it ever since.:woohoo: :woohoo:so now ive just got back from the quacks and the story reads…
bruised left hand, black eye, (dont know how?) two re-broken ribs (from an earlier bike stack) and cracked another one and bruised my lung in the process. top work!!:huh:all in all it was a good day had by all.
mick- i tried the ‘tablespoon of cement’ that anthony told me you would recommend, it didnt do much. i might need a whole mixer!
but thanks to everyone involved from MCRCV and OBT, especially mick for hookin me up with Ant. hes a top bloke and i look forward to riding with him again, perhaps on some more ‘user friendly’ tracks!
my doctor has got me on the Endone, theyre wicked….
take 2 with alcohol, ribs are fine.. ready to ride…LOL:lol:so im off to ga-ga land until im healed..:side:
if anyone needs me just get one of the fairies to find me..cheers, menace.
ps;- if your at all feeling sympathetic to my cause, please dont send flowers or chockys, just cold hard cash…or karma, karma is good!! 👿
Mate, what a cracker of a story!! Ant said it was dusty,he also mentioned his big slide moment.
Top stuff guys good to see that OBT hooked you up for a ride,the site is certainly doing what it was set up for.
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