Forum Replies Created
-
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 shouldn’t 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 “no” 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 wasn’t too quick for me and I didn’t 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 wasn’t 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
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. I’ll be right I thought, the rain won’t 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 that’s how it seemed. It wasn’t 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 doesn’t 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 didn’t 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 couldn’t do enough to help and the food was great. If you’re ever out that way it’s 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
