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From: Wongawol To: Geraldton Bore Via:Mingol Camp, Carnegie Station
Distanced Travelled: 340km
Drop Count: no dropsDay’s Experience:
So everyone was up and ready to go early. After breakfast Adrian did some bike maintenance on my bike (top up the oil) we started riding at 7.30am.Mingol Camp was our first stop at 53km where we saw a small billabong then it was off to Carnegie Station. The station sits on 1 million arces and has 2000 cattle and is the most western station before hitting the Gibson Desert. The road into Carnegie was a straight red dusted road that was nice and flat made for easy riding. We were able to fuel up, water up, wash our faces. I looked into their sheds and saw 3 new Honda trailbikes lined up and it brought tears of joy. I noticed that they were CRF230F’s (the unregistered version of my bike). Apparently these bikes are very popular on cattle stations for mustering. They are light, powerful and reliable
Little did we know that the next section was the commencement of riding in hell. The road from Carnegie Station to Geraldton Bore was a corrugated road that rattled every part of your bike and body.
(Corrugated road that went for 150km in straight line!!)I tried all sorts of techniques to get comfortable but nothing worked. I tried riding as fast as possible to try skipping over the ridges …. That didn’t work. I tried riding slower but the bike rattled even more and for longer…. Nothing worked so the only thing I could do was try to relax my muscles and allow the bike to bounce under me and try not to use too much energy. Luckily we had a short break whilst I witness Mick and Adrian herd up 9 camels of which 4 were babies and one bull. The funny thing was to watch them herd the camels them towards the other riders who were stopped on the side to watch. The camels charged start for the riders and you could see their eyes widen with fear as the camels pealed off at the last moment to get around them. You could hear Adrian laughing from a mile away.
We made it to Geraldton Bore at 3pm and decided that camping near water gave us a chance to clean ourselves and wash some cloths. I had quick scotch and coke to calm the nerves then Adrian assisted me washing my hair/body…. In my bikini of course. (sorry no photo’s taken)
Having drinks around the camp fire tonight we heard there is something called “camel slapper” and it goes to someone who can ride next to a camel and smack its arse. If only Adrian knew about that before today cause I think he could have joined the camel slapper club he was that close.
We were told that tomorrow’s ride will divert onto the ‘abandoned’ Gunbarrel Hwy. Most 4WD do not take this road as it’s deteriorated so much that it’s impossible with lots of sand, gravel and more corrugated roads. That gave me something to think about all night and made for a difficult night sleep.
From: Lake Mason To: Wongawol Via:Wiluna
Distanced Travelled: 392km
Drop Count: No drops
Day’s Experience:
The day started again at 5.30am with movement/noise and a focus of packing up and getting breakfast. It seems everyone has got into a pattern that comes together where we are ready to roll at 7.30am.The road traversed down a fence line for what seem like forever. You were constantly looking for stray fence wire so you were ready to pull the clutch in quickly. The road required more technical riding skills as it traversed sand and gravel and red dust. The dirt roads today were still classed at easy. We averaged at 100km on the straight stretches. I had Adrian next to me on one section and he got to witness a very poor attempt at a corner that could have claimed an injury. I totally went into the corner at the wrong angle and saw major rutts and sand and freaked out and did the worst thing and backed off the throttle. I suppose the positive is I didn’t crash.
On our ride into Wiluna we had morning team on the side of the road. Tea/Coffee, biscuits, fruit. This road must be the size of a six lane highway full of red dust going straight as far as you can see.
We were 30km from Wiluna when Adrian’s bike completely melted down – the engine had blown up whilst he was doing 120km/h. The back wheel locked up and somehow he managed to come to a stop without falling off.
We all waited in Wiluna for Adrian to arrive. Wiluna is the starting point for the Canning Stock Route which was first surveyed in 1906 and 48 wells were established over 2 years to support the stock that were being transported from East Kimberley region to Wiluna. Today it’s a small aboriginal community that supports tourism to the region.
We then started on the Gunbarrel Highway until the sun was close to hitting the horizon. The road was again well graded and simple to ride. Camp was established just outside of Wongawol on side of the road. Magnus cooked up a curry with rice and naan to increase our carb levels.
Only two days left at work and six days before I’m sitting on my bike looking forward to 6000km of dirt, dust, sand and rocks. I must be f##king crazy doing something like this but something inside is driving me forward and I’m just going for the ride.
I’ve been busy doing the last bit of preparations for the trip.
1. I’ve confirmed the bike has arrived safely.
2. Thanks to Allan/Pivot Pegz they replaced my pegs to fit my bike. Will install in Perth.
3. Picked up all my spares from Action Motorcycles in Parramatta
4. After Lotsa & MickP suggestion I’ve picked up and AirHawk cushion to protect by ‘tight’ arse from hitting the seat :laugh: . I’m sure I’ll be thanking the guys at the end of the trip for their suggestion.
5. I’ve bought the new IPOD 16Gb Nano’s that is nice and compact. Spent the last week filling it up with songs. Made sure I put on everything from ACDC, Queen, Australian Crawl, Eric Clapton, Guns n Roses to some quieter music like Dire Straits and Enya for those times at night around the fire looking up at the sky full of stars.
6. Pack the tampons for Adrian when he goes soft on me
. He has done next to no preparation for this trip so I suspect he will be hurting from day 1.
7. I’m doing my last gym session tomorrow – ABS. I have to say that the year in training has put muscles in areas that didn’t think there were muscles. I’m probably the most buff I’ve ever been in my life and the boys at the gym have been great with their advice on the appropriate weight training. I’m sure by the end of this trip I’ll have a body that can go into a bikini just in time for summer.
8. The camera is all charged up and got enough memory cards to take video and photo’s.
9. Spent the last two weeks catching up with all my brothers/sisters/mum and dad to say my goodbyes.
10. Packed the drugs for the knee :blush:
11. Packed the OBT stickers for the bikeIt feels kind of strange to think that my dreams for the last year are finally going to happen but this wasn’t possible without the support and guidance from many OBT members in particular TB. I have ridden with some amazing people over the last year and it’s been great to hear their experiences.
I’m going to try and txt TB during the trip where possible to provide updates of where I’m at and how I’m going.
Bye for now and hope to see you all at the OBT Xmas party in one piece.
Hi Murph the Surf,
Are you stopping somewhere for lunch? Thought I might come up on my road bike and meet you guys for lunch. I’m dead in the water without my trailbike
and looking for something to do that has a close resemblance to trailriding… I suppose if I hangout over lunch with you guys might be the next best thing… If it doesn’t work out that’s ok….I can always find some lost souls on road bikes.Hi CathiM
Sounds like a fantastic weekend. Sorry I can’t be there.
Will have to organise another one when I get back.KatGirl
Action shots……..
Bike stripped:
Brake Pads replaced:
TB’s photographic skills of Kat in action:mmmmm
TB in action:
Wheel Bearing discussion:
Rear wheel bearing being difficult:
Clutch Plate featured with #3 Bundy & Coke…. God I hope it went back on the right way:
The grips getting special treatment:
Clutch Plate inspection:
