This ride was an epic one, at least for me anyway.. I have only one word to describe the day.. Rooted.. :laugh:
I drove 2 Hours and 45 minutes for a total of 184 Kilometers round trip to adventure ride 457 Kilometers round trip.
GPS Says:
Move time 8 Hours 30 Min
Stopped time 3 Hours 26 Min (Includes 2 meet point stops but not lunch)
Max speed 120 Kph and overall average 38.1 Kph
I left home at 5:15 am and I arrived at the meet point near 6:30 am to find Katgirl backing her car and trailer into position. We had a quick hello chat and then began unloading and gearing up.. I texted Lotsa at around 6:55 am to let him know we were ready to go. Within minutes Lotsa shows up.. A quick hello and view at all our new goodies on our bikes and off we went..
I told myself I needed to play nice as my knee is only 3 weeks out from the little incident on my last ride.. I started off in the back for the run to the Laguna meet point but adrenalin soon got the best of me and since it was an easy ride I decided to put some pressure on.. I felt good and standing wasn’t uncomfortable on the knee.. The bike sure felt weighted down with the large tank on the front and all the goodies on the side and back.. Felt rather strange and planted.. The new seat was interesting.. I reckon she is 4 inches taller as sitting on the bike I now tower over the top of the cock pit area and not quite flat footed on the ground now.. Getting on and off was a drama so I will have to work something out.. I’m unsure of the seat at this time.. It definitely was comfy but the width played a little havoc rubbing the inside of my thighs.. Always felt like there was pressure against them..
We rode through some really nice spots on the way to Laguna.. I noticed heaps of places for sale along the way and wished I had the money to get one.. Soon enough we arrived at the Laguna meet point and all the boys were waiting.. Hello’s, some old intros and some new ones were to follow.. Out of all the bikes on the run I seemed to be drawn to Mickp’s KTM.. A 690 which apparently is really a 651.. Oh how I wish I had a money tree.. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
After a short drama with a battery in a certain 650 we were on our way.. The pace was really good.. I played nice and felt good.. The last time I rode this route I did it in the other direction.. It seemed a bit rougher than I remembered and few snotty bits with semi long sections of sand.. Oh boy they were interesting.. The bike felt like it slid its way through.. No incidents and at the putty road in no time.. We were running a bit behind so down the bitumen we went and arrived at the Putty Rd and Putty Valley Rd meet point.. No OWL’s to be seen.. It was about 45 minutes after the time I mentioned we would have arrived.. Did they fly the coop? :laugh: A quick call and we determined they were down Putty Valley Rd a bit parked in a nice open grassy section..
Greetings were done, cornerman explained, lead and sweeps assigned and we were ready to go.. I got the privilege of leading with Lotsa as my back up.. I was a bit nervous about leading as I wasn’t sure if I was going to set a good pace.. The first leg was pretty simple and the tracking on the GPS was working correctly.. All I had to do was follow the green line.. :laugh: Lotsa soon took the lead and Mickp was feeling the need for speed and soon the two of them were racing ahead at a zooming pace.. I couldn’t keep up so backed down enjoying the first of the easy rain water diversion humps.. This was a mistake as on one jump I bottomed out and right knee popped.. It felt like when you crack your knuckles.. The pain was swift and sharp and I knew I had just f$%^ed up and set myself back a couple a weeks.. To my surprise the pain quickly subsides and the knee wasn’t hurting.. I just soldiered on..
We soon arrived at Raspberry Junction.. I got off the bike and walked around a bit.. Some slight discomfort but all seemed well.. Ok maybe not so bad.. We discussed a plan in case we came across a locked gate.. It soon was determined that we would send in Kat and she would cry on demand hoping to gain sympathy.. :laugh: :laugh: Turns out we had clear passage.. Even came across a property owner in a 4×4 who just wanted to know how many more bikes were coming down the big snotty rutted hill.. This brought us to a small creek crossing which everyone seemed to enjoy..
Denman was small and quiet.. Lunch was good and cheap.. I ordered last but some how got mine first.. Hey when your Krusty Molech and roll into town people pay attention.. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Tank took 11.5 liters and we were sitting on 240K’s since departure.. Works out to be around 20 or so K’s per liter.. Not too bad as I reckon we did 20-25% bitumen..
Off we went to find the Commission Track/Road.. GPS was telling us to go to a locked gate.. Some good re-con by Gav showed that the locked gate was a decoy since all you had to do is lift the chain over the pole.. :laugh: Same went for the second locked gate.. Soon we were into the forest and on the track.. It went what seemed like forever but eventually we hit the Putty Road.. The OWLS went back to their nest and we went north to the old settlers track.. It was getting close to dark by this time and we seemed to make it a bit more than 1/2 way into the track before we were in full darkness.. I was surprised at how bright the headlight on the DRZ was.. We popped out of the track an then onto bitumen to Wolombi.. Goodbyes were done and a group went north and Myself, Lotsa and Kat went back to Wyong on bitumen for what felt like days.. It was cold and I was tired..
Arrived back at the cars and proceeded to un-gear and pack up.. By this time the knee was feeling a bit rough.. I knew it was going to be a long few days as the extent of the damage becomes known.. Took a bit over an hour back home.. I rocked up at about 9:30 PM..
It was a hard core day and if everyday is this tiring on the Corner trip, well Krusty is going to need a few boxes of Tampons……………….. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I had a great day and thanks to everyone for the company as well as making it all so enjoyable..
Cheers…
Chris………..
:laugh: