My first report hope it’s not to long
On the drive to the meeting point i was telling my wife there’s only a few of us we’ll be back before lunch! how wrong could i have been, standing and listening to Hatto and Cathi at the brief i had no idea what a day lay ahead.
So off we go all 30 odd bikes straight into the slippy single trail through the bush and out to a dirt road, i was determined to get through the ride with no off’s (after all it was only a grade 2) and after the first few km’s i was loving the twisty track with the odd jump and few whoops thrown in.
We stopped and regrouped at an intersection and had an extended “breather” while puncture repairs were carried out.
In what seemed like a flash Kat was in there levering away while the boy’s tried to get a look in..:whistle: it wasn’t long before we were off again passing the 4wd”s that had sneaked passed during our stop.
The trail was a mix of small rocky hard pack to sandy straights with a few small creek crossings all moistened by the previous nights rain which also helped swell the size of the puddles to what seemed like small ponds but more on them later… from what i could tell everyone was loving it and getting plenty of roost
The trail started to climb with a tricky ascent up a twisty 4wd track which had been badly eroded by the rain and had a huge runoff channel carved through the middle, the sides and anywhere the water had decided to travel, i was thinking to myself this is quite hardcore for a 2 as i slipped and wobbled my way up using the worst lines possible but was happy i hadn’t dropped it until it came up to the hill that was “2 ish” in a show of who’s boss the bike decided to go different way to me and there was my first taste of the dirt:S after climbing back on and some better line selection aided by Hatto i made to the top.:woohoo:
We had a breather at the top and exchanged war stories while others checked out the machinery, in particular Tramo who recognised his old crf250 amongst the 30 other mud covered bikes. Seriously is there anyone you dont know?
With the thought of lunch we carried on along a fast sandy water covered track where a few had slowed to wait their turn around the edge of a decent sized “puddle” It can’t be that deep i thought as i rushed in and realised why everyone else was waiting. As the bike lay on it’s side in the water i remember looking back at all the helmets waiting and thinking i couldn’t have picked a worse place to stack espcially in front of KatGirl and Cathi who apparently found it quite amusing.
I must say a huge thankyou to Ben and Jamie? for help draining the XR and the effort in getting the big girl going again.
After towing and finally starting the bike we caught up with the rest of the group (sorry guys and Girls for the hold up)
and carried on to the lunch stop.
I can’t thank CathiM enough for organising such an awsome day, the help received and friendlyness of the other riders has made me even more keen to get out there and ride even more.
But probably not a grade 4 again thats another story.:blush:
