Roadies Get Dirty - Hills n Thrills
October 21-22.
On the weekend of Oct 21/22 we had the Mick Martin tour, accompanied by his mates John and Graham Byers, Doug McGill and Pommy Chris. Also along for the ride on our new KTM250 EXC-F was West Coast regular and WATARC convener, Steve Pretzel. We gathered at the new WCTBS headquarters, just south of Boyanup (15mins from Bunbury), where the boys were already and waiting when I rocked up with the quiver of bikes at 7:45am.
Being a bunch of road bike enthusiasts and ex-enduro/MXers, it was shaping up to be a great rebirth of past memories for the five until we discovered that Chris had never ridden off road before. Being the oldest of the bunch too, he soon threw a leg over his trusty steed, and putted around the farm to familiarise himself with the bike. Richard rode his beloved road bike down (don't ask me what it was, they all look the same to me!). Steve rocked up in his wife's fancy sports car (Honda S2000) and before long we were into the pre-start speech (where I tell them not to be idiots on my bikes etc) and off into the bush, with our luggage in the support car.
The first section is a bit sandy, before we hit a gravel road and venture south into the back blocks of Donnybrook. Chris was doing really well, and the others were having a ball. Steve was drooling at the rideability of the 250KTM, and the others were also impressed at the performance from the TTR's, as it was way above their expectations.
We hit the single trail and rested for a while before Chris plodded through. He was riding at his own pace, and it was good to see the others letting him do so, and not pressuring him to keep up. This is the beauty of the cornerman system we use. Chris rocked up asking how long we'd been waiting, and he was surprised to hear us say "only just got here mate". I instructed the lads about a fallen tree we'd have to handle the bikes over ahead, and we were soon enough there, avoiding fingers in the disc after a mate of mine sliced the end off his (in the middle of no-where) years ago. It was then we were into some great open flowing pine trails, and the pace was starting to pick up as we become confident and settled into the swing of things. Chris was laying down at every stop, and almost asleep by the time we'd kick off again, and Doug's front tyre needed a bit of pressure. The corner man was working well as it usually does, but just before lunch we were a bit short of riders at a regroup. Upon heading back, I got to an unmanned corner, had a look each way, checked the dirt, and could see Chris had ridden straight on through as you would without a cornerman. Someone had not counted the riders, and departed before he came along!! Micky was the culprit, and we all scored a free beer for that one!. I headed up the track and there he was, waiting patiently. We got together shortly afterwards and rocked into lunch bang on time, enjoying the tasty soup and sangers at Tathra Winery.
After lunch we checked Doug's front tyre, and used the winery's compressor to get the bead seated correctly. Brian (Tathra owner) had the conversation on "Big Bertha", and so we were off to have a look. We then hit the mountain trail, with Chris confident to have a go. The first hill was rutted badly from a recent heavy rain, so I went back to see how Chris was coping to find him needing help, and looking very tired. I took Chris around the easy way, and sent Steve and the boys along the mountain trail, where they were beaming with joy at not just the superb trail, but the awsome views of the valleys and hills at the many view points along the way. We met up at the end of the trail, and cruised some easy trails towards Greeny for our overnighter at the Exchange Hotel. Chris was by now very tired and we enjoyed a great BBQ dinner and settled into watching some of our DVDs, being "Mountains of Dirt 2" and "Dealers of Dirt" from this years KTM dealers ride, then the Erzberg Enduro - what a screamer that is.
After a big breakfast of bacon and eggs we hit the trails again, with Chris opting to sit the morning out to recuperate. Before long, John Byers swapped to the 'Berg, and we rode some fast flowing firetrails, single trails and then onto a nice hill climb. John was raving about the power and how nice the Husaberg was, when I suggested it may be too much for him up the hill. He insisted, and we were off, along the way capturing Micky crashing "on camera". We stopped at the top, but John and the 'Berg failed to appear. Backtracking I discovered he'd had a minor mishap on my Husaberg. All OK, and I swapped him back to the TTR, only to see him do the same again on the TTR, losing balance up the hill in a rut, and going down fairly hard. He perservered, and made it to the top, but lost a little confidence and loads of energy!
We then rode a tricky river crossing, where Graham lost his balance in the rocky section and ended up a little wet! Some open trails, and a few more hills, then into Balingup for lunch. Chris was part of the furniture there by now, but hadn't recouped enough to tackle the afternoon trails home. He was more than happy though, having been to the mine lookout at Greenbushes, and then the Discovery Centre where he learnt about mining underground. A great burger, and it was more of the flowing trails through the Pines, until Doug's front tyre plagued him again. Pumped her up, and back into it, blasting a very fast sandy/gravel fire break that had everyone chanting for more. At a tight section, with the camera out for some more pics, Doug requested some more air in that damn front tyre. Bugger that, we'll change it, and within 15mins, we were back blasting our way to Boyanup along the firebreak and various other trails.
We certainly had another great ride, and rumour has it that Mick is trading in his beloved Buell on a trailbike for him and his wife. He's got the BUG, so hopefully we'll see him and the boys back for another tour in future.