'Beer Snacks' - Hills n Thrills
November 4-5.
On the weekend of Nov 4/5, we took on tour our web guru, Steve Pretzel (hire KTM 450) with his mates, Pete Pringle (KTM 300), Tadhg McCarthy (WR250), Darren Gorton (WR 450), Craig Frederickson (hire KTM 250 EXC-F) and Grant Raynel (DRZ 400) along with John Kelly (KTM 525), Mick Harbeck (hire TTR) Craig McDonald (hire TTR) and Alan Pestega (hire TTR). With a good spread of riders it was looking good for another 2 day adventure.
With the bikes lined up and the preamble out the way, it was engines on and away into the bush. Well, that was the intention, but Craig on the TTR was having a problem, so back I went to see what was happening. He had stalled the bike taking off, pulled his hamstring as he saved a fall, and was in a lot of pain. So with the crew at the front gate, keen as mustard, here I am massaging his hammy to see if it is just a cramp. Feeling better, he decided to jump on the bike and see how it felt, only to do the whole stall, nearly fall, pull hamstring, grimace in pain routine again! And that was it; he was out and we were off, with one less to count on the corners.
The first sandy section had a few thinking Crikey!, and then Grant found the rut that I had warned them all about, going down and breaking the clutch lever on his DRZ in the processs. At the first rest stop we were attempting to bodge her up, until Darren (after about 10 minutes) goes: "Oh, you want a clutch lever? I got one here." (!) Grant was soon sorted and we were off again. It was dusty and warm so the pack was spread out and flowing well. Allan and Mick (both hadn't ridden for years) were finding their feet by now, and pushing the TTR's capabilities, with Alan now sliding the rear into corners in the sandy pine fire trails, and Mick with a big cheezy grin. Steve was riding the 450 to see whether he preferred it over the 250 he'd ridden just two weeks ago, and after a short swap with Craig, he had his mind set on the 250 due to its lightweightedness! Grant was impressed by his newly purchased (from Steve) DRZ, saying "this'll do me", and Tadhg, Darren, Craig and Peter were just glad to be out riding with their mates.
Getting closer to lunch, and with the crew's abilities pretty even, it was time to tackle some of the more challenging terrain. The group agreed to my request to make a single trail along a natural bush creekline, and after a quick squirt ahead to ensure it was a goer (and to chase out some pigs), we were slithering through the trees like a snake, making a nice new section in an otherwise dense pine forest. Shortly after we were perched on top of a hill, looking into the valley below, before we made our descent into the valley via a steep and technical rocky downhill with a sharp RH turn mid point, then into the river flats and off to lunch at Tathra Winery.
Bodies fed and bikes refuelled we headed to Big Bertha, only to have Darren ride into a tree about 6 metres off the trail, causing a minor delay. A tweak of Darren's bars, then to BB. I charged it and thought I had her this time only to click neutral at the final culvert, losing momentum and falling short by about 5 metres. (I blame me new boots for that!) John Kelly had a crack too, and managed to flip his 525 on the first culvert in spectacular fashion, right in front of us all, re-arranging his number plate and tail-piece in the process.
From there we hit the mountain trail, with Al and Mick on the TTRs cruising up the nasty part with ease. We rested at the vantage point, Pretzel ate all my snakes, and John described his tummy was like a milkshake after the lunch, snakes, and the ups and downs of the trail! We then we cruised off to escape the midday sun, and back in the forrest we dodged 'roos aplenty as we made our way down to the river past Tadhg's Turn (where last year he stoved in his DRZ radiator on a tree). Mick had a rut get the better of him on the final downhill, then it was a nice rest in the shade by the river.
The final run to Greeny was free flowing and almost uneventful, until Grant put the DRZ down through a muddy creek in front of us all. Someone stuffed up a hill and was filled in by the others as they passed him, and shortly after we were having beers and refueling the bikes at the back of the Exchange Hotel.
Big meals, DVDs and some well earned rest was on the menu for us all that night. Tadgh's efforts in trying to eat the lump-a-rump was to be applauded, and he was still chipping away long after we'd eaten. With the boys urging him on he did well but just couldn't get through it all. I think more attention was gained by Tadgh than the DVD's!.
Next day the big breakfast feast was enjoyed by all, bar Tadgh who was still buldging at the seams. We stopped at the massive blackboys for a few photos, then at the boys' request headed to The Rollercoaster, passing a waterwheel feature and some nice flowing firetrails. At The Rollercoaster most of us rested while Steve, John, Darren and Craig blasted up and down a few times, Darren cracking some big air last run through. From there it was across the river then through some single trails in the pines and to another hilltop vantage point where we managed to scoff a few snakes before Pretzel cleaned us out again. He loves those snakes, and must have needed them to keep the energy levels up to handle the 450!
Shortly after, at a hill climb, we were a few short. I sent a couple up the hill and I backtracked and discovered Mick at the end of a road he should have turned off - had the corner man counted, that is. So, with Mick back in the group we soon got together and hit the hill. I waited to follow the last rider up and came across Grant cutting a snake line from side to side up the hill. Some small pointers and he had it nailed. Craig owned up to the fact he couldn't count to 8 at the regroup, then we made our way down to the river crossing.
A rocky part of the river it is, and I captured it on video. So with the camera rolling someone was sure to come a cropper, and it was Tadgh. No doubt brought down by the lump-a-rump in his stomach the WR was drowned - full of water and going nowhere. We had it dewatered and running in no time, and rode some more flowing piney rally sections into lunch at Balingup.
A big burger and chips was on the menu, and the Gatorade went down well too. After lunch we ventured into the valley back blocks making our way for home. Darren took Pete's KTM 300 for a bling and came back saying it was like a mountain bike, very easy to ride. We found some mud in a tricky little creek and John provided some entertainment by wicking on a bit too much throttle on the big 525 and looping it out quite comprehensively, ending up sprawled face first on the ground. Later on we did a spot of cattle mustering, herding some some stray cows back into their paddock as we passed them.
We were looking good to be at the base bang on time, but at a regroup before a road section, once again, something was amiss. We were two riders short. I backtracked and spotted their tyre marks on a sidetrack. I followed the marks, thinking I'd find them at the first corner, but ended up crossing a road and a few corners later I decided to head back and collect the cornermen still waiting so we could regroup and assess the situation. We dropped two riders at the entry into the bush and I took Pete with me to go searching. We rode about 15kms, following some very faint marks, to a main gravel road which we took and came across the guys at a crossroad. The boys had veered off the track where we went straight on, and had gone too far before they realised. Stopping earlier would have saved some time, but they stayed put at a major intersection and were found. That's the main thing.
Having lost close to an hour we had to cut some trails out to get back to base and we arrived later than normal but no less satisfied with what was a great two day ride.