Blackwood Valley
November 18.
On the 18th November we had Steve Johnson and his mates Graham, Gavin, Marco, David, Gavin and Colin, along with Richard Stockwell from Capel riding our KTM 250 EXC-F (booked by his missus, who reckons EXCF stands for excellent fun!), father and son duo of Steve and Ashton Lloyd on KTMs, Alex from Victoria aboard his WR450, and Tony Willock.
We departed on time after the prestart blurb, but only 5kms into it we had to do the humane act to a Kangaroo who had come to grief on a track. The washouts and boggy sand caught a couple off guard as we made our way south to the valley. Graham jumped at the opportunity to demo the Husaberg, and gave his kickstart leg a bit of a break, allowing me to enjoy the comfy seat of the XR4 while the rest of the group enjoyed the single trails and general freedom you experience when trailriding in remote bush.
Richard was lapping it up in luxury aboard the 250 EXC-F, only to overcook it a little and run off track into the bush, while Marco managed to bend the gearlever of his TTR around 180 degrees. The rest of the lads got through pretty much unscathed, finding their pace, with Alex getting back into the swing after a 6 month lay off after breaking his collarbone. It was warm and dusty, and stopping was hot, so we kept it flowing and before long we were making our way down into the Blackwood Valley where we had the short transport to lunch at Tathra.
After our usual feast at lunch we blasted our way up to the mountain top before dropping into a section of the mountain trail. We enjoyed a fantastic view at a rest stop, before hitting a more technical section that caused a few dramas for Marco, taking a dive down a rocky embankment and being lucky not to have injured himself.
We crossed the Blackwood River and made our way to one of our favourite technical hill climbs, the "huff n puff" hills, to give the experienced riders a bit of a challenge. I instructed them on the hills and some techniques, and was surprised to see Steve take off with the others on their own bikes for a crack, given that he was struggling to touch the ground on his brand spanking new DRZ400. Sending the others around the alternate route, I then headed up to see if if anyone needed assistance, and there was Steve - three quarters up the first hill, with his DRZ spewing boondies out of the rear wheel like a machine gun. With a little assistance he was off to the next stage while I backtracked to ensure the rest made it the alternative way. At the midway lookout I witnessed Steve unleash the power of his DRZ up the second stage, only to go across the track and into the heavily rutted section. He kept it going, and we could hear his engine, but he never appeared!! So down I went to assess his predicament, and there was his bike, buried to the swingarm and standing upright on its own on a very steep hill. His face was as red as a CRF's tank from the struggles with his bike, and he was pretty glad to have me yank it out of the trench for him! He got to the top of that hill, being the halfway point, where we regrouped and headed off, sending only Graham and Alex up the more technical 3rd and 4th stages.
From here we rode the transport section through a large Dieback area and then hit some great fast flowing trails as we headed home. The group was flowing well, with the cornerman system working great as it needs to in the dry and dusty conditions, and the boys were having a ball. More trails including some minor spills and we were back at base very satisfied, albeit with dusty and dry mouths!