CUDLEE CREEK 9/4/06
We had some early arrivals & some late with various excuses & eventually 20 riders got away only a bit late on a beautiful autumn day. The first 2 to get lost went wrong at the first turn due to the lead rider not realising that it was possible for people to not see 10 metres to where he went up the driveway instead of down the lane so he thought he didn’t need to leave a cornerman there. They soon came back & away we went for a loop on the property. Naturally a few crashes occurred as big hills & slippery conditions caught some out. Someone had to be extricated from the middle of a large blackberry patch. After almost too much fun we left the 5 staying on the property & headed for the hills. Great scenery as the hills & dales are starting to turn green with autumn leaves coming out saw us at the infamous Mt Torrens, where Tom took 3 goes to get up due to not many knobs after only 400 k’s on the MT32 due to riding like his dad bought the bike. A few crashes saw most who were brave enough to venture down eventually get back up with Ken ecstatic about the power of his new 06 EXC450. Off we blasted with the next incident being lead & tail riders being chatted by a friendly policeman. Tom’s number plate was partly obscured due to an incident with a big mud hole on the previous day’s recon ride but he only had a licence check & for some reason he wanted my tail light to be vertical instead of horizontal. No bookings though as he had real crime to chase & off we went, only to have someone forget to turn in the direction a cornerman’s bike was pointing & the ride slowly ground to a halt until he was found & we took off again. Shortly after that we nearly had to throw a bucket of cold water on 2 blue bikes which were laying on top of each other in the middle of the road on a tight bend. Lots more scenic back road blasting saw us at Tungkillo for lunch.
More of the same after lunch with 2 going over the edge on a slippery cement culvert over a creek where many years ago a rider went fully submerged there when it was wet. Soon we came to the whoops which warmed the cockles of everyone’s heart then on to Palmer for more fuel for the thirsty orange beasts. Then to the railway line track for a blast before heading back over the ranges for the run home. Good tracks over this bit including the aforementioned mud hole which saw some in trouble traversing it. More fast back road blasting saw us back at the property where we dropped a few off at the cars so they could leave early, then back on to the property tracks the same way we had started, including 2 more down the lane instead of up the driveway again. Took in a few tracks we hadn’t done in the morning until a bit of chaos reigned when a corner was not marked. We soon found ourselves & headed back to the cars. Most packed up & left then with a few of us bbq’ing the snags Ken bought at lunch time & I raided the fridge for bread & beers. The call of the wives eventually came to fruition & all departed – meanwhile Tom had serviced the 525 ready for Easter, apart from fitting a new tyre which he will have to do during the week. I got up at 5am next day & serviced the DRZ so roll on Easter camp.
Mark Jarvis
Tailman