Luckily the 36 degree day was the previous day, so the 20 intrepid riders had a cool day with some drizzle to help lay the dust.
Simon had the new Husky 510 out & Merv liked his DRZ400 so much that he sold it to his son & fronted with a brand spanker (with .4k’s on the dial at the start)! Obviously getting ready for Cape York, as was Darren having his first time out after giving his collar bone 6 months to heal – it was ok.
We got away at 9.30am & within 5 minutes were in donga. Lots of back roads & tracks to enjoy & all were appropriately careful when crossing busy roads which criss-crossed our ride. Plenty of great scenery to admire while zipping along the byways, especially when we stopped to play on a bit of a hill.
Now Bob T got woken early by Tom & I arriving to collect our bikes after the Easter trailer drama with time for Tom to adjust the valves in Bob’s excellent workshop – plenty of room, lots of storage space, Tv/video, fridge & air cond! I think Bob spends plenty of time out there (as you would with 4 daughters in the house!).
He was not quite with it all day. He stalled a couple of times that I saw & on the play hill he had a rush of blood to the head, both before he hit the hump too hard & after he nearly went over the bars & then high sided onto his head. Then he had another go & did a similar endo, although not quite as spectacular, but still deserving of applause.
Lots more good tracks took us to the railway line track where a gulch was hidden by dust & a DRZ400 rider (no, not me) hit it too hard & crashed hard, but mostly hurt his pride & after collecting his thoughts he rode on briskly (as you do).
Along here Tom needed help over a tricky railway bridge so he didn’t fall down the gulch (thanks Darren). A bit further on Merv showed us where all his rellies are buried & then we headed for Garage Motorcycles in Strath for fuel, food & a perv on the Aprilias on show/sale there. Well worth a look if down that way.
This was morning lunch for breakfast missers & thirsty bikes (mostly orange). Thence more twisty, windy, uppy & downy tracks in & out of drizzle while viewing more good scenery until proper lunch at Mt Compass.
Top food at that bakery. New member Craig the shift worker left us here, so with the departure of the 2y we were down to 19 4-strokes (my how times have changed).
We headed for the infamous HILL where only a few had a go. A certain P plater on a KTM250 showed how it is done & then went up to help a crashed XR4 & then rode down with lots of control, unlike another rider who came down so fast all of our eyes were bulging – thank God for the escape route at the bottom.
After that we headed for the beach, rode along for a while until a lady advised Paul that the bollards there were to stop bikes as well as cars (despite the lack of any sign), & was impressed when he politely apologised, turned around & took us out another way.
Good PR Paul. Another hour or so of more tracks with some sandy bits took us to a local minibike track, where we watched the only rider using all the suspension he had until he overstepped the mark & endoed spectacularly.
Dad rushed in & wiped away the tears & off he bravely went again, so we gave him a cheer & headed back to the cars.
Tom got sucked in following 2 riders who went direct for home, but soon realised the folley of his ways & got directions from them, so I had wasted my time going to rescue him (although I did think twice about it – but couldn’t stand the thought of 2 kids crying in 1 day!). A nice early finish for those of us who had a long trip home again.
Thanks for a top ride Paul.