Herded the cows, fixed the 10,000L water loss they had caused & packed up just in time to be ready when Simon arrived to pick me up just after 6. Loaded up & headed for Macca’s at Gawler for tea. 5 turns at intersections later & we were in the drive thru. No more turns & 2 hours later we were at Melrose with a cast of thousands! Caught up with everyone at the pub then headed for bunkhouse beds. Up at sparrow fart to put on the new chain & sprockets which only came in Friday arvo! For some reason the rest of the mob complained about the noise, but they needed waking up so they would be ready on time anyway.
A swarm of locals arrived including an 06 EXC450 & a 525 with the lot – very impressive. So we had 36 riders! Like I said before, a cast of thousands. It would have been 37 but Dave R had to go back home for his size 13’s!! Doh! There’s a DNS nomination right there. Lots of families in camp with 3 ladies riding – good to see. Headed for the hills in cold but fine conditions & soon warmed up on the big green hills with spectacular views. There were easy routes for those so inclined. New girl Heidi was game & conquered most – very impressive. As was Becky throwing it away on a big tricky one which not many attempted. Gropey went to help a fallen rider part way up, wandered back down to spectate, then couldn’t find his bike when it was time to go. It was still half way up the hill! After lots of up hills & down dales we dropped down to the other side of the ranges & headed for Pirie for fuel & a late lunch. After lunch we took another equally scenic route back through rolling hills on back roads through forested areas with lots of tracks which we should be able to arrange access to in the future as we have public liability insurance. As usual a thirsty bike needed a drink on the way & we got back in chilly conditions before dark. There was a huge turnout for tea at the pub with some families having to go to the other pub due to a lack of room. After an excellent country pub good value big feed most adjourned to the campfire for the remainder of the evening.
Packed up in the morning & transported to Peterborough for day 2. Lost some, gained some to have 32 starters. Rode back roads through verdant cropping country to arrive at a property with a great track & a place for the kids to ride again, having been treated to a different property the previous day. We had a good hour or so to do as many laps of the property as we liked, not needing corner markers after the first lap as the route was well delineated on the ground by then. We then took more back roads to the Black Rock area where we headed for the hills for some very challenging rocky tracks with more magnificent views. We then headed back to town with one local riding back on a flat tyre. Finished with a great bbq & lots of bench racing after a top weekend. Many thanks to all the locals for the great weekend, especially Feathers for leading Saturday, Neil Sunday & Ken organising – plus all responsible for the bbq.