27 eager starters arrived at Springton on a beautiful winter’s day to partake in their favourite pastime. Many were eager to hear how the Cape trip went from the only 2 participants who went who were allowed to ride again a week later (me & Burgo). After we all caught up with each others’ news 26 dirt riders headed off on time at 10am (Neil sloped off home on his motard kitted DRZ). After 1k we hit the dirt. Back roads & back tracks offering great views over the attendant hillside vistas took us to the clayton’s accommodation hill (namely cook’s hill). Thence to great roadside tracks not too whooped out & real creek crossings with water in them (it is the middle of winter after all). A DRZ suffered the renowned blubbering after whoops from a little water in the carb (undo that pesky 17mm drain plug at the bottom of the float bowl occasionally). At a regroup Stoney rang the shop to verify plenty of food & fuel on hand for lunch. More top back tracks eventually got us to a series of wombat holes where a couple of riders thought it was the lunch stop & tried to act like a wombat (eat their roots & leaves by endoing head first down their burrows). I think it was one of those XR4 riders who earlier had crashed in a gully & winded himself (obviously riding a little over his head). Headed for town then for lunch & fuel, with some bikes low on fuel as we had done a fair few k’s (mine probably needed a bit in order to make it to the end of the ride as I hadn’t refuelled since Mossman!).
Over the ferry to the shop. Uh oh, no fuel left & a shortage of pies! What to do? The hungry/quick ones got food, the rest headed 13k’s down the black top to Nildottie. Plenty food & fuel there, even premium, so I put a bit in to mix with the Qld brew. After a while Gropey arrived to advise that the others had got fuel at the closed servo because the owner went there for fuel for himself. Back we went to Swan Reach to discover that the irate owner of the OTHER shop which Stoney had arranged to resupply us was looking for us to sell all these pies he had got in & put on extra staff to cover the rush hour! Stoney had hightailed it over the ferry to escape the heat, but we went to the other shop to do the right thing & have a second lunch & fill any bikes that had only taken on enough to finish the ride. However the owner said it was too late as he had closed up but thanked us for the effort. After all this fiasco it was 3pm, fairly late for the end of the lunch stop, so the call went out, no stopping & no flat tyres. We achieved this because Merv was not there & after a great return ride over the ranges including monos by some through the river on the road to amuse the attendant spectators after a muddy crossing which some wimped out on & Ken only didn’t due to peer group pressure we arrived back at the cars about 5pm. Of course, as there was a pub nearby those with trailer lights (take note Paul) had a few cleansing ales before heading home to their beloveds.
Thanks to Stoney for nearly organising a top day.