Al, Mick, Brenndon,Paul and myself left the off loading area about 1/2 an hour later than I had hoped due to some idiot leaving his keys behind to unlock mine an Als bikes from my trailer,, so with that sorted the 5 of us set off in absolutely excellent riding conditions albeit cold, but not for long as the tracks I had in mind would soon warm us up, which they did indeed.  Unfortunately Brendon who suffers from asthma felt an attack coming on and made the right decision to pull the pin early on with only about 13 Ks done, followed soon after by Paul when he decided to pull the pin also as one of his grips had come loose and riding Stradbroke like that would have been an accident waiting to happen, so that left the 3 of us to continue on....  The first real challenge was a hill that has always gotten the better of me and with a weeks worth of rain on it it proved to be a challenge again,, a couple of drops on the way up and a lot of mud everywhere I finally got to the top, the only hill and mud to be found anywhere near Stradbroke I might add,, nonetheless fun. From here into Stradbroke proper,, tight narrow tracks,,open sandy woops and, tight sandy woops,  we really only scratched the surface of the place but after 70 k's I was starting to feel the bite of Stradbroke and made the decision to start heading back to the trailers. So with 89 ks on the clock and a few sore muscles Steadbroke had won again,,, thanks to Brendon for his short stint as tail and Al for taking over that role.   Bring on the first of August- Stradboke I'll be back.

Thanks Johnny for posting up this ride, had an absolute blast,  good mix of trails,   Couple of  nasty little hillclimbs , I liked the first more than the second one , only because I made it up the first , that muddy one really got the heart pumping , the whoops also got the the heart rate up, still can't hit them flat out, tried riding to the side, then side to side  like a pinball , more practice is needed,  enjoyed trying to keep up with Johnny in the tight ST with no luck , he was putting on fair pace up the front, very enjoyable day out on the bike , good weather , good trails , good company, can't ask for much more , thanks Al for going sweep, hope that Paul and Brendon made it back to the cars safely , thanks again and hope to see you all on the 1st, cheers Mick

AWSOME ride as always Johnny.
After a S%#T week and the start of the flu, always knew this was going to punish the body. But hey, would i ride any other way. The drive out fro the DeGoey's was very cold Saturday morning, this was evedent by each bus stop we passed on the way been full of polar bears and penguine families pissing off for a warmer climate.
The ride took all of 10mins to have us warmed up and into some amazing riding. Was a shame to have Brendon and Paul leave us early. And with just the three of us the flow and lack of rest just stepped up as tailman it was just nod at each corner and we were underway again. Anyone attending the ride propper at the start of August is in for a real treat!!!!!! Maybe a good idea to deep heat the arms when you get in the car to head for home though? As i can see cramps been very common on the trip home
Thanks Johnny and all that attendend the ride, was an absolute ball!!!!!!
See you all in August, Al