24 riders took up the ongoing monthly Marysville ride, this time led by Michael (in Phil's stead).

The weather turned out pretty much perfect for this outing - the tracks in the triangle area were nice and grippy, and we even had a bit of dust at times.
 
Surprisingly, on the Dom Dom Saddle side of the trails, the red clay was still EXTREMELY greasy, and there were lots of deep puddles to be found.

There was the usual entertainment happening at times when the rear ends of the bikes wanted to swap lead with the front ends. I almost ran over one poor soul as his bike decided to lay down completely across the track right in front of me.

Thankfully, there were only a couple of minor mechanical hiccups, and the whole day flowed really well - we covered just over 100kms, and finished at 4pm.

I had a ripper ride on the little XR200, and couldn't resist getting into a bit of play-racing with Pat on his trusty XR200. Unfortunately, this came to a sudden stop at one point when I failed to notice one of the anti-erosion culverts across the track, and got a bit of 'unexpected air-time'. Luckily the XR only suffered damage to its indicators, and for me, well, it was only to my pride.

Thanks Michael, for keeping the ride going for another month, and to Ian and Rossi for being our tailmen for the day.

Here's some footage of the ride, finishing off with the little XR and I landing in the dirt...

[video]HQmFtqyIwOk[/video]

"Awesome, didn't eve see that !!" Gold. Great work Flip...

XR200 dragging off modern bikes left right and center.

Wow Flipper. Great video that little xr really flys.

If that was me, the reaction might have been along the lines of......................
"F%^$&$^&$(*^(k, I just broke every bone in my body"

I had a front row seat to that crash. It look terrible. But it did save me from doing the same thing.

Thanks for the ride Peter.
That red front guard reminds me of all the XR's we had at Gaffneys.

Thank goodness for body armour aea Pete

Yep - the body armour of today is far, far superior to the stuff that was around when that little XR first came out. Based on the multitude of crashes that my Dainese pressure suit has copped over the years, I think it was a very worth-while investment.

In the 1980's, I considered myself lucky to be wearing a padded jersey, open face helmet and gloves.

Thanks for the reminder about Gaffs, Onion - the only time I got to ride an XR up there was on Adrian's XR600 which I had borrowed for a weekend. Other than that, it was usually the off-white of a Can-Am front guard that I got to see.

Thanks for the ride Pete, looked like great weather and not much dust - until the end bit of course - 

Come on - I need to know - how were the "Fruit Flans"