Looking at the weather  forecast we all knew today was going to be hot and maybe dusty   !  But boy am I glad we all made the effort to get out there and ride today. Great to catch up with familiar faces and meet some new ones.

We departed from the car park into the Marysville triangle and soon found that the dust to be a complimentary spray tan for us all  

From there we headed across the hwy to Narbethong which soon led to Phil asking if anyone was up for an ADVENTURE  . Rode some tracks which he hadn't done for a while which put us through the paces of riding downhill on some challenging rocks or should I say boulders in my eyes.  Did more exploring, checking the map to see where we were lol.

Winch Hill is a new challenge hill for me to try to make it up first go. Will be interesting to see what is like after a little rain. All made it up was  good to see.

Lunch was at Buxton under the shade of trees and a well needed break from the heat and a refuel.

Was enjoying the ride so much forgot the details after this I am sure others with chime in and fill the gaps   Apparently a few minor offs one being a little bit more but everyone finished the ride.Was surprised to see 123kms on the clock for the day we were back at the cars by 3pm.

A big thanks to Phil for putting these rides up as a monthly event that we all enjoy. Thanks to Hubby Luke who swept the whole day (and didn't have to pick up my bike once  ) and got a free dust spray tan too  

As always a great group of people to ride with.

Cheers

Deb

Things were looking hopeful on the way through the Black Spur - there was fairly heavy fog, and the roads were wet with the mist. I kept my fingers crossed that it was like this at the Triangle too, as maybe it would settle the dust, but unfortunately it wasn't to be. Once I reached Dom Dom Saddle, it was into bright sunlight, and no sign that the fog had ever been there.

15 riders braved the heat and dust, and we set off at 9am with Phil hinting at an 'Adventure' out on the tracks. We started off sticking fairly close together like any other ride, but the dust made things difficult to see, and was just causing problems. Frankie decided that it wasn't much fun inhaling all of Marysville's top soil, and decided to make the trip back home instead - he had travelled a couple of hours to get there, so it was a pity that the dust spoilt his day.

Eventually common sense prevailed and the pack spread out, reducing the dust problem. We did a few of the usual tracks, and then travelled over to the other side of the highway to play in some of the terrain that Phil hadn't visited in a while. There were a couple of challenges, and a few mishaps, including a bit of a tweak to the shoulder ligaments of shercophil when he discovered a pothole caused by a partially collapsed drain. On the plus side, there were no mechanical issues for the day, and the ride flowed well all day.

After 100kms of cruising about, it was into Buxton for some lunch and refuelling. The shade trees and picnic ground beside the servo were almost blissful after being out in the sun all morning, and I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed the break.

I decided to see how economical my new toy was, and managed to squeeze in just under 5 litres before the tank was full. It was too full in fact, as I discovered riding off from the servo that the breather vent was spraying my back with pressurised fuel - Oh well, lesson learned!

It was then a 20 km scoot through the trails to the Marysville side of the highway, and eventually back to the cars. The new bike did everything that I expected of it, and was great fun to ride!

Thanks everyone (and especailly Phil and Luke) for another fun day, and I look forward to the next one.

Peter D

Some happy snaps from the video (I'll try to get some more up tomorrow):

Heading Out


Our intrepid leader


And the pack rolls by...
























Phil taking his 'Adventure Trails' to the extreme


Sorry Colin - looks like the camera WAS rolling!


The aircleaner got a real workout today!

So im stopped at the traffic lights in Healesvile and i need to use my windscreen wipers  because of the light rain or is that just mist , what ever it is i am thinking this is going to be great.Head up through the spur and the road is damp and the sky overcast but as i reach the top i am greeted by blue sky and sunshine oh well guess its going to be dusty afterall.
     I had planned on getting to the starting point  early as i had been having trouble withe the electric start on the Sherco and i wanted to make sure it started fine and all was OK.I expected to be first but Pete was already there with his new AJP and boy did it look the part.
             Soon after  the rest of the crew turned up and after the usual run through we were off.The leccy start on the Sherco was intermittantly shit but other than that it was running great and apart from the dust it was a great ride.Unfortunately the dust persisted and on a easy right hand corner i failed see a hole in the track and had a reasonably hard fall landed on my shoulder , bumped my head and basically screwed up my ride( thanks Mustaffa for not running me over ).What rubbed salt in the wounds was the fact that Phil went exploring and we rode some different and awesome tracks and i was purely in survival mode.While the road was smooth and boring i was fine but on all the good bits i was f

---

.Anyway it was a good excuse to go home and indulge in some alcoholic anti inflamitries and i reckon another 1 or 2 of them and i will be ready for bed.
 Thanks Phil for leading the ride and a big thanks too Luke for tailman duties [specially for looking after me} and everyone else on th

Here is a little video clip from the ride (if I can get it to embed into the post)...

[video]Mr7KnJwOCd0[/video]

January in Marysville, there was alwaysgoing to be dust and plenty of it. At times the dust was so thick I had to pull over
to the side as I just couldn’t see where I was going, it didn’t take long to
clear then I was off again. The group soon worked out by hanging back made it
better for everyone.Phil set a really good pace, leading usaround some familiar and not so familiar tracks. This made the ride really
interesting as the new tracks were long rocky descents meaning everyone had to
stay focused. It was at the start of one these when I hit something on the
track, the front wheel just shot out and I was down smelling the roses at the
side of the track. Luckily no harm done other than it looks like Pete got it
all on camera. With over 100km on the clock I was glad to see the cars. Driving
out of the parking area it was showing 36 degrees as the outside temperature,
no wonder we were getting tired. Thanks to Phil for another great Marysville ride
and to Luke for being tail for the day. Cheers Colin