There were 9 of us making up the group for the ride around Marysville today.

Track conditions were ‘testing’ – by that I mean, not quite treacherously slippery, but still greasy enough to catch you out if you let your attention lapse. The rain held off for the entire day, and we even had a smidgen of blue sky early on, but the tracks were definitely classed as ‘wet’.

I had been out riding with most of the guys before, so I knew the competency of the majority of the group. The trek up to the top of the first hill showed that everyone was dealing with the wet clay pretty well, so I figured that the ride level could be stepped up a bit.

We did the usual early tracks in the’ Triangle’, and then popped across the highway to play in the slimier conditions on the Narbethong side of the road. Those tracks certainly lived up to my expectations, and showed that even the simplest looking trails can be challenging when some water has been added. A few blokes were having trouble with traction on the greasy hills, so we decided to head back towards Marysville and down to the creek-side lunch spot for a bite to eat.

After lunch, it was over to the Dom Dom Saddle side of the road, and more greasy tracks. I tried to execute an emergency stop at one point, but failed miserably, and I ended up with a nice branding of mud down one side of my body – I don’t think I was alone in that respect.

A few tight overgrown trails helped to keep our body temperatures up, and before we knew it, the 100km distance mark was looming close. Phil promptly ran out of fuel, but thankfully had a spare litre in his backpack. One of the other bikes was found to have scored a front puncture, so it was decided to make a beeline back to the cars.

We left the car park at around 3pm, with 112km showing on my speedo. Thanks for the enjoyable day everyone, and especially to Mark for going tailman again. The ride flowed really well, and we managed to cover lots of ground.

Definitely a typical winters ride at Marysville , it was cold , the tracks were wet slippery and muddy (there is a red patch on my driveway where i hosed the bike down) but it was great fun.Thanks for another terrific day on the bikes Peter and Mark and i am sure i am not alone in being very appreciative of your efforts keeping the monthly Marysville ride going.

Thanks Pete for putting the ride on and for Mark being our Tail Man. I just want to add a little bit about my experience on the day with grip. I've fitted two new Bridgestones. The Front had 8psi in a heavy duty tube and in the rear I had 4psi with a Tubliss (Tube/Rimlock set up).  I've heard Mark talking about these Tublisses for a while and seen his tyres looking almost flat and how it gets traction everywhere. I was amazed at the traction and grip I got. I used lines I would never use in the wet up there and the confidence and grip I got was incredible. You can run 0 to 10 psi so 4 was conservative so as the tyre looses it's edge I could easily drop it to 2 to get more grip. Very happy with the product and can't wait to go riding again.

Thanks to Pete and Mark once again., had a great day out, it was so slippery which made it even more fun and challenging,  I'm gonna have to look at these tubliss as well any help in those conditions will help, I recon i had a cubic metre of red clay come off the bike when washing.

Thanks Pete for putting the ride on and as said earlier for keeping Phil's monthly meet going.
I haven't been on one of the Marysville rides for a while and I only decide to go on the morning of the ride, glad I did as I had a ball.
I have put a couple of videos together so you can see what the ride unfolded for the nine of us, unfortunately I missed some of the middle overgrown tracks.
Thanks again Pete for leading and Mark doing a short burst in the front and obviously for being the pick up man.
Great group.
And yes, as Michael has mentioned, I think I'm also going to join the Tubeless crew.

Forgive my breathing at times, its a downfall of the camera on the front of the helmet.
Part 1 before lunch.
Part 2 to come.







Thanks.

Thanks for the video Michael - being up front means that I don't get to see much of the action back in the pack.

Glad everyone enjoyed the ride!

Part 2

The bike started on it's own battery this time hooray. Now I just have to figure out the sudden stop problem after going over erosion mounds. I've read they made the carby's so small the float can get stuck which would make sense for this problem as she starts again straight away, thank god!!! Time to get to know the inside of the carby in a bit more detail. Failing this I'll be looking at the electrical connects or maybe I will just do both. 

Thanks Pete and Mark for all your good work and thanks Michael for the video. Colin