First, I'd like to say thankyou to everyone who contributed to making this year's HCR the success it was. I know that it would not be such a success unless each one of you was willing to put up your hand to help.
Given my recent propensity for flats I thought it best for me not to ride in the event, lest I become a hindrance instead of a help. However, I did plan to ride on Monday and I went about canvassing anyone who was interested to join me. After some very positive noises from the hangers-on at the dugout camping area on Sunday arvo, on Monday morning I found they'd decided to go home instead.
In the end, Mat Richmond, Gareth Tyler and I headed up the Abbeyard road towards Schultz Tk. and beyond. With just three riders, we kept a good pace, stopping occasionally to check the map. I normally take a navigator but this time the navigator had child-minding duties (I'm pretty sure Mat had a good idea of where we were as we went along, but he kindly let me confirm the route on the map).
We rode till we found Whites Tk. and that's when Mat found the prayer about his 'leaking' front tyre was unanswered and we had to find somewhere to stop and change it. A suitable log was located (in shade) and Mat made good time of replacing the tube whilst telling Gareth and me about getting back into trail riding, all the bikes he'd owned, how he found AMTRA and in a few short years had become HCR co-ordinator and Club president.
With Mat's bike fixed, we continued uneventfully til the river crossing at the bottom where we found Humphrey Tk. and Riley's Tk. Misunderstanding my directions, Gareth took off up Riley's Tk and Mat chased him down (up?) having been aided by an oncoming 4WD which caused Gareth to slow down. Next we headed up Humphrey Tk. to Penny Tk. and down down down down down. I paced myself on Gareth's speed downhill (which is usually faster than mine). We crossed the stream at the bottom and waited for Mat, and waited, and waited.
It was nearly time to consider going for a look when he turned up. When we asked what took him so long, he replied that he'd run out of brakes half way down the hill, to which Gareth replied, "if you didn't have any brakes, why weren't you quicker?" Mat decided to see if cooling his brakes in the river would help (it didn't), then said he was going to take it easy heading off down the road. He'd suggested we go up a short way to Razor Tk. "because it's a lot of fun."
So Gareth and I headed to Razor and it was a lot of fun! About 2/3 of the way along, Gareth who was leading (by a bike length) stopped and asked if there was much further to go (it felt like the old, "are we there yet?") to which I replied, "a couple of uphills, nothing too challenging then downhill all the way to the road". On the last downhill Gareth dropped off some pace and I passed him (or was I riding quicker because I knew the track well?). Mat was waiting for us there and we agreed to make it a cruisey ride back to Abbeyard. I stopped at Catherine station and waited. After a while I relieved myself, then waited some more. Then I read all the plaques at Catherine Station and waited a little longer. After an interminably long time I cautiously headed back up the road wondering whatever could have happened in a cruisey ride to cause them to take so long. it was about 2km along that I found them merrily waving a thumbs-up at me as they sailed past without explanation. (What had happened was Gareth had overdone it, physically, and had stopped for a hurl or two). I did a quick yuey and fell in behind them, stopping to de-arrow the trees (2) that yesterday's (or last year's) post sweeps had missed. in fact, de-arrowing took me so long that when I arrived back at Abbeyard, Mat was just heading out to check if I was okay.
Thanks Mat and Gareth for accompanying me on a great ride with some interesting stories (Mat) and good camaraderie and support.
Footnote:
When we got back we found everyone gone (except Bruce and David) and the portaloos still onsite. I packed up my stuff and said goodbye to Mat, Bruce, Gareth and David. Then I called the hire company to find out when they were coming. They confirmed the combination with me (they already knew it!) and I got ready to leave. As I locked up the sheds, the portaloo truck arrived so I thought I'd wait for them to finish. That was until I saw how long the first loo took to load, so I confirmed they would lock the gate and left them to their business.
I'll be back tomorrow to collect the many items that wouldn't fit in my car and to take the remaining full slabs/cartons back for a refund. I'll bring the opened ones (slabs/cartons, not cans) to the April club meeting for sale.
Thanks again to everyone for your participation in this year's AMTRA-Suzuki High Country Ride.
