Ripper weekend of big ups & big downs around the Glenaladale - Dargo area.

Since Garry wimped out with some feeble excuse, Wilbur took the reigns & led us around.... He only did this to ensure a nice , dust free  ride !

The tracks were generally nice open fire trailswith only one nasty steep, loose uphill that caused a bit of grief for old, unfit, no bike time geriatrics ( Me) & one young German tourist ( Christian) who weighed about 40kg, riding a DRZ that weighed about 250kg We did that hill on both days, the first day Christian had a bit of a meltdown, but to his credit, he came back on day 2 & beat the bastard  !!!  Woohoo !  Good stuff ! 

Day 1 we covered about 170klm, with lunch & re-fuel at the Wonangatta Caravan Park.  We were in awe of the friendly & courteous hospitality shown to us........................ not !  lady in charge flatly refused to take a group photo when Christian asked in his most polite German accented way.

In order to keep his record intact, Matt got a flat  !!

Saturday night saw the group of hard livin , hard ridin dirt bike legends pretty much whacked  !!  Matt snuk off to bed at about 7.30  & Rudi kept looking out to the setting sun saying things like ïs it dark yet ? .  But the lucky ones that stayed up were kept enthralled by Willbur's  detailed description of how Willbur rubs his dogs scrotum when it gets into bed with him..... WTF  ??? I think Johnny & I will have nightmares for weeks !!!

Day 2 was a quick 100klm....... another flat tyre ( Me ) Rudi stayed back at camp due to some nasty Ï want to explode"type noises coming from his bike........... but I suspect it was a hoax, cause when we got back, Rudi was showing a VERY keen interest in the cute young chicky babe who was grooming horses...................

Great Weekend  Thanks all.

Well done Will for picking up the ride leader role with Gary been out of action at the last minute.

The ride flowed very well, the dust hung around really well, then rocks rolled around under you really well  and the water in the rivers pi%*ed off really well.
As Grandpa said only one real hill that cause any real issues and apart from dust the tracks were is great condition. Day one saw me ride 17ks back to help Johnny with a very exhausted Kristen. That was a cool blast back though with no dust or slower riders (yes I know, Al said slower riders!!)Once I arrived and saw Johnny and Kristen I got to ride back another 5ks to Matt to send him back to Will, then 5ks back to Johnny and Kristen. (ow what a horrible job) Once back with Johnny and Kristen, we got Kristen turned around and pointed him down the hill he, Matt and Johnny had worked so hard to get up, and lead him and easier way round to regroup with Will. Kristen got down with some advice and some cringes from Johnny and I. We also closed our eyes as he approached a 4wd now blocking most of the track on a down hill that was near impossible to stop on. As Kristen squeezed past I road the rest with him section by section. Whilst Johnny gave 4wd driving lessons and let the tyres presures  down to the couple in the 4wd. That where out there alone, still running full high way preasures and considering reversing back down the hill. (statistic waiting to happen!!!!!!!)
All down and regroup, Will soon had us flowing again back to the property. Showers, food, talking s$%t and early to bed.

Day 2 was a lot of the same tracks as day 1 as no one had Garry's day 2 loop at hand. Once again Will lead us around well after only a quick chat at look at the map in the morning. Kristen faced up to his hill again after saying he wanted to beat it. And with Matt, Johnny and myself taking turns of pushing and riding we had Kristen at the top. Although the look on his face when Johnny and Mick decided to ride back down the hill to have some fun riding back up. The group rode off as  I waited for the boys to return and then Johnny and I had a great hoot along until we caught the group.

Had a good weekend, good rides, and good laughs.
Will did a good job of leading.
Johnny did a good job of Tail man for two days.
Kristen did very well with such limited dirt bike time. And after only one Amtra ride, to two days in the high country with some real hills and ks he should hold his head high. But also by a tattslotto ticket as well that he wasn't hurt after been put in that situation?
Al

Grandpa wrote: Scrotum, where do you come up with these stories Grandpa, my dog does not have a scrotum any more, they where cut off, but yes he does get itchy where they use't to be,  as you would have a continual itch if your balls where cut off, and at times I may feel sorry for the poor little bastard having his balls cut off so on occasion I might just give him a little scratch but remember it was all about the horse laddies giving there horses a little scratch not so much me :}
Anyway as far as the weekend was concerned I had an absoloute ball terror of a time :} very little dust from where I was riding, Bullant was a blast as usual and to find a defined line on the trails yesterday morning from the day before to follow was shut hot. Loyd Knob was grouse, as was Calajero and Lee Creek Tracks. Yes Kristian was out of his depth at times but in true AMTRA style everyone pitched in with helpful advice accept Rudi who kept trying to get him to Race as Al kept whipping Rudi's tail and he was looking for someone he could beat.
The lovely Lady at the Banjo playing petrol station was certainly something to be desired to be away from :} 
It was great to have Pommy Mat back on his bike, now can someone in the club please send him a membership renewal so we can get him to be a member once again.
A big thanks to all who did come as we had a few who broke down before the weekend with Gary pulling out with Kidney stones and Rossi with Asbestosis, Bill with an injury sustained whilst hanging curtains apparently, Zebby with a funeral to attend and Ken R with an expensive operation to pay for on his little doggy, Uncle Ted was ordered to stay home, Colin P with a sore leg, maybe he has been hanging out with the horse laddies whilst they do there thing to there horses :}, but it was awesome to ride with Al , Mick, Steve, Rudi, Johnny and Matt again, and to Kristian good effort mate but perhaps next time Matt Richmond puts you down for such a ride he should man up and tag along to help you out when required . But all jokes a side, Kristian thanks for coming along and giving every thing a go :}.
The sad part of the weekend was seeing the devastation caused to Ron and Annes property from the recent bush fire and they did an awesome job saving there home and the barn and I can only hope they have a quick recovery from what would have to have been the scariest moment anyone could have had to face in there life. 
Anyway a big thank you goes to the 7 victims who did turn up, I hope I didn't ware you out to much, and a speedy recovery to Rudi's 300 who sounds very sick. Till next time Will. 

 What a great weekend,, bob was off walking so what better thing to do than go riding -yeeha!
 Al swung by my place Friday afternoon and off we went,, arrived at the property to be met with a sad sight as the recent fires had wrecked havoc up there- as they do,, Ron and Anne had done a fantastic job in saving the "barn" and their own house, the fire had burnt right up to both buildings..
 Saturday saw us off with me picking up the tail,,  a good run to lunch with the tracks in nice condition,, Kristian  had a baptism of fire on some steep ups and downs, and the obligatory put downs for someone with little experience on this type of terrain,, you get to see it all as tailman .  Lunch done and a then the "hill' not really a drama, but for Kristian it became his nemesis,  at this stage Matt had offered to give me a break from tail and let me off the leash, so boy oh boy did I have fun on that hill .. I  waited at the next corner and used the uhf to let Will know I would SLOWLY and carefully head back,, sure enough Kristian was having problems with traction on the loosest part of the hill, he soon burnt himself. Matt headed off to let the others know as we were in a black radio spot. Al soon came back and the decision was made that down would be better than up, so we rejoined the others soon after.  A quick blast back home as Matt once again let me off the leash, thanks mate
  A few well deserved beers a feed and early to bed for us as we had another day of riding top do tomorrow, but not before a disturbing account of Will and his affection for his dog,, I do believe I need therapy after hearing that;)
 Sunday saw us retrace part of yesterdays loop back to the "hill"  with a bit of help from his new amtra friends Kristian made the top, onya mate .   Mick and I just had to have another go ,, lotsa fun.  Al waited for us and then a quick blast to catch the others.. a nice ride back from there, but before going past where Gary got "sticked" last year, I recognised that in a heartbeat even coming from the other direction, and then at the bottom poor kristian decides to ride into instead of around the branch of a tree that was laying across the track to be very unceremoniously dumped on the ground, that was the first time I heard him swear for the whole weekend,, even in german it sounded like f&%k, as he's quickly unzipping himself to makesure everything is as it should be - your on your own there mate, I aint performing no first aid down there,, thankfully he had one of those and two of these the way god intended.
  After grandpa's flat was fixed it was back to "barn", not before being let off the leash once again by Al this time, thanks mate:up:. Back at the Barn  and a quick shower ,pack the gear and home in time for most of the last race of the Clipsal,, awesome...............
    Big thanks to Gary for organising the ride, bigger thanks to Will for stepping up and running the ride at such short notice , thanks to Matt and Al for giving me a break from tail, yeeha:D., thanks also to everyone else who came and made this a great weekend,  and best thing is the blue pig didn't let me down, yay!.  Rudi,, no you can't have a horse,, I know you took bags of poo home to get used to the smell of one but NO you cant have one.............................................................................

After reading the ride reports all I have to say to you lot is BASTARDS  ..........  This was one ride I didn't want to miss especially after doing the pre rides but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be ....  Sounds like a great weekend and great to hear their were  no issues to speak of except a flat or two .

Can anyone tell me if when you fixed Mats flat if the tube you pulled out already had two patches on it ....

Ok ,I will keep this short, Big thanks to Will for the duty's up front, Johnny down the back in the dust and Matt  and Al for giving him a rest.
As I rocked up to the Barn and was amazed at how close the fire came to destroying  the main buildings, a brave effort by Ron and Anne for not packing up and leaving and to stay and fight the fires. Was greeted by Al, Will, Johnny, Matt, Steve  and the three Horse ladies with the conversation mainly being about Bikes vs Horses vs Bikes ,good job by the boys for holding back on the horsey comments. Rudi and Kris arrived  soon after. Dinner was cooked and a few more hours  of Horseys vs Bikes Vs Horseys and I was off to bed . Ride details are pretty much covered  but I will add that I really enjoyed the the big ups and the big downs and  fast flowing fire trails, 170 odd Ks and back to the barn and a mad rush for one of the showers to wash the dust off , Dinner , got the fire going ,Horse ladies had gone home so the conversion was more about bikes, dust, large rocks , small boulders, dust, small rocks , sharp sticks, dogs bollocks and dust. Suns down off to bed. Woke up to a scorpion in my Tshirt, After brekkie I threw on my dusty gear and were of again to Kristian's hill, big effort by him on the 400 to get it up to the top, Thanks everybody for waiting to let Johnny and I have another go, much harder when you can see where you are going. 100 odd Ks later back to the barn, took a couple of photos . 
                                                              Thanks all for a great weekend 

Spewing I missed this w'end, was really looking forward to it. Good to see everyone had a great time. 
Docs are still trying to work out why I ain't breathing properly, hopefully back out on the bike soon...

What a ripper ride.

Thanks Will for an awesome weekend well done.
Thanks Gaz for organizing it sorry you missed it.
Christian arived at my place friday arvo and we headed out to Glenaladale not knowing what to expect.
We arived around 6:30 and found 6 blokes chatting with some very Horsey ladies that had come out to do some horse riding..........

Sat morning we headed out on a very dusty trail but spreading out a bit the dust soon settled Will of course didn't believe that it was dusty at all.
The trails were a good mix of fire trails and some steep ups and downs.
Al was in race mode.
Did about 170 k's on the day and returned back to the Barn.As we pulled up Will said that my 2stroke KTM was making a bit of a knocking sound.
And it sure did it sounded like a 4 stroke without a silencer.
Well that was the end of my ride but lucky for all i made it back to the barn.

Sunday morning came along and i was appointed to be Barn Bitch and do the clean up. 

At about 1:30 seven weary riders appeared and we packed up and left.

Thanks to Johnny and Matt for doing Tail man and for helping Christian.

And thanks to all for a great weekend.
And for those who didnt make it  you guys missed a  ripper ride.

Rude I'm not sure if I thanked you for being the barn bitch but you did an awesome job cleaning up after the 7 other pigs. THANKS MATE

Yep sorry I couldn't make it ,  thought I had food poisoning  early Thursday morning, ended up in hospital , was diagnosed with 3 x kidney stones,  
Big thanks to Will for stepping in at the last minute and taking over the weekend glad you all had a good time.

Cheers, Gary