In a word........slippery,
muddy and slippery,
wet, muddy and slippery .
wet, muddy, slippery and wet and muddy and slippery and dry, slippery, sunny and wet and muddy and slippery.
dry, dry, sunny, slippery and wet.  Muddy, muddy, slippery dry and wet and slippery and snow (hail)!

Get the picture?

About 70  entrants braved the wet, slippery and muddy conditions of the Three Bridges Vinduro.  A big turnout of AMTRA members (Tony, Flipper,  Mat, Don, Peter, Zeb and me....and Gary, who wasn't riding) ensured we were well represented.  

I punted Gary's PE175 around for the day, and the small bore was the better choice for the day.  In trying conditions, I completed 5 laps of the 9k course (which was wet, muddy and slippery).  Zeb struggled a bit on the big bore IT490, while the others were all pretty happy with their cc choice.

All in all, a good day out.  Over now to others to add their experiences (and hopefully pictures).

By the way, it was wet, muddy and slippery, 

So what your saying is , Sergie , it was a tad wet and slippery then, are you?
And a bit muddy as well

So Three Bridges was in great form then, just the way it should be ridden.
Al

You want pics, you got pics!


The soaking that Melbourne got last night certainly made the conditions very different to last year. I think it may have also discouraged a few people from attending, as the turnout seemed a bit smaller than last year. There were certainly less big bore 4-strokes, and I had the only TT600 on the track.


 
AMTRA made a good showing with over half a dozen members attending - I really must invest in an AMTRA top, as I spoiled the look by not having one.
 

 
I took it easy on the first lap to see what the Oakleigh club had in store for us this time. It was a completely different track to last year, with many more up and down hill sections included. The track was much tighter overall, with lots of berms on corners and whoops throughout.
A loop of the track was about 8km in length.
 

 
Even at an initial slower pace, I still managed to clip a tree and stall the bike. I watched Mat zoom past on his IT as I was trying to get the TT to re-ignite.
 

 
After completing the first lap, I dropped some more air pressure from the tyres, and this combined with the now slightly chopped up riding surface improved the traction dramatically on the second lap.
 
The first gully on the lap was catching a few people out, as it was pretty greasy!


 

 
Part way round, I passed Zeb having a rest with his IT near the top of a hill – he said the 465 was a bit of a handful to ride in the slimy conditions, and from the number of people resting around the track, he wasn’t alone.
 
The track stayed ‘dryish’ until I stopped for lunch with 6laps under the belt. As I headed out on lap 7, the heavens opened and down came the rain & hail. This quickly turned the now softened loam into sloppy mud, and things got trickier. Bikes started to get caught up on the hills due to a lack of traction, and having to dodge around them meant slowing down and potentially getting stuck yourself.
The rain only lasted about 15 minutes, but changed the track conditions enormously.
 

 
On my 9^th lap, I caught up with Zeb again, who was looking a little warmish from trying to get the 465 to start. I said I would give him a hand if he was still there when I got back on the next lap, and zapped back to the start/finish area to grab a spare spark plug from Gary.
When I got back to where Zeb had been, he was gone, so I guess the IT decided to behave itself for him.
 
More rain arrived in time for me to start lap 11, but as the number of competitors was diminishing, the track conditions weren’t getting as degraded. I finished the day with 12 laps, so was pretty happy.
 

 
The mix of tighter track and wet conditions meant that I rarely hit 3^rd gear, let alone any thing higher for the whole day.
 
Washing the TT when I got home was a challenge in its own right – the clay wouldn’t soften, and I literally had to cut chunks of it off with the pressure washer. Took over an hour to get the bike clean!
 

Great report Flipper & Serge, thanks.

Poor little Zeb ..... 

Come on Zeb - I'm sure you enjoyed yourself at least a little bit

Three Bridges wet and slippery?? No way!!

seano wrote:
Yes, that about sums it up!

I had a very enjoyable day. I headed out on the first lap just after Pete, who was second out on course. Conditions were slippery but there was traction there. A few surprises on the first lap as hills appeared just around corners which meant the speed wasn't alway quite right. Managed to get around ok, passing Flipper on one hill but he looked like all was in control.

So I finished my first lap and got my medal and sticker so took them back to the car. Then set off for a second lap. This was a bit easier but stopped not far in to help a bloke on a much older bike who was having trouble on a little hill. I warned him there were some bigger ones to come and he might want to let the tyres down a bit.

With a bunch of bikes over the track it was chopped down to a dry layer and much easier to ride. I knew this when I heard the big T behind me and soon let him past and just could not keep up with him on the few longer uphills, as the big bore chewed them up.

By the time I got on the third lap I was feeling more in the groove and really making use of the berms to keep some speed up for the climbs I knew were around the corner. Sure enough on one of the longer climbs was the bloke who was having trouble on my third lap, but he was getting help from the sweeps so I left them to it. Was also going past a few others either having a rest or a lie down which made me feel better. A little bit later and went past Zeb who was getting a hard time as the 465 was not really playing nice but he signalled he was ok and I should keep going.

Getting back on the third I caught up with Serge and co, so had a quick chat and then headed out for a fourth lap. This one was fairly quiet as not so many out on the track. Towards the end of the lap there was old mate from lap 2, looking the worse for wear and with a bent gear lever. Gave him a push up a slight rise and then pointed him down a track that should lead him back to the pit area. Hope he got his medal as he definitely earned one. By the time I got back I was in need of a rest so headed back to the cars and found Serge there having lunch. After a quick bite we decided another couple of quiet laps were in order so we headed out just as some light rain started to fall. This made things quite interested and it was fun to watch the back of Serge's bike swap from side to side on the track.

After a few minor mishaps with the slippery conditions and feeling pretty stuffed at the end of the this lap decided to call it a day. Some were commenting on my tyres looked flat, but I think mud had got on the valve as there was no cap and it probably helped on the last lap. Anyway I was happy and feeling like it was a good time to stop. Loading the bike on the trailer and heading out the gate the rain really started to come down so was happy with that. Didn't get enough off the bike though and took a few shots at the pressure wash to get back to reasonably clean.

Then home in time to see the start of the F1 was gotta be happy with that.

Well run event and a lot of fun. Well done to the Oakleigh club.