Some 18 months ago i came up with an idea to do the Canning Stock Route ( CSR ) on bikes unsupported...... before i go any further feel free to pause , breathe ,have a drink or go to the toilet at you own free will ( i'm crap at punctuation ) 2 guys from advrider with Mark Salter and myself from Amtra started planning. So towards the end of July Mark and i set off in the Subaru with no room to spare and two heavy Suzuki DR 650's in tow.
Arrive in Alice Springs we met up with Dick and Don, the 2 advriders, Don on a DR 650 Dick on a KTM 640. Guys did a bit of shopping unloaded the bikes then proceeded to organize the gear. Needless to say i had a late night. Next morning we headed off with only 35 litres in the main tank and 10 litres on the rear rack the bikes were nowhere near their true weight for the csr. mind you our back packs weighed around 12 kg , rear bag 18 kg , side panniers around 17 kg each side. All this included 55 muesli bars ,12 cans of tuna , 2 cans of soup ,sakata biscuits ,14 dehydrated large meals and a total of 12 liters of water. When we arrived at Billiluna, around 900 km later, to top up the main tank to 35 liters and an extra 20 liters in the panniers we only did 51 km of good sand to our first camp site on the csr. Spirits were high, the going was good.
Next day more of the same with excellent views along the way around day 2 and 3 we hit the harder sand some of the guys having a harder time dropping the bikes and getting trapped underneath the early dunes were more like the Simpson Desert plenty of run up straight up and over but we soon found the harder dunes running along the dune then a sharp turn left or right difficult on bikes weighing around the 200 kg at this stage trying to make a clean run if you didn't 60 to a 100 meters of paddling and if you drop it someone coming back to help pick up your bike walking back to help some one took a lot of energy and water after a couple of days my bike played up luckily between Mark , Dick and Don they solved the problem over the next few days the days were the same always slappy sticks hitting the bars constantly good views wells to see deep sand hard dunes exhaustion totally hating my dehydrated meals and running seriously low on water when riding it was extremely difficult to keep an eye on the speedo or GPS to give you an idea where some turn offs were to some wells are we missed a crucial one not having the energy to go back over difficult sand and dunes we allowed for 2 liters of water a day we were drinking 5 to 6 liters but we pushed on regardless
good news wasn't far away with a group of 4wd,s giving us all around 7 liters of water each we finally arrived at Kunawarritja a place to refuel the bikes stock up on food shower and wash clothes this next half we were hoping to be a bit easier but more of the same your concentration level was paramount if it wasn't for slappy sticks constantly hitting your bars , shoulders and arms knocking you off balance,'corrugations and difficult rutted sand the lower the well numbers we knew we were heading for easier riding When we finally arrived at Cotton Creek after some of the worst corrugations but also scenic and pleasant riding i got to get my rack welded up thanks Dick (welder by trade ) rang home with a phone card and time for the refuel we didn't want 35 liters in the main tank and 30 liters in the panniers the bikes now weighing around 230 kg that scenic ride in was not so pleasant loose sand the bikes handling like crap after getting back on the csr 160 km round trip the riding was good but the dunes their to catch us out
it was around here that Dick had a nasty fall didn't complain much we finally get to a place called Derba Springs met a family who gave us coffee and chocolate cake the spirits were high they telling us easier riding to follow we push on about 15 km later quick regroup Dick and Don continue i stopped to get a photo of Mark 10 to 15 minutes later no Mark quick call to the boys after an extra 10 minute wait i head back after about 8 km i find the bike in a wheel rut on its side and Mark nursing a sore shoulder couldn't get the guys on the two way (there's were crap ) road back 6 or 7 km raised the alarm the went back to Mark after spending much time on a borrowed sat phone to get a helicopter first quote $40,000 then $15 ,000 and a 2-3 day wait , two young guys in two 4wd's took Mark and his bike to Cotton Creek a two day drive corrugations , dunes ,rocks and hardly any pain killers once dropping Mark off they proceeded with his bike up the worst part of the csr with his bike so he wouldn't have to recover it around 1000 km then on to Halls Creek , Broome ,Alice Springs and Sydney making it easier for Mark words cannot describe our gratitude
After saying goodbye to Mark we only traveled 25 km to the next well not much talk we felt like crap about Mark next day we had a good day ( sorry Mark ) the dunes did get easier and less , covering more km ,s we finally reached the end high fives and hand shakes and a warm Emu bitter beer from some 4wd,s then on to Wiluna 14 km out of Wiluna up the Gunbarrel hwy we camped beer and sausages on the bbq thank god no dehydrated crap the Gunbarrel had its moments sand ,corrugations ,bull dust the Heather hwy even worse stayed overnight in Warburton the ride from here was ok although the last 100 km to Ayers Rock was a bit hairy high speed ,sand and darkness don't mix after Ayers Rock it was black top all the way to Alice Springs total km 4500 and now a solo trip back to Melbourne i can hear the Subaru give a sigh of relief less weight only one DR 650 and me 9 kg lighter and the other guy Dick with the sore leg broken tibia would i do it again
