Out for a spin
Went out into the mountains on Saturday with a couple of friends
We set off at about 10am after first having ridden to our meeting point, crickey it isn’t much fun riding a 300 stroker 18 miles you know.
Anyhow, we didn’t have our usual ride leaders with us and as all I can recognise is one of our leaders rear tyres it didn’t take long before we were lost, actually it was about 5 minutes
We did find our way again eventually but we also found some tracks that we hadn’t before so that was a bonus.
On one of the tracks there’s a fallen tree on an incline that we would usually skirt around but this time we decided to try and hop it, one by one we failed miserably, durzer made the best attempt but it was far from graceful, you know, arms and legs all over the place and bike out of control, better than me and Rees though cos we both bit the dirt.
Onwards and upwards we went, the route we took takes us up to an elevation of around 600m in as windy and technical a stretch as we can find.
I was struggling at times when it came to muscling my bike if I got stuck cos I’m so out of shape at the moment and on top of that I’ve got a heavy chest cold, I must remember not to follow others up technical stuff until they’re at the top cos several times I’d end up having to stop behind someone on a hill that was very difficult to get going on again, to my shame there was one where I was in front and failed it and I just couldn’t continue to try as I just couldn’t breathe properly so I went round the easy way, this was to bug my head the rest of the day as I’m not prone to giving in much, it’s true that sometimes I just can’t be arsed and all I want to do is bimble around but I don’t count that as failing.
Durzer and Rees are both good riders and far more experienced than me as well as being top geezers of course, durzer also has a far keener sense of direction than me but would still argue that we were on the wrong track all the time just to be proven wrong yet time after time
All was well with no real struggles just the occasional off from each of us (mainly me of course), I’m still struggling with how “skippy” the Gasser is on rocky terrain, think I need to get some softer springs, at least I had brakes this week which was a major cause for concern a couple of weeks back
Rees had his nice new 450EXC which he was refusing to get dirty, I was hating riding behind him cos every wet, muddy looking patch he saw he would get hard on the brakes causing me to have very near misses behind him, eventually his bike got properly dirty anyway so he stopped puddle dodging and got on with it
We eventully found our way to the top of the mountain but there was no burger van there now so we had a break and headed back down trying to follow a different route.
I was leading now and wanted to stop by the edge of a steep cliff and line the bikes up for a photo, but girly Rees was scared of heights so here’s the best I could get
The view was great but as usual the photographer didn’t do it justice
We set off again and true to character I found a track that didn’t look very used, I headed off down it and the lads followed, the track seemed to come to an end but there was what looked like rideable terrain for another half mile down to the forest, so I decided to go for it, it was reasonably steep and the grass was very thick, underneath it was strewn with hidden rocks that even downhill was lofting the front wheel.
I managed to get way in front and once I was at the edge of the trees I could now see there was no way through, round, under or over, the lads were a good hundred yards behind and they'd stopped there, obviously smarter than me :lol: , I waited and watched them trying to turn their bikes and ride them back up which wasn’t looking easy, it worried me that where I was, was a lot worse, steeper and now with boggy bits too.
Durzer had tried so hard to get his bike up the hill but had decided that there was no way back up, hmmmm, cos I knew there was no way down either, I wrestled my bike out of a bog on my own and had a rest for 10 minutes to get my breath back, was still annoyed at having given up on that climb earlier and was now determined that this was not going to beat me, it wasn’t a pleasant prospect but I knew the only way up was to hammer it hard and keep control of the bike, the real problem is that the rocks were there but you had no idea where until you hit one then it was front wheel up time
So go for it I did, on the gas front wheel lofting and getting flicked left and right, I just kept the bike down and balanced using my body weight and reacting fast to anything that happened, crickey I flew up it , straight past durzer, then past Rees until I was onto slightly better terrain.
I walked back down to see if I could help, Rees said “f&^k me, was you angry or something ?”
.
My action had spurred durzer on to do the same, unfortunately before I could stop him he trundled further down the hill thinking it was clearer down there and it would allow him a run-up, the grass down there was so thick I managed to stand my bike up in it without the side stand, plus the bogs were there too, he heard me shouting and didn’t go too far.
Oh his face and cries of “WOOOOAAAHHH” as his entire bike was getting lofted into the air were priceless, as he got near to me he had a BIG moment and respect due he managed to save it, I guess his mind was on what just happened cos the next instant he hit another rock which launched his bike to the right, this time he couldn’t gain control and at the last minute when he knew he wasn’t going to make it he dived clear of his bike, it was probably one of the funniest off’s I’ve ever seen, the dive was like an Olympic swimmers, arms straight out in front like there was a pool there, wet myself laughing, fortunately durzer was laughing his head off too, still he got up, we turned his bike and he made it up the last hundred yards or so to safe terrain.
Then it was a spirited romp to base down some great and familiar tracks, my freakin left arm was killing me now from clutching it all the time it got to a point where I just couldn’t pull the clutch and that made it very hard to ride the beasty 300 Gasser.
All I managed to break this week was my rear fender support and my pride a little, but in a years time all I’ll remember is my Knighter impression up that crappy hill and no I won’t be going down that track again, but I bet I’ll find another one that’s just as bad
PS
Just cos it was me who requested te ride reports doesn't mean I'm teh only one allowed to post here ya know