Last weekend a few of us headed to Wellington NSW for the Central West Dirt Bike Rally. This year was a bit different from last year as the organisers now have two different events, one in September for the kids and learners and this one, on the long weekend, catering for the more experienced riders. For what it’s worth… it works !!!
The facilities were top shelf: fresh water, hot water, running toilets, hot showers, fresh coffee, great food, plenty of room, plenty of wood, and very well organised. All this before you even turn a wheel!!!
In our group we had nine bikes
Me FE570 2012
Son KX450F 2012
Son’s mate KTM 300 2014
His brother KX450F 2008
His mate KTM 300 2014
Son in law KX450F 2009
Son in law’s brother KX450F 2015 (good mate of my son as well)
Son in law’s work mate WR250 2015
Son in law’s work mate Husky 450 2006
There were two loops, approx. 32 – 35 klms, each taking us, as average riders, around 1hr 30 – 45 mins. The red loop opened from 12PM Saturday and then again 1PM Sunday, and the Blue AM loop opened 9AM Sunday. The loops were open for 3 to 4 hours allowing faster riders to complete a couple of laps if desired.
Both loops had Hard and Easy options, with the Blue AM loop Hard options being more difficult than the Red loop. The trails were all one way, once you start into a hard section, you needed to keep going which can mean a lot of pushing!
The tracks were a mix of faster sections mixed with some pretty technical single track coupled with hills and some dry creek crossings. There had been some recent rain so the ground was great with a bit of water in the low areas and kept the dust to a minimum.
Pleased to say there were no mechanical failures, just a few pilot errors. Me, coming out of a tight tree lined right hand corner, losing traction, getting traction, front wheel up, spearing into a tree. Putting the trunk between the front wheel and the guard. Bent the guard up and almost turned it inside out splitting it down the centre as I bent it back into shape. I speared off and bounced head first into another tree before bouncing back flat on my back on the track. A little dazed and a bit sheepish I got sorted and headed off. Not a camera or another rider in sight lol.
Son in law in a similar situation, lost traction going up a steep narrow track, low sided it and just as he seemed to get it back it grabbed and speared into a tree, the sump guard literally ringbarking it No damage to rider or machine.
Probably the worst off for potential damage to rider was my son. We were ten minutes into the Sunday AM loop and even though we said we would take this one a bit easy, as soon as we got going that went out the window lol. The three or four of us up front were going pretty hard
Son was leading, then the 2015 KX450F then me, up a narrow track up a ridge lined with small pine trees. On my video I can see a rock the size of a rockmelon rolling back down the hill just before I come up on the two bikes lying on the ground. It would appear that my son hit the rock with his rear tyre, got out of shape and high sided onto some rocks, smashing down a small pine tree in to the bargain. These rocks were shaped like some serrated dinosaurs back and had he not been wearing his armour it would have been very bad.
As it was he got pretty cut up on the forearm with a fairly nasty puncture wound and a badly sprained thumb. The bike faired ok, bending the clutch lever and the plastics getting a new shredded look, but it was a rather long hour and a bit ride home for him. Still he saddled up for the PM loop.
By the end of the weekend the tracks were holding up with just a bit of dust as the ground dried out. By 5:00pm we were packed and loaded heading for home. Got back to the Hunter Valley around 10:00pm.
It was a fantastic bike weekend, we all had a great time, a few of us had met for the first time but all are looking forward to doing it again next year!
Cheers
Rusty
The facilities were top shelf: fresh water, hot water, running toilets, hot showers, fresh coffee, great food, plenty of room, plenty of wood, and very well organised. All this before you even turn a wheel!!!
In our group we had nine bikes
Me FE570 2012
Son KX450F 2012
Son’s mate KTM 300 2014
His brother KX450F 2008
His mate KTM 300 2014
Son in law KX450F 2009
Son in law’s brother KX450F 2015 (good mate of my son as well)
Son in law’s work mate WR250 2015
Son in law’s work mate Husky 450 2006
There were two loops, approx. 32 – 35 klms, each taking us, as average riders, around 1hr 30 – 45 mins. The red loop opened from 12PM Saturday and then again 1PM Sunday, and the Blue AM loop opened 9AM Sunday. The loops were open for 3 to 4 hours allowing faster riders to complete a couple of laps if desired.
Both loops had Hard and Easy options, with the Blue AM loop Hard options being more difficult than the Red loop. The trails were all one way, once you start into a hard section, you needed to keep going which can mean a lot of pushing!
The tracks were a mix of faster sections mixed with some pretty technical single track coupled with hills and some dry creek crossings. There had been some recent rain so the ground was great with a bit of water in the low areas and kept the dust to a minimum.
Pleased to say there were no mechanical failures, just a few pilot errors. Me, coming out of a tight tree lined right hand corner, losing traction, getting traction, front wheel up, spearing into a tree. Putting the trunk between the front wheel and the guard. Bent the guard up and almost turned it inside out splitting it down the centre as I bent it back into shape. I speared off and bounced head first into another tree before bouncing back flat on my back on the track. A little dazed and a bit sheepish I got sorted and headed off. Not a camera or another rider in sight lol.
Son in law in a similar situation, lost traction going up a steep narrow track, low sided it and just as he seemed to get it back it grabbed and speared into a tree, the sump guard literally ringbarking it No damage to rider or machine.
Probably the worst off for potential damage to rider was my son. We were ten minutes into the Sunday AM loop and even though we said we would take this one a bit easy, as soon as we got going that went out the window lol. The three or four of us up front were going pretty hard
Son was leading, then the 2015 KX450F then me, up a narrow track up a ridge lined with small pine trees. On my video I can see a rock the size of a rockmelon rolling back down the hill just before I come up on the two bikes lying on the ground. It would appear that my son hit the rock with his rear tyre, got out of shape and high sided onto some rocks, smashing down a small pine tree in to the bargain. These rocks were shaped like some serrated dinosaurs back and had he not been wearing his armour it would have been very bad.
As it was he got pretty cut up on the forearm with a fairly nasty puncture wound and a badly sprained thumb. The bike faired ok, bending the clutch lever and the plastics getting a new shredded look, but it was a rather long hour and a bit ride home for him. Still he saddled up for the PM loop.
By the end of the weekend the tracks were holding up with just a bit of dust as the ground dried out. By 5:00pm we were packed and loaded heading for home. Got back to the Hunter Valley around 10:00pm.
It was a fantastic bike weekend, we all had a great time, a few of us had met for the first time but all are looking forward to doing it again next year!
Cheers
Rusty
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