Linville Trail Ride for Hillbillies

[Ji Gantor]

Over the week end we went to the Dalbymoto Linville Trail ride.
Only 1.5 hours from Brisbane.
The trip out, towing the bikes, saw us travelling along the Brisbane river 200 meters above sea level.
Fantastic scenery.
We arrived, was allocated a camp site and started erecting the tent.
Camp set up, it was time to sign in.
During sign in we saw the first breaking of the rules.
Rule number 1 all nominations have to be prior to the event, there will be no paying on the day.
Heaps of guys were paying on the day.
Rule number 2 everyone must attend riders briefing, on Saturday there would have only been one hundred riders may be out of a possible 250.

If the organisers break their own rules it is as weak as second hand water !
Who is going to have respect for their rules when the organisers break them from the get go.

My son and I front up to the Novice track entrance to find no one there.
We proceed and find the first trail arrows pointing down right through a camp site of 5 or 6 tents. Confused we sat there until some sweep riders turned up. When asked where is the track they told us that they did not know. I showed them the arrows pointing to the tents. They decided to get on the radio and find someone that knew. I suggested that I would go down around the tents and see if the track was down there, bingo it sure was.
Rule number 3 no open riders on the novice track unless they were with their child. My son and I did 4 or 5 laps before we saw the first open riders blasting around. We left the track.

That afternoon a mid twenty year old male rider finishing the open track decided to show off by performing a high speed wheel stand into camp. It went wrong and he speared off into a 4 strand barbed wire fence. He hit a timber post and cartwheeled for a while until coming to rest.
He broke his wrist, ankle and his spine. An airlift was organised to take him to hospital. Rule number 4, 5 kilometers per hour through the pits.
Had this fellow speared off to the left instead of the right he would have hit campers making even more injuries. That post was only 3 meters from a row of tents.

Ji  

[Ji Gantor]

The timber fence post he hit was solid.
The Honda enduro bike he was riding was pretty smashed up.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

I heard the cost from the QVMX pres once that the toilets for an event was $2000.00 and the Ambos $2000.00.
I have no idea how much an airlift would cost.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

That night we all settled down with a nice meal a hot shower and a warm bed.
But at around 10.00pm a drunken fool rode past our tent and smashed into a 4 strand barbed wire fence.
This fellow was going fast enough to break all four strands.
Rule number 5 no riding bikes after 6.00pm and MA rule that states riding can only be done by those with a 0% blood alchol content.


Ji

[Ji Gantor]

We woke up on Sunday morning got changed, fueled our bikes and went to riders briefing.
We then jumped onto our bikes and rode off to the novice track.
Again there was no one on the gate.
We did two laps before heaps of open riders blasted by us, showering all with large rocks and dust.
They carved up the track and made it unridable for novices.
We decided to do one last lap and go but on our last lap an open rider blasted by my son on the first hill climb punting him off the track into the rocks. He hit is head onto a rock carving a big chip into his helmet, his knee banged another rock and yet another rock crushed his radiator.
We returned to camp and saw the ambos for the first time.
I went off to complain.
They then had someone placed on the gate kicking the open riders off.
A bit to late.
We left saying we would never return.

Ji

[Tex]

My God, the more I read the worse it got! Glad you and your son got out of there in one piece!

You would think that an 'organised' trail ride would be a bit better, well, organised...

Tex

[Ji Gantor]

In my opinion there are only a few people that can organise and run an event.
One of them is Worms.
I hope they get someone like Worms or trail riding will be banded.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

Hi Tex,
Yes we feel the same.
There were a few other families like us  that we spoke to and they all said the same thing as us.
Most of them packed up Sunday morning before the ride started.
They were the smart ones.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

I wanted to discuss rules before CD7 and lots told me to go away and even asked if I was a public servant because I loved rules so much. Well chaps this is why we have rules to stop this kind of stuff. But rules are nothing if they are not enforced.
I know this is not VMX but I saw quite a few fellows at this shindig that were at CD7.
There were IT's (one was a member of the IT club), Pre 85 YZ's and Pre 75 YZ's and that is what I saw, most of the time my son and I were riding.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

I had my helmet camera working on Sunday and captured a heap of the open riders wheelstanding up one of the hill climbs past kids strugling up the hill.
I will post the Youtube shortcut here soon.

Ji

[Mike52]

Aw Ji thats a pity. The ones I,ve been to aren,t too bad .
Looks like a nice place to ride.

[Ji Gantor]

Hi Mike,
This is the first time they have held this event at this location.
It was organised by experianced trail riding clubs that should have got it right.
After my son was first aided, I sat on the return path waiting for the fellow for some time.
The loop Sunday was 50 kilometers long so I gave up and went.
I can tell you they would have needed the cops to pull me off him, that is how mad I was.
But on the drive home I remembered what Peter Bell told us at CD7 "Don't take matters into your own hands let me deal with it"

Ji

[VMX247]

Not a good weekend Ji, 
Doesn't matter where you go,Life is like a box of chocolates always a bad one in there-probably marzipan   
cheers Alison

[mainline]

Marzipan's all right, Ginger is the one to watch out for. Who the hell wants to put chocolate on a vegetable?

Sorry to hear about your boy. Glad it was nothing too serious.

[EML]

If life is like a box of chockies it sounds like all of the Fruit & Nuts went to Linville.
Jeez Ji, I know exactly where you are coming from and as long as there are young fellas on bikes it will happen. I just wish the 'organisers' would do just that-organise!!