It was an awesome event as Frank has described above. My day started interestingly as I got the time thing real wrong & turned up to the track just in time to make the first lap. My original partner for the vinduro was going for the trophy on the the sighting lap, went down hard, rang his bell & ended up with a concussion, huge cork thigh & a pretty busted bike. Guess he didn't know there are no prizes for winning the sighting lap! The medicos boycotted him riding for the day after the concussion, so I was partnered with another guy whose partner hadn't turned up. We ran ok in the vinduro but didn't place in the top three.
For the enduro, I was partnered with a Qld local, Andrew & we ran good, consistent times all afternoon until the storm hit. Andrew was on the course during the torrential rain & made it round pretty much unscathed. It was my turn just as the rain stopped, I made it through the first part of the course, some now very slippery grass track, the tight tea trees & then came the MX track. The red clay was now thick, shin deep slippery goop. I went down, really struggled to keep my footing while picking the bike up, but there was nowhere in sight for me to stand on so I could get back on the bike (thank you stuffed hips). I ended up pushing the bike an awful long way till I found a tree to stand on, managed to get back on the bike to finish the lap. Problem was almost an hour had past, costing our team greatly.
Sunday was very hot & the vinduro track started slippery as Frank has described above, I got to the bog, looked at the water & thought to myself, there was no hole there yesterday so ventured on. Before I knew it there was water over the top of the Huskies radiator shrouds, somehow I made it though. There was a guy on a Maico with his shirt off & steam coming off him like mad with the bike up against a tree, not sure what he was up to but he did get back out circulating later in the morning. David & I weren't having a lot of fun on the slick track but continued on to the end and managed to finish the vinduro at the back of the pack.
By the time the enduro came around, the shortened track had become absolutely awesome. It was real hot but Andrew & I were going very well, 2 laps each at a time & on the money for times in our class. At one time I thought my hands were going to spontaneously combust due to the heat. At the end of four hours, we were both totally spent but confident of a place. We did indeed place third in our class (up to 320cc, 50-59 Y/O) on 27 laps. Second was also on 27 laps with the winners on 28 laps. After looking at the times it became quite evident the my crook hips had definitely cost us 2nd place & probably the class win as our times were better until the mudfest which hammered me! Interestingly the overall winners made it around 35 laps in the allotted time, there were some real fast guys there for sure.
Big thanks to Col (super senior) & Alan for getting the event across the line. Although it is possibly the last time to be held due to land issues, I really hope that somehow they can make it happen for the next Masters Games. Put it on your bucket list anyway, it really is a must do event.
K
