Was having a great run with toby when the contents of my muffler parted company with the rest of the bike..had go beg and borrow a couple of tec screws from team Dewy
that was the second drama as the plug poohed itself on the way to the "practise" loop and i had to do a roadside repair
then i found my lower chain roller had disappeared
so thanx to team Jimbo for a skateboard wheel and team Dewy for workshop services again!
i was ready for the big day (near dead last in the starting order) so had to work my thru some pretty chewed up ground in the lachy loop even got passed by kdx geoff on a greasy hill (after i showed him the best line across the pooh patch...did he thank me?? hell no, just kept reminding me about the hill
v(he was on the grass) so out for the big loop and managed to get thru the Sean Hamilton special test without outside assistance and had a pretty uneventful ride to the fuel dump. Enjoyed the drag race with kids across the paddock and had em till they cut the corner
Headed out for the Mc Clure loop and hooked up with a couple of guys on XR's and had a hoot in the sand until they stopped for something and i lost them, got thru all the bogs and creeks and off camber slippery hills and had a ball in the sandy ferny country until the run down the fenceline where hidden in there somewhere was something that put me into orbit, (was a big ball root) i rekon the overloaded bum back was the only thing that stopped me from passing the centreline and i landed back down on old faithful who was rolling along like nothing happened (husky owners know what im talking about) headed back to the fuel dump after a wobbler run thru Zoggs bog and hooked up with Steve Scooter and his mate and headed for the campground and we both nearly finished up in the nasty looking ditch just before the road section back to the camp.
fuelled tank and stomach and headed out for the second loop, track just up to the road was in a sorry mess...my diet and exercise regime leading up to Harrow was paying dividends..NOT!!
The run through the ferns was a bit wobbly and luckily the Hamilton special test had been re flagged
i made the fuel stop all right and headed out on the Mc Clures loop and was passed by a fast young bloke in the sand hills, tried to keep up but that wasn't gunna happen
then the maico stopped with a stick jammed in the speedo drive so i got passed him again only for him to catch me up and disappear... still he got me back on the gas for a bit....then we caught some blokes looking for a clean line through a creek and like vultures, when we spotted one we all dived on it. a little train of bikes chugged along for a while which was fun but a few fell off the back and the young fella on the maico headed off into the distance, coming around to the real greasy off camber hill, i saw him just cresting the rise and thought i will have another crack...this distracted me for a vital second or two and suddenly there was small ditch in front which i popped the front wheel over it only to realise that 1. the track went left, 2. i was going way too fast and 3. a ravine lay in front.....what to do?? PANIC, i hit the brakes and accelerated
and as the bike left the bank, i lept for my life and went SPLAT ala Wiley Coyote on the far bank and slid slowly down onto the bike...bugger!
i lay about for a bit and had a few snakes then looked at the scene...shit the bike was being washed down into an even bigger hole under the fence so i had jump in and wrestle it back up. the only way it was coming out was with 3 or 4 fit blokes. None arrived. eventually a bloke showed up..."wheres your bike??" he said.. i pointed to the gully..."Christ..how we gunna get it out?" i said "go get help" fortunately he remembered to tell the sweeps and they came looking...when they arrived they all got their phones out and started snapping away
10 minutes later and half a roll of tape holding the headlight on, i was away again (thanks guys, was a great job) i passed team penrite coming into zoggs bog and got passed by a pair of pigtales...can you believe it? :-[she was on it! Then she disappeared into a big puddle and i managed to avoid the mud shower and then struggled back to Mc Clures for a snag and a drink... i headed out for the final section but the sweeps had closed the gates so i was back on silver...top it off, it pissed rain on me all the way back to camp. what an epic. got a few minor aches and pains, (corked arse from that flying w) and i need a new radiator shroud, headlight and tailight....i love Harrow... sorry about the novel but i have a bit of time before the news...