Apc rally 2012

[rosscoact]

Originally Posted by Moptop

The highs and lows of doing a rally. Yesterday's high was the Simpson leg and getting the big girl over big red
The end off the rally for me

I've been on the back of that bastard. I think it cost $450 recovery from 95k east of birdsville but it beat spending the night with the the mozzies and rats eating at me.

[frenchy750]

Day 12 - Woman at gas station asks where we came from. I spend two minutes trying to recall, then just mumble and point at the pink line on the GPS. She backs away slowly. I have put more new tires on this bike in two weeks than I have put on my truck in seven years.

[mytmav]

Made it into wodonga just as the rain came, what an awesome day, started off not a happy chappy, after yesterday's effort was questioning why am I doing this, but after a nice bacon sammich and a coffee at swan hill came to life again, happy little camper. Today's riding was great, settled me down and was able to give the 990 it's legs with plenty of time to pull up with only front brakes, riding into wodonga was fantastic after all that flat ground. Got to say it big kudos to the organizer of this ride, and I ain't even finished yet

[frenchy750]

Day 13 - Next time, if I want a real adventure, I'll buy a KTM, or two or three like most APC rally KTM riders had to.

[AllAroundAus]

Originally Posted by frenchy750

Day 13 - Next time, if I want a real adventure, I'll buy a KTM, or two or three like most APC rally KTM riders had to.

So, You getting to like your trusty ride eh!

[damo2010]

Got the carby issue sorted in Crookwell which makes the hills so much more enjoyable.

All good till I started having trouble with my clutch climbing out of this valley. This was the start of what Andy called the erzberg special section. Let it cool down a bit, adjust the cable and it seemed better. The rest of the climb I challenged myself to tackle each section by picking my line without stopping beforehand and with out riding the clutch. That way I could nurse the clutch up the hill and made it technically very interesting.

I camped at the bottom of one of the best descents I have very ridden

[damo2010]

That transport section to ferry was a cracker of a transport section. I think about two valleys and a run up the hawksbury river.
This ride just keeps getting better

[mytmav]

Wodonga KTM= excellent these guys are doing everything they can to get my brakes working, fix one thing and another problem shows up, they can't do enough to get me on my way.

[Steve_C]

Hi, damo2010. Just curious - any particular reason to cart the monster tent + garage around on the rally? I thought most riders were trying to save weight.

Cheers,

[El Ponkin]

Day 12
This was to be our coldest morning at -3, there was frost on the bikes and it was going to be a real test of our cold weather gear.
I wore body skins, Marino thermals under my body armour and then motorcross jersey plus jacket with rain proof liner. I had a thin pair of knee length socks and a pair of waterproof breathable "sealskinz" socks and on my hands had "sealskinz" gloves as undergloves and standard shift fury motorcross gloves and I was comfortable with grip heaters going. The biggest thing was my Shoei Hornet "Pinlock" visor which is basically a double glazed visor. It does not fog up. As Tony was running a standard visor and riding into the morning sun with a visor constantly fogging aint easy, eventually he had to put goggles on.
Everywhere had a sheet of white covering that lasted for about an hour before the sun eventually defrosted the track.
Today was sensory overload with scenery and tracks to die for so I will be a bit sketchy in certain places as it was a massive day.
We had brekkie in Crookwell at a place recommended by the servo.
It was next to the Post Office and was a cracker breakfast served by a delightful young lady in record time.
We went through a forest track in the blue mountains which was to die for. Good track conditions lots of drainaways to launch off and rocky hill climbs, we had a ball. Wombeyan Caves had an impressive freebie cave that we went and had a look at but didn't go the whole tour. A detour on the next section due to a small forest closure saw us zooming out on the GPS and free riding following course notes given to us a Murrabateman Servo courtesy of rally control. We had also been advised that Mt Victoria had run out of fuel so Tony and myself were conserving fuel for a 350km leg between refuels. There was a 3km off track diversion for fuel given but we thought we would be OK.
We next stopped at Jenolan Caves and Tony noticed my right boot was wet with coolant. The jumps in the forest had made my radiator leak worse, it still had only dropped a bit so I figured it was a nightstop job, later I did stop and topped it up with water from my hydration bladder as a precaution as the expansion tank was getting low. We walked up the steps at the upper carpark to see a bunch of kids abseiling down a big hole in the mountain. A bit further up the steps was a fantastic view through a massive rock arch down to the turquiose river below, wow. We couldn't be bothered walking on to the cave house as there were too many steps and we are old bastards with shot knees.
Down at the base of the valley is the Jenolan Pub and a bus terminal brimming with schoolkids on daytrips. The pub has that German Alpine architecture and made you feel you were in Europe.
We knew there was a tunnel to ride through from our course notes but didn't realise it was right there until we left and drove straight through it on the way out of the valley, wow, it wasn't just a tunnel it was a massive cave with visitors clambering up steps either side into the floodlit nooks and crannies. I stopped and took a photo and then pulled away with a few braaps of my FMF to echo through the cave. A keen eyed photographer spotted me and gestured for some Arse Clowning, I exited the cave in familiar style and the guy gave a thumbs up for a successful shot as the schoolchildren were diverted from their gaze.
A tar section followed with the track notes teasing that it was worth the effort and holy shit it was, triple wow. The track was a rocky descent into a gorge where we found damo setting up camp.
We had a quick chinwag and he took a couple of shots as we exited via a wooden bridge. It was tight but I still managed an arseclown for the camera.
The climb out of that valley was like something out of the Erzberg Rodeo. The track was heavily eroded by rains into what can only be described as a mini boulder strewn gorge, holy shit, We built up a sweat as our adventure bikes were transformed into trials machines.
When we got up higher it was a goat track along the side of massive escarpments with only a small wire fence between you and a thousand foot sheer drop, talk about hug the cliffside of the track and the views, holy crap it was spectacular, definitely up there with Brachina Gorge in the flinders.
Like a secret valley, within minutes we popped out on a major highway how cool is that valley.
There was a servo immediately there upon our exit so we took the opportunity to top up so we could power up into the nightstop at Wisemans Ferry. The leg from Jenolin to Wisemans was only 98kms but had no time against it, as the lady at the servo said it was about 70kms left we thought we would be good for time, wrong.
The track quickly left the tarmac and we hit a gravel forest trail, not long in I heard Tonys radio doing its little jingle so I turned around to see if he had stopped to do his "hair and makeup". Holy shit he's crashed, the big girl was on her side but luckily Tony was up and walking and cursing so he was normal. We took piccies and uprighted the big girl. There was just some scrapes but no material damage.
The track went on for ever twisting through a maize of prpoerties and Valleys even one bush housing estate, I bet they loved us.
Finally it meandered alongside the Hawkesbury River but we lost the light and could only imagine the views. We arrived at a small vehicle ferry but it was only a tease as a sign told us another 22km to Wisemans, more weaving tracks as we made our way slowly along the river by candlelight until we spotted the village lights, thank faaark, I was spent.
Warwick and Graham had sorted us a room and they were still waiting on Lee as he had to take the fuel diversion.
I ordered a feed as I needed it and knew I had to repair the radiator.
After a shower and change I stripped off the Rally Raid tank and quicksteeled the radiator but then struggled for over an hour trying to get the lower tank bolt in, bastaaaard, finally gave up on the clip nut and fitted a loose nut. 10:30 way passed my bedtime, goodnight johnboy, what a mind blowing down how frekkin awesome is this rally !!

[Eagle`02]

Looks like Damo camped at the wooden bridge on Mt Irvine trail (Bowens Creek RD)
One of our favourite places around the NSW Central Coast ,,,
Keep on goin` Damo, you are going great guns

Originally Posted by damo2010

Got the carby issue sorted in Crookwell which makes the hills so much more enjoyable.

All good till I started having trouble with my clutch climbing out of this valley. This was the start of what Andy called the erzberg special section. Let it cool down a bit, adjust the cable and it seemed better. The rest of the climb I challenged myself to tackle each section by picking my line without stopping beforehand and with out riding the clutch. That way I could nurse the clutch up the hill and made it technically very interesting.

I camped at the bottom of one of the best descents I have very ridden

[Bullamakanka]

Damo probably sleeps sitting up on the bike, thats why he only has the tent and nothing else.

[slurpee]

Where are the Dr brothers? Did they get the bike sorted? We are at dorrigo but I keep looking in my mirror for them :)
Should be finished tomorrow, roll on urbanville

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[Eagle`02]

Originally Posted by El Ponkin

Day 12
This was to be our coldest morning at -3, there was frost on the bikes and it was going to be a real test of our cold weather gear.
I wore body skins, Marino thermals under my body armour and then motorcross jersey plus jacket with rain proof liner. I had a thin pair of knee length socks and a pair of waterproof breathable "sealskinz" socks and on my hands had "sealskinz" gloves as undergloves and standard shift fury motorcross gloves and I was comfortable with grip heaters going. The biggest thing was my Shoei Hornet "Pinlock" visor which is basically a double glazed visor. It does not fog up. As Tony was running a standard visor and riding into the morning sun with a visor constantly fogging aint easy, eventually he had to put goggles on.
Everywhere had a sheet of white covering that lasted for about an hour before the sun eventually defrosted the track.
Today was sensory overload with scenery and tracks to die for so I will be a bit sketchy in certain places as it was a massive day.
We had brekkie in Crookwell at a place recommended by the servo.
It was next to the Post Office and was a cracker breakfast served by a delightful young lady in record time.
We went through a forest track in the blue mountains which was to die for. Good track conditions lots of drainaways to launch off and rocky hill climbs, we had a ball. Wombeyan Caves had an impressive freebie cave that we went and had a look at but didn't go the whole tour. A detour on the next section due to a small forest closure saw us zooming out on the GPS and free riding following course notes given to us a Murrabateman Servo courtesy of rally control. We had also been advised that Mt Victoria had run out of fuel so Tony and myself were conserving fuel for a 350km leg between refuels. There was a 3km off track diversion for fuel given but we thought we would be OK.
We next stopped at Jenolan Caves and Tony noticed my right boot was wet with coolant. The jumps in the forest had made my radiator leak worse, it still had only dropped a bit so I figured it was a nightstop job, later I did stop and topped it up with water from my hydration bladder as a precaution as the expansion tank was getting low. We walked up the steps at the upper carpark to see a bunch of kids abseiling down a big hole in the mountain. A bit further up the steps was a fantastic view through a massive rock arch down to the turquiose river below, wow. We couldn't be bothered walking on to the cave house as there were too many steps and we are old bastards with shot knees.
Down at the base of the valley is the Jenolan Pub and a bus terminal brimming with schoolkids on daytrips. The pub has that German Alpine architecture and made you feel you were in Europe.
We knew there was a tunnel to ride through from our course notes but didn't realise it was right there until we left and drove straight through it on the way out of the valley, wow, it wasn't just a tunnel it was a massive cave with visitors clambering up steps either side into the floodlit nooks and crannies. I stopped and took a photo and then pulled away with a few braaps of my FMF to echo through the cave. A keen eyed photographer spotted me and gestured for some Arse Clowning, I exited the cave in familiar style and the guy gave a thumbs up for a successful shot as the schoolchildren were diverted from their gaze.
A tar section followed with the track notes teasing that it was worth the effort and holy shit it was, triple wow. The track was a rocky descent into a gorge where we found damo setting up camp.
We had a quick chinwag and he took a couple of shots as we exited via a wooden bridge. It was tight but I still managed an arseclown for the camera.
The climb out of that valley was like something out of the Erzberg Rodeo. The track was heavily eroded by rains into what can only be described as a mini boulder strewn gorge, holy shit, We built up a sweat as our adventure bikes were transformed into trials machines.
When we got up higher it was a goat track along the side of massive escarpments with only a small wire fence between you and a thousand foot sheer drop, talk about hug the cliffside of the track and the views, holy crap it was spectacular, definitely up there with Brachina Gorge in the flinders.
Like a secret valley, within minutes we popped out on a major highway how cool is that valley.
There was a servo immediately there upon our exit so we took the opportunity to top up so we could power up into the nightstop at Wisemans Ferry. The leg from Jenolin to Wisemans was only 98kms but had no time against it, as the lady at the servo said it was about 70kms left we thought we would be good for time, wrong.
The track quickly left the tarmac and we hit a gravel forest trail, not long in I heard Tonys radio doing its little jingle so I turned around to see if he had stopped to do his "hair and makeup". Holy shit he's crashed, the big girl was on her side but luckily Tony was up and walking and cursing so he was normal. We took piccies and uprighted the big girl. There was just some scrapes but no material damage.
The track went on for ever twisting through a maize of prpoerties and Valleys even one bush housing estate, I bet they loved us.
Finally it meandered alongside the Hawkesbury River but we lost the light and could only imagine the views. We arrived at a small vehicle ferry but it was only a tease as a sign told us another 22km to Wisemans, more weaving tracks as we made our way slowly along the river by candlelight until we spotted the village lights, thank faaark, I was spent.
Warwick and Graham had sorted us a room and they were still waiting on Lee as he had to take the fuel diversion.
I ordered a feed as I needed it and knew I had to repair the radiator.
After a shower and change I stripped off the Rally Raid tank and quicksteeled the radiator but then struggled for over an hour trying to get the lower tank bolt in, bastaaaard, finally gave up on the clip nut and fitted a loose nut. 10:30 way passed my bedtime, goodnight johnboy, what a mind blowing down how frekkin awesome is this rally !!

Love your updates Andy,, very entertaining ,,,
That leg from Mt Irvine to Bilpin & Wisemans is probably my favourite ride arounfd here. I am less than an hour from where you guys pass thru the Watagans and the trip down there is a popular day run for us
We also rode out to Sunny Corner thru there a while back with APC AMY and met up with CLUBBY & STEVE for the an OBT weekend. Erzberg is an interesting way to describe it though ???
Pity you guys ran short on light between the Lower Portland Ferry & Wisemans, the view is nothing short of superb all thru there

JUST MEANS YOU HAVE TO VENTURE DOWN SOUTH AGAIN SOMEDAY MATE !!!

Cheers & good luck for the final legs hey

[nry]

First net access for ages, eating bacon and egg rolls in crookwell. What a ride so far, its been non stop action, drama etc. Last night due to an error in the track notes I left tumut at 16.15 for what was an indicated 50 min leg.. Fuck me I almost froze ! Never thought is ride through driving snow again, at first it was cool but when it started to come in at 35 degree angle and so hard I couldn't leave my goggles on I began to get worried especially as after 50ks murrumbateman was no where to be seen. I think I got into yass about 9pm.
Bumped into team USA and Frenchy who are always good for a laugh.
Anyway that was the latest awesome experience. No pics though as my phones died, real shame that as i'll struggle to screw up so badly again in the future, ..who am I kidding it'll happen again.
Should bring it home in a few hours which I'm happy with as I've lost two whole days due to bike "issues"
This rally has rocked !