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Albany to Denmark
Saturday ride Report by Tommy.
Players GasgasLex, RailwayBob, DRZAlex, DRZWayne, DirtBikeChick, TTRBoyShellby ,XTAaron, HuskyBrett, DRZEveshen, Fiona, Jacko, Tommy, Bruce, Scot An invite was put out by Gas Gas Lex for the Crustys to come down to Albany for a ride through the southern forests in December. Were else would you want to be in summer Perth 40 deg heat or Albany 20 deg?. 5 of us managed to get the time to travel down for the leisurely 9.30 start on Saturday morning. We met up with the rest of the Albany crew at a petrol station on the outskirts of town then a short road section to the railway tracks to take us out to the start of the forest trails. We had a bit of trouble with the corner man system at first but when we went through it again everyone got it and as usual it worked well and added to the flow of the ride. The trials were good open and fast with a good mix of clay, sand and rock with some water crossing (no were near as big as Bremer Bay). Lex was leading at a good pace and giving us some tips as to what to expect on some of the tricky parts ahead and Railway Bob doing a great job down back as sweep and everyone in the middle having a go at all the obstacles on the tracks. We went down some tracks that had just dried out and you could see the crossed over ruts from when it was muddy this would have been hard work in the winter months when the water was about 2 or 3 feet deep. The highlight of the trip to Denmark was a detour up to the lookout it was a good technical track to the top but the view was beautiful and well worth the effort. You could see for miles to the horizon in all directions and it was all forest with tracks going everywhere if only we had the time to explore them. Time for a rest some photos and the usual snakes for more energy and we are away again on to harder rocker tracks for a while down off the hill to some fast fence line tracks for the final run into Denmark. Fuel up at the servo then down to a bakery for some real food and round to a park by the river lunch under a big shady tree with toilets at hand it doesnt get any better than this. Everyone has pulled up well with no injuries and all the bikes are still going good one of the Albany crew DRZ Eveshen had to leave and another one Aaron joined us so it is time to head back to the tracks for more fun. The fence line tracks were good to get us all loosened up and back into it again. Then the hills and rocks to keep us on are toes and alert all is going well a couple of regroups and we were down into the lower land with some water still lying around. You guessed it trouble was lurking. Gas Gas Lex set off with Fiona then me everything looked easy some water in the side ruts plenty of damp ground between them the pace picks up then Lex gets crossed over and it all goes wrong in no time the bike gets crossed over in some small ruts and Lex is doing his best to hang on and straighten it up but he is into the deep water and under the bike in no time. Fiona and I are off our bikes and into the water to get the bike of him and pull Lex up onto the bank. He appears OK just wet and winded but when we lift him up onto his feet he cant put any weight on his right leg. The Albany crew have a large number of hospital staff so they took over while everyone else sorts out the bike. Railway Bob has his boots of and is into the stagnant looking water dredging it looking for Lexes helmet cam for about 5 minuets before he finds it. Its decided that Gas Gas Lex will ride back to another track with DirtbikeChick then onto a sealed road and off to hospital for treatment. Railway Bob is now the lead rider and we are off again he takes us of to a bridge called Railway Bobs Bridge (apparently he fell off it and went under water for a while before anyone though to pull him out). After the bribge we are into some good fast sandy tracks with lots of twists and turns and having a ball at the end of this we are all getting a bit low on fuel and decide to take a few transport sections back towards home and see how Gas Gas Lex is getting on. By the time we all get back to Lexes house and get showered he has arrived home from hospital on crutches with his knee in a brace (it pays to work in the hospital). He has strained his knee and will be off work for 10 days but is in good form and happy enough to carry on with the BBQ. As usual as the night went on and the cold beers went down our ability to ride dirt bikes was greatly enhanced LOL. Thanks to all the Albany crew for their hospitality but especially to Lex and Julie for sharing their house with us and look forward to seeing you in April on your way up to MOA. ROTD Gas Gas Lex SOTD Gas Gas Lex Sunday Ride report by Jacko. We thought sundays ride might get cancelled after lexes off but Alex and Wayne volunteered to take over. It was a cool overcast morning, perfect, so we headed off down past the wharf to the start of the track where John was waiting for us. Abit of a warm up through some hilly sandy tracks to the wind farm where Alex advised us all to let our tyres down real soft so it was obvious what was coming up.Shure enough, lots of windy hilly bermy sandy track.Glad we let the tyres down or it would have been a struggle.We stopped on afew hills to check out the awsome scenery that the area is famous for then on to mutton bird beach.The sand bar from a small river was closed, so we were able to carry on to cosy corner.The trip back was on the same tracks but at a faster pace.There was some light drizzle all morning, just enough to make the dust stick. It was only a three and a half hour ride but all agreed it was tougher than the 244 klms on saturday. |
