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Trail Report: March 3rd 2002

Players: Bec, JAW, Mik, Richard, Rob
Venue: Alkimos and Yanchep
Rider of the Day: Richard - New lap record for the time trial.
Stack of the Day: Mik - Ripping the guts out of the two-fiddy manages to mono himself off the back while doing the Alkimos dune jump.
Breakages & Injuries: Mik - Rips the tailguard off its bolts doing stack of the day.

Report:

There is only one problem with hot sunny summer days - it's hot and it's sunny. Well it might be good for you beach-goers but for the occassional weekend trail bike warrior "what I wouldn't give for a cool day and a bit of rain." And so starts the report for another great days riding in "the off season." :)

JAW and Mik catch up with Bec and eventually with Richard and Rob. No time for chit-chat, straight to record some times at the time trial circuit.

4WDs slow and frustrate the event, no suprises there, but overall the track condition has worsened. Richard still puts on a good show however setting a new track record of 1:43. Even though he is a professional motorcrosser the lads decided his effort was worth Rider of the Day - nice work.

Amongst being a professional 'crosser rider, wielding a CR500 widowmaker and having 30 odd years of motorcross experience - Richard is also pretty fit and puts in a couple of extra laps more than the others. Not bad at all for someone nearing forty...
Rank Rider Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3 Lap 4 Lap 5
1 Richard 1:50 1:48 1:53 1:43 1:43
2 JAW 2:10 2:09 2:40 - -
3 Mik 2:18 2:12 2:15 - -
4 Rob 2:17 2:12 2:33 - -
5 Bec 2:47 - - - -
Time Trial Results.

timetrial02.jpg
A long distance shot of the new time trial start position, much to everyone's
disapointment right smack bang before the U-turn.

JAW manages to hold on to second place but pretty much collapses after doing his 3 laps. Bec on lap 2 stalls into the u-turn and decides her single sub-three-minute-club pass is good enough and maintains her number one placing in the "open womens veteran class" ;) Rob and Mik draw equal times at 2:12; but overall faster laps means Mik snatches 3rd place by a whisker.

Up at the Alkimos doing the dune jump has become a bit of a regular hit with some of the players. Bec lines it up and the lads see at least one wheel off the ground. Cool. However Rob seems to still be emotionally recovering from his nasty dune jump stack a month or two ago and gives it a miss.

JAW on the other hand is emotionally over his bone-cruncher stack sometime last year on what he refers to as "the scary jump". He puts in many dune jump passes getting "the sickest air I can remember" which, for all intensive purposes, is just over half a meter up and a few meters long. Just long enough to rap the throttle off, then back on again for landing. Not particularly impressive.

But what is impressive is seeing Richard make it all look easy. He's not that happy with the jump - "it's very boggy, you lose half your speed going up it" - but the players enjoy being waved at as he passes by through the air. When you actually have to bend your neck to see somebody pass by you know that air is well and truely being had.
richardjump08.jpg
Richard is a bit nervous about the traffic
hanging aroud the dunes but grabs some
nice air nonetheless; not that this photo
does it justice.
mikstack06.jpg
Mik gets up and walks to the two fiddy after his Stack of the Day. Inset - the "jump" captured moments before the point of no return.

Mik sporting his 13 tooth front sproket (down from his normal 15 road-going one) isn't managing to work out those gear ratios; the two fiddy is going as hard as it can but the sloppy sand that is the dune jump just doesn't let him enjoy the wonders of weightlessness for very long.

While searching for more zero-G Mik picks himself up Stack of the Day. He's obviously rapping on the throttle but the two fiddy has only got the front wheel up. This bike is powered past the balance point and throws Mik off the back. Falling off the back from a mono is one of the "good ways" to stack for the rider - the bike doesn't crash down with you. On the other hand the bike ghosts on and without a throttle jockey it goes ker-splatt. The two fiddy lands quite a number of meters ahead of him and he has to take a break to jimmy up a way of getting his rear guard back on again...

A thirsty two-smoker refuel and the players move on up to Yanchep. Good'n'hard riding from JAW and Mik, trying hard to keep up with Richard to no avail. Bec and Rob are taking a more leisurely tour with Bec "I saw an emu back there!" still recovering from a bung shoulder.

Up at the tanks everyone has a rest and a few jubes to get the sugar rush going. Rob nips into Yanchep for a camelback water top up; thoughts turn towards Quinns again.
lads066.jpg
Players pause while Rob does A Good Deed.

Before heading back a lone rider zooms past, also heading a-Quinns way. On the track back to the Alkimos the players catch up with him - on foot. "You okay mate?" Rob asks. "I'm breakin' in the rebuild on me old KTM - she's stopped. Don't s'pose you can give me a dink back to town?" "No probs mate" and Rob gets the young fella back to his home base.

lads071.jpg
Dusk - and the players decide it's
about home-time.

Back to Alkimos and more dune jump work outs. Mik and JAW even take the Alkimos up-hill jump. Several times. It really bottoms their machinery out but both are pleased to have conquered yet another Crusty Quinns challenge.

Back to the time trials and Richard does a few more laps. There is just no stopping him. Eventually it's getting quite late and the players pack it in for home - a 6 hour event.

Your author is still recovering from it 24 hours later ;)