Ride report

[Michelle]

Our club has decided to utilise daylight savings & run a series of trailrides/harescrambles on Friday nights.
Managed to get to work for a 7am start (amazing what the thought of going riding does for me), got home, packed what needed to be packed, jumped in Craig's ute & off we went.

By the time we got there, Henk was riding already and it had decided to start raining. This forest is a swamp - tree roots, ruts & water, wahoo what a combination.

I finally got organised enough to start riding, jumped on the bike, warmed it up & off I went. Got to the gate to head off & decided I'd left the choke on, so stopped & worked out, hey ****, I can't change up. Henk came over & rode the bike back to the van, altered the gear shifter for me, & off I went again - cool, I don't need to dislocate my ankle to change gear.

I'd been warned it was a gravel bash for the most part, so just went cruising along the gravel road, stopped to make sure someone was okay & off again - hitting some clay ruts in the meantime. Back went sliding to meet the front, but managed to stay on the bike.

Got to the first bit of single track & that was still all good. The one problem I was having was the bike stalling, so went up a bit of a rise/jump/whatever you want to call it, I dunno & stalled it on the crest. A couple of riders went past me at that point, with one doing the same (I'd rolled out of the way so that wasn't the problem). Craig & Henk caught me at this point, so they made sure I could go & off we went.

Carried on for a bit, then got to a bridge where I froze, it was wide enough for the bike, but any mistake & you were over into the creek - looked like a couple of feet down. Henk rode the bike over for me, I walked & realised it wasn't as slippery as it appeared, but too late. We carried on for a while longer, until we got to a boggy bit where the guys stopped waiting for another rider to get clear. Okay, I have to go first, so off I went, Henk having to push as I was about to get stuck at one point, but got clear. Decided to carry on, so got to the next road & stopped to wait for the guys (and watch them go through that puddle lol).

Well, the next bit all turned to **** for me, I dropped the bike (it was either that or run into a tree and I remembered how much that hurt last time), sorted myself out & off I went again. Stuffed up going over a tree root & got stuck. Had to dump the bike so I could move it past that point & go again. I think at that point I screamed in frustration at myself. Carried on until I got stuck yet again. Henk was walking back up the track, so he took over the bike & I walked up to the next point. I just about got stuck again, but managed to get through - after that I started feeling one with the bike.

Going along a gravel road, the track veered off to the right, but I knew if I went straight ahead, I'd get back to the van, so a moment of indecision. Stuff it, I've survived this far.

Well, I got stuck in a rut (forks wouldn't let me go anywhere), stuck on a log - couldn't go the direction I wanted as there was a stump there, stuck in another rut, just about had a guy on a KTM400 run into me as my rear end went where it shouldn't have gone (no comments thanks lol), got lapped by the guy leading the harescramble (we heard the start), felt totally demoralised & gave up riding for the evening.

Sunday week is a trail ride, so I'll be there, hopefully doing more riding & having fun.

In the meantime, I need to do airfilter & oil as I probably got water in there - it was deep in places, but felt proud of the fact I almost survived and am definitely better on downhills - my bike kept stalling just after cresting the brow, but I definitely aren't freezing any more.

I was the only female riding, but I hope there'll be more next time. I've got to work on my stamina & upper body strength (and make sure I've eaten enough for a ride, I hate getting the shakes due to hunger). Oh, I tried out my new armour-tech jacket, it's great, but possibly a bit hot during our summer even with the sleeves unzipped.
M

 

[AnneBrooks]

Great ride report Michelle! Keep up the good work! I doubt if I would have rode if it was raining when we pulled up----I have done that and it is not much fun. Also, it sounds like the races here---being the only woman and all! Hang in there!!

 

[BunduBasher]

Hey Michelle, it is Friday morning here in the US, you have already left work for the weekend, rode a hare scramble, done the write up, and are enjoying the weekend, we still have to get our work day over and done with ! :eek: Ah, well, at least we will still be enjoying our Sunday afternoon when you are back at work Monday morning :confused:

Keep at it Michelle, sounds like you are doing better each time you are out there, sounds like that KDX is still tall for you ? Gotta hang on that cable baby, and let the bike work for you, dumping it one or two times on a ride is OK, too many dumps and pick ups ain't no fun eh :ugg: - ride every day, and you won't need the gym or have to worry about that upper body strength ;)

Good thing you have Henk to ride with !

 

[LoriKTM]

Keep up the good work, Michelle! Riding in the nasty stuff just makes the easy stuff that much easier. :think (I hate it, too! It's much more fun being a "fair-weather" rider!)

Bridges used to bother me as well. I still get a little nervous if they are real narrow. Just don't look down (look where you want to go), and keep it smooth and steady as you go across.

 

[Michelle]

Originally posted by BunduBasher

Keep at it Michelle, sounds like you are doing better each time you are out there, sounds like that KDX is still tall for you ? Gotta hang on that cable baby, and let the bike work for you, dumping it one or two times on a ride is OK, too many dumps and pick ups ain't no fun eh :ugg: - ride every day, and you won't need the gym or have to worry about that upper body strength ;)

Alan, I do find the KDX too tall in this forest, but considering I've ridden there 3 or 4 times, I'm not surprised. I just have to learn to adjust. Whenever we've gone there in the past, I've usually done one ride then handed the bike to Henk for the rest of the day. But that won't be happening again.

The club is putting on 3 harescrambles & 3 trail rides over the next couple of months, so after that I should be fine (Lori, hopefully I should be okay with bridges too, they have some cool ones with handrails even lol).

Cleaning the bikes yesterday was a mission, waterblast, hose down, spray simple green, wash by hand, spray down again. There's obviously something in the mud there too, as the bikes rusted overnight - one guy we were talking to yesterday had washed his bike Friday night, then sprayed WD40 on it & it still rusted.
M