DirtBike Talk

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A ride that had variety

Pre- ride grappa to celebrate the Queen, the King, the republicans and the anarchists. And a special mention for my daughter who will provide our family with its first grandchild. Thanks Marko for the grappa

Riles capably led us on the promised anti clockwise Chewton loop. Lots of rain meant some creek crossings had mystery depths. I’m still not convinced Riles assurances that the front wheel is an effective depth gauge given a submerged front wheel may mean that’s it’s too late to work out if the water is too deep

The first half of the ride felt, at times, like ‘fast and furious’. Wide open tracks and great traction. The second half provided the usual Chewton ping ping over rocks which was inevitably at a slower pace

All riders and bikes got back to the cars safe and sound

Marko swept all day like a champion- fortunately there was little need for his services at the back of the pack with a very capable ride group

Hooley Dooley, Second ride back after knee injury, first ride ever with "Dirt Bike Talk" and found it to be the "best ride ever".

Thanks Riles for the lead, Marko for the sweep and corner men for keeping us on track. Great day on the bike with a great bunch. Thanks fellas, I had a grouse day!

A lovely tribute ride to the Queen.

The reverse Chewton was a great choice.

With the rains of late, many of the lower tracks were flowing like streams. Even so, there was grip a plenty on the tracks and hills. A balanced, light front end was required when hitting the hills, but a rouge rock would catch you off guard. If you lost momentum on a hill ascent, the mood quickly changed from smiles to an "oh shite" moment........ as you scramble to find traction on the wet rocks.

We stopped at the top of Scorpio and a few made their way down to have a crack at it. The ruts in Scorpio are huge these days and it wasn't uncommon to feel a large rock hit the bottom of the frame as you reach the higher section. A clean run was impossible, but I must say Toby gave it a good shot.

Thanks for the ride gents and look forward to riding Victoria again soon.

Cujo

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A big thanks to Riles for leading a very memorable ride. Thanks to Marko too. It was a super fun day, shared with many familiar faces. God save the queen, and god save ‘Central Vic’. For me, it was nice to do the full ‘Central Vic’ loop, after so many years of only knowing 75% of it. As usual, Chewton offers amazing grip (most of the time) even in the wettest conditions. On that note, this is by far, the wettest year since I took up dirt bike riding in 2017. Creeks we’re gushing and I reckon there were new creeks being formed (or revived) in some areas. Mind boggling! Chewton is deceptively challenging, and after hanging on to the bars and being jack-hammered for around 5 hours, I’m certainly feeling it today!

Thanks Riles for leading us around the Chewton loop in the other direction, not as someone worked out mid morning, backwards!! That's beyond my skill set.

The loop worked really well. Later in the day there were a couple of nasty rocky uphills that certainly got the heart rate up.

A very dangerous swap with Riles to finish the ride saw me on the Husky 300 and Riles on the angry 450RX. The swap was dangerous only because the 300 was so easy to ride. It didn't try to throw me off even once!!

Thanks Marko for sweeping and everyone for a great day on the bikes, with a couple of cleansing ales at "The Elpho" afterwards to cap off the day.

Thanks for posting up an awesome ride. First time doing the loop in the opposite direction and loved it. Looking forward to the next ride.

Chewton in reverse was a good bit of fun and I thank Riles for posting it up.
We've always said that place is ideal for wetter conditions as it drains so well, this was evident by the little rivers flowing through every valley. Traction was mostly good except for a few unexpected moments just to keep you on your toes. Creeks were up a bit but nothing outrageous.
Great crew on the day tackling everything well. Some of those up hills we'd normally ride down offered a few surprises though. A bit of gangnam and zig zagging seemed to be a popular method at times.
Was nice to have Cujo down south of the border and nice to have Marko back from Croatia with his special pre ride tonic. Gotta do that more often I reckon.
All in all a great day out on the trail with good company topped off with a couple of beers at the pub. A great way to spend the limited time not at work.
Looking forward to the next ride!