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2018 BREMER Bay sand extravaganza
Date 03/Mar/18
11 Riders Alex, DazzaM, DT200, Eric300Maley, GasGasLex, Inver, ktmshaun, pete450, Rick450, Twoody, XRCass
Rider of the day Not awarded
Stack of the day Not awarded
Bremer Bay 2018 - Great Southern Sand Ride

Crusties that I know - GasGasLex, Inver, Twoody, XRCass, DazzaM, KTMShaun, Pete450
(Others post up so admin can add you to report - Ta.)

Day 1 - AM
About 22 riders line up for a gentlemanly start of 9.00am. One thing I notice is that there are more cameras then bikes (helmet cams, chest cams, crotch cams, video cams, long lens cams). Don't stuff up down here as it WILL be recorded by someone.

Brian was pointed to as the leader and Richard was pointed to as the sweep then straight into it - jeez no mucking around here. Turns out the rider meeting was to be held in the first set of dunes with a bit more discussion on what was planned. A few took the opportunity to hit the nearby razorbacks for a bit of a warmup.

Bremer has the best beach/scenery (shhhh !) with hard pack white beach sand alongside cliffs and amazing blue water. Which is all very distracting at 140kmh++ in the middle of a pack of 22 bikes.

We hit the typical WA coastal tracks with soft twisty 'catch you out on the corner' sandy berms and the usual array of coastal scrub 4wd tracks that double back a dozen times between point A and B. We had hardly any need for the cornerman as there were few corners and little risk of getting separated.

Eric gets a front flat on the 2 banger on one of the only bits of rock on the beach and admits to not bringing his usual full kit of tools/tube etc as this morning's ride is relatively shorter than his usual. Inver gets things moving with his spares kit and a new from the shop 21 inch tube and is just cracking out the Co2 when Sharpie pipes up and says we could use the air compressor in the cruiser he has parked around the corner if we want. Yeah lets do that.

A few have turned back with minor (or not so ?) mechanical issues but most are still mobile. Several cracking dune systems and photo ops later we head back to Bremer for lunch

Day 1 - PM
The arvo session was 'The Ravines'. Pea gravel straights and sudden corners in the dust, several rocky hills with erosion mounds. Dazza, Inver and Eric slicing through the pack (go for it boys - I cant even see the track in some places). The bloke on the yellow DRZ gets a front flat and a few stay to help while the rest hit a nearby loop that Brian knows. It's all very tight 1st/2nd gear single trail to keep the 'rat run' boys happy. The tight stuff went for about 3 hours / 30 kms or so (felt like it anyway by the time I made it through - prob about 5kms/20 mins in reality). I skillfully work my way to the back of the pack just in front of the sweep (GasGaslex). At the end of the tight stuff the sweep turns up ... and then another bike ... 'I was sure didn't pass anyone ! Who are you ?' - Lex. 'Dis my track ! Made it a while back with a Ford F5000 and a (insert piece of farm equipment here)' . Ahh - cheers mate nice track. No worries, Cya.

We get back to the pit crew who are feverishly racing to get the flat tube changed before we arrive - sort of :). I neeeded a break anyway and good chance to crack out the pack of snakes. It's mostly gravel roads on the way back to town with heaps of dust around . With the corrugations you were better going 100kmh ish than 50 kmh ish - so we did.

I'm peering through the dust cloud ahead and suddenly there's a Suzuki (Richard I think ?) coming at me 100kmh IN REVERSE. Nice trick ! How's he do that? Oh shite he's stopped. Bit of dodging / gentle braking around the soon to be 'yellow speed hump' and all good. Thankfully bloke behind me (Pete I think ?) follows the same line as I've thrown up even more dust. Turns out the old flat tube from the last change has come loose off his rack and fallen into the rear wheel at 100kmh. Total rear wheel lock up and skid to a halt (nice save) which was nearly followed by an XR650 enema. Couple happy snaps to remember the occasion (anyone got a camera ?) and back to Bremer.

A few us did 'one more ride' around the local bay before heading back to the camp to call it quits for the day. Most riders and WAGS congregated at the local pub for dinner that night (good tucker too). Most left at a reasonable hour. Some didn't.


Day 2 - AM
0830 start and we have lost some bikes and gained others. A huge KTM adventure bike pulls up alongside the group and more than one is thinking about how it will go on todays tracks - turns out he wasn't doing this ride so we didn't find out. More amazing coastline with fast beaches and punishing sand tracks. Still having loads of fun but some are riding noticeably slower then on day 1.

I'm cornerman on a beach entrance with a view of the bay and the last rider turns up and says GasGasLex has retired as sweep due to loss of a number plate and backtracking to search for it (I didn't hear the details about the DRZ recovery operation). Twoody took over as sweep and the rest plugged on. KTMShaun has some clutch issues - as in the bike goes IN to gear when the clutch lever is pulled in instead of when being released - some opinions on the cause and possible solutions are offered but Shanu decides on the sensible 'head back to the cars' approach and is accompanied by Richard on the Suzuki.

The lead rider then took us to a few hard to reach top of the cliff touristy spots and around some never ending bays where having the throttle wide open was a mandatory requirement. I swapped bikes with Inver for the ride home (Honda XR650 vs KTM500) ... had fun but give me my bike back you bugger. Tried to park up alongside him on the beach and failed miserably. Fell into Inver on the XR who fell into Twoody on the Berg - like dominos. Managed to grab onto his armour while holding in the clutch on the still running bike before we all hit the deck and with a little help from a few others all were kept upright. Told you I was going to drop it.

Inver and I had to head off at lunch and so missed the Day 2 arvo session (and Day 3 if there was one ??) so will leave it to others to add in those details or make them up as you see fit.

Cheers for putting it all together gents - including BB caravan park for accom and BB resort for sat night food/fun.

Great ride.

XRCass


Here is a link to about 72 Bremer bay 2018 Sand Follies Foto's
GasGaslex
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10156470602195832.1073741882.679380831&type=1&l=25b9d26e30






Awesome weekend down Bremer,thanks to all leaders&sweeps geoff Brian Richard& Lexx sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone.What a cool place to be riding dirt bikes,hard sand,very soft sand,limestone tracks 4x4 tracks, big dunes,beautiful scenery and even some rocks & gravel.I had a great time riding with crustys I know and meeting new ones,was a bit sketchy on the sand at first but buy the end of the weekend was loving it,looking down at the speedo seeing a hundred and something while in the air over those beach jumps had me smiling like a kid,all while trying to catch the dozen or so faster guys in front of me! Glad I’ve got twelve months to practice on sand for next year.Thanks again to all involved Pete
Pete450

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