| #1185 | |||||||||
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Dwelly 300
Report copied from PAR, written by Jason Old
A few weeks back my good mate Joel Arkless, hit me up for a ride. “Im back in WA for a week, have my new DR650 (Nelson Elgueta previous mint adventure set up DR650), where are riding??" I knew I had to plan a big day, something that could cram a few months’ worth of adventure into just one days’ worth of riding for Joel. Thoughts of East, South and North rides were tossed around and I settled on the 9 Mile Swamp run around to Lancelin. Perfect as we could crank up some big k’s, was a known good route and a great pub feed in Lancelin for lunch. Then we had our 1st 40c+ day for the year reminding me why I much prefer Winter over Summer and I had seconds thoughts…. A broken down bike on 9 Mile Swamps roads deep black sand in the searing heat with no shade available? Yep, will keep that one mapped for the cooler months. Where else? Searching back through previous rides and came across the Dwellingup Adventure Ride from Feb 2018. This had everything and the idea of following a river suited, big kms and after reviewing Ed Pitmans Video of the last ride he managed to capture and immortalise into adventure riding history. All made more interesting by the torrential summer storm that hit. Perfect! Add to the fact that Nelson led this ride last time, Joel will just need to hang on to the DR as it has already navigated this route! Time to call it and as they say, if you build it they will come. The DWELLINGUP 300 was born! (300 as that was the estimated kms for the day) We needed to make an amendment to the route from Byford to Dwelly, as just a little too much blacktop for the skinny bikes liking. Cue the assistance of David Austin, who is starting to know that area of real estate like the back of his hands for big bike friendly adventures. David tweaked and fiddled with his route and was assigned to lead that section. Saturday came the day before the ride and so did my thoughts on weather, 40.4c being the hottest Perth November day on record!! Was very glad that the ride date was randomly chosen for the next day. Was continually monitoring DFES and Shire of Murray for any fire and vehicle movement bans with luck being on our side we were clear to ride. Sunday morning a keen group of 20 riders assembled at Caltex Byford, with a range of bikes from big to small and experiences matching the same. One very shiny, brand new “Cape York” edition DRZ400 shone out from the crowd and other less than shiny DRZs, this ride being its break in. Quick riders brief and a few muddled head counts “Was it 20 or 21??” and a big emphasis on having enough water we were on our way. Michael Baker threw his hand up and the high vis vest on to pilot his KTM 500EXC for sweep duties for the day. David’s riding kit needed no high vis, from head to toe fluoro green it already can be seen clearly through dust, fog, snowstorm… We kicked off into a mix of gravel trails, with the dust setting in early, pretty thick with 20 bikes bunched close together and taking a whilst to spread out. A reasonable pace was held with a 2 hour timeline to get into Dwellingup set. The first casualty was the big V-Strom and experienced rider Daniel Fujitsu, who on his terms had a rookie tumble down a slight gravel hill. Too much front brake?? Just a bruised ego this time… The dry and dusty conditions had the pea gravel like riding on marbles catching a few riders out, with drops, 180’s and heading bush unexpectedly common. A small section of the abandoned railway, Rhys Evans did have a nasty hard hit on the DRZ but wasn’t kept down for long after recovering his breath. Didn't even break a mirror! The group spreadout and puncture #1 occurred… Tony Simmonite a.k.a Junior finding himself cruising along a gravel road, unbeknown if reaching warp speed or not on the KTM 690, picked up a stick that punctured directly through the middle carcass of the tyre, a 1” diameter hole and giant gash through the tube. It actually defies logic and physics on how this puncture occurred. Hold up being around 30 minutes to have back up and running whilst the main group waited in the shade, already feeling the heat setting in at 9.30AM. Kicking off again heading towards Dwellingup, I noticed a great plume of smoke in the air. Great, just our luck the park is closed for burn off or bushfire… Chris Karanikich running the biggest bike a GSA1250 and his first PAR and WA ride outing was handling just fine, with only just one rut taking up all the ground clearance on the Beemer and needing an extra hand to get out. Just over that hurdle and the GSA’s nemesis needed conquering, a 100m section of deep sand. It certainly slowed him down very quickly with a concertina effect of skinny bikes stacking up behind him wallowing in the sand. Still made it through all ok, but muscling the bike through that section took a toll and Chris farewelled us in Dwelly, a good effort to get that far and will be seeing Chris as a regular on PAR BBF rides. That plume of smoke grew bigger and closer, just on the outskirts of Dwelly a burnoff was taking place, right alongside our track. We were waved through to pass by the firies with the smoke and flames only meters away, with a few trees precariously burning towards the track. But at least it wasn’t our intended ride destination. It was a busy morning in Dwelly, a quick regroup and opportunity for refuel and buying a packed lunch was taken, David making the 2 hour goal of Byford to Dwelly easily with the flat tyre pushing us just 20 mins behind schedule. I was putting my faith in the Rever offline mapping system and it seemed to be working well, so happily took the lead for the southern loop along the Murray River. These tracks are a bit further to get to, but well worth it, really flowing, moderate hills and plenty of traction and the dust seemed to drop off… Or maybe was that because I had the clear air?? Was very busy at the early stages with heaps of people out swimming, hiking and 4WDing. The first tight trail we came to, a SUV coming towards us did not stop when I waved her down, that sinking feeling when you know 18 other bikes are coming around the corners. Luckily though she did stop a few bikes later, telling the guys a log was across the round and we would have to turn around… Challenge accepted! A decent hip high and very long log wasn’t far away. A bit of bush bashing was required to get around, Joel finding a deep hole that swallowed the front end of the DR, everyone successfully navigating around. Cue David, wanting to demonstrate that DRZ’s with a full accomplishment of panniers can be used for both the hard enduro arenas and rounding up the cattle on the farm. David lined it up, bounced, throttled, controlled, tested his bash plate mounting system, see-sawed and with a slight guiding hand cleared the log smoothly to the view of the 18 strong impressed crowd. The next 30 kms I let run its course, with minimal cornermen being dropped everyone spread out, allowing to ride at a suitable pace, the scenery here along the Murray River is spectacular along with the trail to match. A few rutted hills and small bog holes the main obstacles, the dry conditions a lot easier than 2 years ago in the typhoon conditions. Some nice erosion drains had been formed to give everyone some air time, catching Jed Gardener sailing through the sky on his 500EXC in my rearview more than once. The temperature still creeping up as we reached the end of this trail and regroup. Only minutes away from the designated lunch stop, 12 riders waited and waited. A big unknown of what may have happened and listening for bikes thundering through the valley but it was all quiet. David was sent on a reconnaissance to see why, finding Steve Hill also on is first PAR ride picking up a 4” nail. That raised many questions, how the hell does a nail make it to the middle of nowhere? Literally miles from the nearest structure that would even resemble something requiring a nail. Well done to Michael Baker and the guys changing this out in around 40 minutes or so. Off to our lunch spot, I ducked down to a pool on the river to find a family well set up for a week camping. Asked the question and more than happy to share the spot, a hidden gem on the Murray. Daniel had a less than rookie off getting to the lunch spot, leaving both him and the V-strom battered and bruised. The V-strom with over 160k kms, can take a hit but this was a good one, pushing the guards into the radiator and pulverising an indicator and gravel rash to both Dan and the bike would have been sore the next morning! Everyone enjoyed lunch, making the most of the shade. Boddington the closest town notched up 38.5c on the record, hot enough!! Contemplating a swim, I did promise we would make a stop at the rapids later on in the day. That didn’t stop Suze Trappitt diving in and washing the dust off. Think the rest of the team was just enjoying the rest time and shade. The camping family did have a small army of shiatzu’s, eyeing off Shaun Luetich ankles but we survived unscathed. Another 10kays to a main road, we offered up an out for the day along the gravel back to southwest highway for those feeling the pinch or pushing time. 7 took this option, keep this group in mind. One of the hardest parts I find of leading a ride is making split second decisions that effects the group as a whole and I try to maintain a democratic approach to these, is why I’m always asking the questions collectively. 99% of the time they work out well, this next one didn’t… The idea being to explore back to Dwellingup via the Eastern side of the river. Sounds good to link the tracks, with one hurdle, crossing the river itself at a notorious spot. We haven’t had much rain lately, how deep could it be?? Only 800m away we would find out. Airbox height on a DRZ400 was the answer, picking lines difficult and having the right amount of luck and throttle to power though with a bow wave. 11 of 12 bikes successfully navigated, but remember who went swimming at the lunch spot?? Suze, and feeling her little WR250R shouldn’t be left out from cooling off and dusting off decided to head for a joint swim. Tommy Gill Cowden and myself where the lifeguards on duty, pulling the fully submerged WR out of the river. Actually didn’t mind heading in waist deep, really nice cooling off but it wasn’t for long. The next 2 hours was spent trying to dewater the little 250, Tommy taking the mechanical lead. We certainly tried our best but to no avail. Trap for new players, don’t stand inline with the spark plug hole when going for a crank, as Shaun found out being shot at with the 250cc of water and the velocity of a cannon. No running WR, no reception and the time running away, we had to call to make to get Suze back to civilisation. But that meant crossing the river again! I was all nerves watching Garth Bosworths brand new DRZ cross again, but other than the DRZ vapour lock stall, crossed with ease. Same feeling for Gary Turners near new KTM 690! Tadhg MacCarthy thought to himself he may as well get his swim in now, walking the John DeereZ 400 across, making it 90% of the way before an unlucky drop of the bike, airbox down. Fortunately it was a quick dewatering operation and the mighty Suzuki spluttered back into life. Tommy & Jnr made the call to support and tow Suze down to Harvey where Suze tested her RAC roadside assistance to make it back home. Hoping nothing major Suze and just a good drying out of the electrics required. Great support from the 2 lads to get the WR back to safety. Rest of the group made good pace back into Dwelly without incident but a lot of dust, with the light fading on the day a good pace was kept with a refuel and bite to eat, we said farewell to another group. 5 left to get back to Byford, with one challenging hillclimb thrown in for good measure, tired bodies and bikes we all made it up. Rolled back into Byford 6PM, 10 hours and 270kms after our start! What a day! Now remember the other group, they had the own misadventure returning to Perth with Steve running 2 more flats on the DRZ and out of tubes, patches and time. Nigel Denis practicing tyre changing technique, a mighty job guys. Rhys collected the stricken DRZ with a trailer, that groups day ending closer to midnight. Really well done guys supporting each other, is what riding mates and PAR group is all about. Great stuff. Steve, if you have had this much adventure on your first PAR ride, how is it going to be after 10 or 20 rides!! Overall another great day out, awesome people and it’s not until you sit back, check out the photos and reminisce its realised how epic it was and won’t be forgotten for a whilst, for all the right reason! Did grab some great footage but having some I.T difficulties and need a computer upgrade to return to creating the videos. See you all on the next one!                 |
