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CQ trackers of the North
Report by TigeR
It must be winter. The weekend comes along and there's three Crusty rides on offer. It would have been four if Carlo had called the Tuscany ride, but that's the Italians for you ... rumour has it they were favourites for the World Cup too. :0) The baboons and crew had headed North to check the books on the Gero chapter ... they were starting to upstage HQ so had to be put back in order. Pounce was at home, trying to get his back in order. Luckily Mick450 was out on early parole so he called a ride starting from the CQ spritual home of the OVT. In celebration of a new Welsh PM, the WA weather came to the party with a balmy 0C on Saturday morning. As I drove up to the OVT gazing over the frosty paddocks, I had to do a double take. Slowing next to an open paddock - to make doubly sure - yes it was Santa Claus testing in the Southern Hemisphere winter some new transport options for Christmas 2010. I can now confirm that Father Chrissie will be riding a KTM over the festive period. If your kids don't receive any presents, just explain slowly and calmly that uber-engineering was let down by a sub-standard sidestand. The crew slowly stated to gather at the OVT car-park. Fueltanker Allen pulled in after riding from Yanchep - he was in some distress complaining that he couldn't feel any extremities after the frosty ride. As if to underscore the woosiness of that, Wayno rode in on his impressive looking KTM 690 Enduro having ridden in from The Vines. Even more impressive was the fact that his sidestand worked on the sandy ground. Soon enough Mick appeared on his trusty black KTM. XRChris was back to tackle the sand again on his Big Red Pig, the mighty XR650. Would he break the 12km barrier today? His heart rate was at 130bpm (apparently that's quite high) and that was just when he was booting up. It was going to be a big day. Aboriginal trackers Mick & Allen had an elders meeting and plotted the route on the sandy ground. What to expect? Expect sand! At final count we had a crew of eight, reduced from nine as the ubiquitous Tommy had succumbed to a bad case of the man-flu. It must be bad for Tommy to miss a CQ event - he's currently on track for a record time to reach CQ legend status. Just to ease us into the ride - Mick led us out on the boggiest, whoopiest, sandy track he could find. Suddenly the freezing air-temp was no longer an issue - XRChris' heartrate was now a blood warming 180bpm. Like modern Apaches we rode North through ancient and sacred CQ lands. A few short years ago - our people had been hunted from these lands by the warring rangers who were driven by a desire to protect this wonderful WA native bushland. Today these lands are a devastation of 4x2 homes and flat screen TVs. To get the full story watch the upcoming 2011 movie "Last of the CQs" .. with Roley played by Russell Crowe in the starring role. Our trackers did a great job of navigating us through suburbia - keeping to the last remants of bushland. I'm sure I saw a buffalo at one point, but I was welling up under the emotion of it all. Hopefully Russ will capture that in the movie. At last we were out bush, where sand is king and you suddenly rue not having bought that steering dampner - but then you remember - XRChris on the BRP - he's going to be played by John Wayne in the movie. On one track, an angry Bankisa spotted Chris in the distance and jumped out on the track to teach him a leasson. Mr. Banksia however expected another woosie enduro bike - the BRP ploughed into the Banksia - deflected and t-boned the fence just to make a point. Result - one broken BRP plastic, one traumatized banksia. A couple of zip-ties and a snake (lolly) for the rider and off we headed again. Key memories for the day... Fueltanker Allen: As Wayno aptly said, nothing phases him. The rest of us struggle in the boggy stuff, but Allen is just silky smooth all the way - topped up with multi-gear wheelies in the vein of KLX Pete. There was some consenus that it's actually a factory KTM under that yellow fueltankered "DRZ". WR Phil: A self professed newbie, with a showroom shiny WR250F with a massive 600km on it. He rode steady all day, despite Mick's goal of getting that WR scratched up and dirty. As suspected he has a fair bit of road experience. If you meet Phil - ask him about his previous more gentle pursuits of hang-gliding and dune 4WDing. Today was mini-golf compared to his experiences there! Wayno: Wayno does solo 400km trail days on the 690 - this was confirmed by the slickness of his tyres - with the faint memory of knobbies on there. This didn't seem to having any negative effect on traction - with Wayno and the 690 cruising through it all. WR Ross: Tommy better watch out - Ross is another on track for the fast 50. Jack: Another of the Hussy loving crew - I think they sell permanent smiles with those bikes. Jack was just happy to be out riding - and took on sweep duties half-way through. Sweeping in sand riding at a slower pace than comfortable can be hard work. Thanks for the time at the back Jack. Mick: Once again it was a Magical Mickstery tour. What more can be said about Mick who is half-man, half-KTM. I'm not even sure where one starts and the other ends.Mick led us on a varied set of trails, he even discovered some new trails that hadn't been in use since Yagin was a boy. Yes indeed, expect the unexpected. Once again Mick & Allen did a great job in tailoring the trails for all skill levels on the ride. All was washed down with a few coldies and a chin-wag at the OVT post-ride, all in one piece. Life is good. SOTD goes to the Banksia Beater - XRChris. ROTD - a few contenders - but today it's goes to the man of silk - Fueltanker Allen. Thanks to all for a great day in the bush. Ride while you can.  XR650 Full Steam.  TigeR Style.  Ross Style.  Rangling with a KTM.  Quote" The shortest distance between two points is a straight line." Famous last words.  This is a track? To Mick it's a track!  Phil's style. |
