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Capel 2011
ROTD: Anyone who did both loops
SOTD: N/A Players: Andy400, Brett, Jason, Tommy, Martyn, WRDave on a KTM??ah my memory if forked.Tommy, help me out!! If there was anyone else the post you name up so Pounce can add. After missing out on the Ride of the Year I was determined to get another Capel 200 under my belt. Andy400 had asked to meet up so we travelled down on Saturday afternoon. On the way down we got smashed with rain and wind a couple times, enough to try and push us off the road and have me wondering what the hell am I doing? The thought of pitching A tent and camping in this was starting to worry me big time. We arrive around 4.30 to find Tommy, Martyn, WRDave??, and a couple other blokes I hadnt meet before (sorry I forgot your alias), already there in into a few beers. Andy400 and I picked a spot And began setting up camp. We tried to start a fire with a bit of gas and some toilet paper and cardboard as kindling as everything was just saturated. We wandered back over to meet up with the Boys and they had a fire going that look like it was straight out of hell. We couldnt believe the size of this fire. Tommy had found a great stash of old fence pole and they were semi dry so it was great. At this point the weather was fine and I thought we may get lucky. In the end I think we did OK. The stars were out and it wasnt overly cold. More beers were to be had by all!! We were talking with Big Steve who I had meet previously down at the Honda Adventure Rally and rides a big CR500 2 Banger. Steve is a big fella, all +120kgs of him. Well he dared a couple of the fellas to try and kick this monster to life. In the end he got it going much to the amusement of us lads. He revved the life out of this ting for a good 5 minutes before one of the organizer came over and had a quiet word. Gold!! I piked around 10.30pm with the rest of the boys up til around midnight. The night was OK, a couple small showers but nothing substantial. Worst part was having to get out of the warm sleeping bag To take a piss at 4am, shit it was COLD!! Sunday arrived and out off the bag at 7.30am to see most people starting to get there sh1t together. It was still mostly fine so time to pack up the tent and get bike over to scrutineering along with the Helmet and boots. A quick run around the spokes with a screwdriver, check the front and rear brakes, wheel bearing free play and bob your uncle you were in the Parc Ferme. The bloody APEX people slept in so not coffee or bacon & egg rolls for anyone. I think there were quite a few people, me included, counting on that for breakybugger!! Rider brief was the standard riding is dangerous, no GPS or re riding the tracks as it is getting harder to host these events, IT IS NOT A RACE spiel from Jeremy of the IRAC. Then it was time to mount up. I did this ride last year and did both the morning and afternoon loops of +/- 65kms, this year the loop was a little longer at 72kms plus the usual endure sections which added another 2-3kms. It was standard South West stuff, tight tracks made up of hard packed loamy sand and clay, pea gravel tracks, pine forest, flowing trails, mud etc etc. The difference this year was there was just no let up. You could Not relax a bit out there or else you would be on the ground. No sections to have a rest and shake out the arm pump or have a sit down before getting into the next section. You had to be on your game the whole loop. The only rest was really at the check in stations (2 of them) and a couple other places around the loop. People were stopping everywhere so I was glad to know I wasnt the only one struggling. Towards the end I know I would struggle to complete another loop so did a few of the optional sections. These were very rocky with those big clumps of solid pea gravel. Just when I though it was hard enough I go and do that!! I was last back to the cars and was glad to see that I wasnt the only one thinking about pulling up stumps after the first loop. It just wasnt worth going back out to make a mistake and have a big off, get Hurt and ruin a great event. So it was time to pack up, have a few beers and then make the trek home. One good thing about the early finish was that I was able to get home and have the bike washed, serviced And ready for the next ride before it got dark and cold. All in all another great event with a great bunch of guys (even if I didnt remember all their names). I look forward to the next IARC ride in October and hope it will be a bit drier as this was really a demanding ride. But hey, any ride is a good one. Until next time. Jason Having driven down Saturday arvo, with Craig (new) to meet up with Paulb who was doing the Enduro that day, we ended up at the Capel Pub for dinner and a few beers. With Sunday arriving we headed out for the 1st loop, bit of a late start. As it turned out I was forced to lead as Craig and Paulb wanted to take it easy. Riding on the razors edge I pushed the pace hard only to come off in a muddy patch, luckily Paulb was there with a goggle cam. As Jason said the loop was quite a challenge compared to last year, anyway 2hrs and 40min later we were back for lunch, without too many mishaps. So the question of the second loop came up, Paulb said he was only going to do it if Craig was going to do it, Craig said he broke the rear brake lever a few metres from the finish and had basically put the bike on the trailer before any serious discussions could take place. So I find myself at the start of te second loop, by myself, no riders to be seen, just the officials to lift the tape and a Magpie in a tree to see me off. I roared the KLX450 into life and send myself into the second loop, with the knowledge of every corner, mud hole, rock and tree I was going smash the previous lap time. Within 20k's I'm on my arse in the mud, I quickly release that this might not have been a good idea and the Magpie agreed. Picking the bike up, I'm on my way and start to hear this strange noise coming from the bike, turned out the start switch was on, a quick tap to make sure it was working, when it came off in my hand, great I get to kick start the bike, lucky its not a Berg. With the mud trying to suck the KLX into the abyss, the Metzlers were working over time and at times, the mud was trying to turn them into slicks. Even when I was going straight I had the strangest feeling that the back was overtaking the front and when that didn't work the mud had a soft place for my arse to land. Then there was the botany lesson the mud was giving me. Do you know how many different trees and shrubs there are down there. The rain was a nice touch, with the goggles fogging up, I decided to take them off and ride. With the rain on my face, I rode to find some more mud to fall into. As I rode on there seemed to more mud than the first time around. As the rain, slowed to a sprinkle and the sun came out the light of the rain drops was very beautiful, not on my arse again. That ended the admiring of the bush and my surroundings. Hitting the first check point and hoping they will shorten the course all I got was a smile and wave through, maybe at the second check point. As I rode on with hope only to get the same at the second check point, a nice smile and wave on. At this stage I was sitting when I was supposed to be standing, standing when I was supposed to be sitting. Found some mud to fall into, just for a change. Finally got the finish about 20 mins slower than the first time just in time for the raffle, and of course didn't win anything there either. All in all a good time out, its shame I couldn't share the experience, maybe next time lol Karlo (kpphotos)  Nuclear camp fire - Capel 200  Capel 200 2011  Capel 200 2011  Capel 200 2011 |
