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Nannup - Slippery When Wet
The threat of a storm was nowhere in sight, so spirits were running high that we're onto a great ride. Husaberg's dominated the numbers being 4 of the 7 bikes with KTM making up the rest, good to see the Bergs are alive and a popular choice of weapon ! Dazza a passionate dirt biker with a Husaberg that is an absolute showpiece and a tribute to Swedish ingenuity (with a bit of help from KTM) was the master of the ceremonies for the day. Pete a newbie to CQ's was the equivalent of Captain Cook on the Nannup single trails network, a shit hot navigator and a leader when required. Brodie and Jaden debuting with the CQ's and thourghly excited to go on a hard core enduro adventure ride. Ktmshaun and Twoody, two seasoned dirt bikers never missing the opportunity to test man and machine against the elements of nature. Myself, just happy to plod along as sweep and savour every moment back on the bike.
Booted up, briefed and out by 9:30 we headed straight into a hill climb. A test Dazza threw at us to see if we're on the ball and able to take the days punishment that lay ahead. Over and across for a quick look at Tanjannerup hill and watched other dirt bikers attempt to conquer it with little success, this made our minds up to save the challenge for the end of the day, and not chance spoiling a day's ride with a silly off so early in the piece. A short blast on the slipper twin track, and into single trails that were well ridden, grippy with perfectly formed up berms that allowed you to maintain decent speed. It was pretty much a slot car track for dirt bikes, just find the right gear, twist the throttle and hang on. Before we could see it coming the single trails turned into serious hill climbs with detours around fallen trees and exposed roots trying to catch you out. Finding traction was a challenge on slippery pine needles. One single track linked to another and two hours later we only travelled 40km with exhaustion setting in and camel packs near empty. A quick lunch break at the top of a hill with a spectacular panorama views of the forest as far as the eye could see and a dark sky to the west with an impending storm brewing in the distance. Time to get back into the saddle and head for home, surprisingly ridding the trails in reverse was like covering totally new ground only better with the smooth slippery sections now more predictable with the wheel roost defining your path. Back into a few more hill climbs and exhaustion was well and truly set in with small off's, wrong lines selected, not enough throttle on log crossings and overshooting of turns. Brodie's frustration with lack of traction on hill climbs on his KTM200 was generally expressed with the full twist of the throttle, unfortunately the consequence of that was ghosting his bike on numerous occasions (man, can these bikes take some punishment). The final rest stop was back at Tanjannerup Hill for those that still have energy left in them to attempt the hill climb. Ktmshaun was up for the challenge and attempted the hill three times to no avail, Pete dug deep and nailed it on his first go, with Dazza and myself getting the right lines on our second attempt. Twoody, Jaden and Brodie were the smart ones and just cheered us on and laughed at our failed attempts. In all we covered 80km of mostly single trails in awesome country, with great guys and two fearless leaders brining us back to the vehicles in one piece and permanent smiles etched on our faces. Well done Dazza and Pete, great team effort in leading. Thanks Ktmshaun and Twoody for your company and good onya to Brodie and Jaden for tackling every challenge dished out to you and not letting us old blokes break your spirits. Some photos in gallery and more on Dazza's camera. Jack Brilliant ride yesterday down south. Conditions were spot on and a great crew of blokes to enjoy it with. Went through the storm of the way home so great timing. Great call Dazza and thanks to Dazza and Pete for leading a top day. Thanks to Jack for sweeping and bringing some top young riders with him. Us old blokes did a good job I think of tiring them out on the hills and solid single trail. Feeling it today in the legs. About to clean the mud off the bike now and there is plenty of it. Thanks to all for making it a top day. Cheers. KTMShaun I love riding Nannup. The toughest 83 klm's I've done in a long time. Dazza and Pete did a huge job leading us up slippery single trail thro pines with exposed roots - at an angle, gnarly sections with green mossy 'no traction' areas and those hills that just get steeper. Thanks to Jack for sweeping all day and the young blokes for hanging in there. I am suitably tired and sore. cheers. Twoody Thanks to all the guys who turned up today for the ride at Nannup. I thought the rain was going to be an issue but we didn't get a drop all day. So another great day of riding hitting some slippery hill climbs and great single trails.And even better when riding with a great bunch of guys. Cheers Dazza           |
