Desert Storm

[vr4king]

Whos going rego open now?

Be my 1st cant wait

[motor_mayhem]

Yeah pretty much aye. Won't it be freezing camping there though?

[glukasil]

who is going from auckland? i have a triple trailer.

[vr4king]

Yeah abit worried about the cold camping planning on taking excess layers for sleeping

[buffstar]

We are planning on going - ditching the kids for the weekend and having an Adult only riding weekend for a change :brick:

dunno about the camping deal tho! fook that twill be bad enuf riding thru rivers and being wet and cold without staying that way! trying to convince some mates to come along and chip in for a room at one of the local lodges. We went about 3 years (or more) ago and it was pretty cool, will be interesting to see how the new orgnizers set it out and much better to ride in the winter without all the dust methinks:facepalm:

[vr4king]

Yeah i tried to convince others to rent a house in Ohakune the mrs even found a 4 bdrm one for 90 a night which i thought was very cheap between 4 peeps

I still could be keen to go ways in a place to avoid the camping

[oldguy]

When is it ?????? date........

[noobi]

When is it ?????? date........

http://www.epicevents.co.nz/page/9-motorbike-events+desert-storm

[CRF119]

Yeah abit worried about the cold camping planning on taking excess layers for sleeping

Cold is much better then scorching heat and crazy amounts of dust. I went to the first ones in the winter, as soon as it was moved to summer it sucked. I think ill go this year if the funding is there.

[BoristheBiter]

Yep we will be going but staying in Ohakune.



Cold is much better then scorching heat and crazy amounts of dust. I went to the first ones in the winter, as soon as it was moved to summer it sucked. I think ill go this year if the funding is there.

Done it in the wet and dry both just as good.
Only thing that let down the dry were the fuck knuckles that thought they could still do massive speeds with no visibility.

[buffstar]

Yeah i tried to convince others to rent a house in Ohakune the mrs even found a 4 bdrm one for 90 a night which i thought was very cheap between 4 peeps

I still could be keen to go ways in a place to avoid the camping


Hmmmm sounds like we should chat...... does your lady ride too?
I'm guessing that the $90.00 is pp? certainly beats camping :cold:
My partner has a customer that owns a motel and could hook him up with a 'deal' but we stayed there while at tussock and it was a
freakn hole :facepalm: not soooo keen to repeat if there are other options

[vr4king]

Hmmmm sounds like we should chat...... does your lady ride too?
I'm guessing that the $90.00 is pp? certainly beats camping :cold:
My partner has a customer that owns a motel and could hook him up with a 'deal' but we stayed there while at tussock and it was a
freakn hole :facepalm: not soooo keen to repeat if there are other options

Unfortunatly she doesnt ride and im fairly sure she said 90 for the whole house per night
Ill quiz her when she gets in from her past time(spending my money).

[vr4king]

Turns out there is heaps of places for around the $100 mark.........

[matelect]

Been down there this week helping sort and clearing new and old trails
Endro x track & high jump looking challenging for those willing and those with not such large gonads still great to watch
will be awesome fun

[Premixer1]

We are heading down fri ,got 2 nights in a mint unit at a motel ,got sky etc 120 pp for both nights.been to desert storm 08 & 09 1st year on crf450 2 nd a yz250 and this time a different yz250 :scooter:me and same to guys this time looking forward to it heard it's going to be cold

[vr4king]

Well it seems im camping but I will be bringing every possible bit of warm gear with me
Bring on Friday

[Nova.]

Theres no decent moto events down here in the south island :angry:

[thecharmed01]

Well it seems im camping but I will be bringing every possible bit of warm gear with me
Bring on Friday


Looks like we are camping too. So not looking forward to THAT part! :facepalm:

[Spindr]

Hey i was wondering if anyone is going down early on Sat? i need a lift from Auckland if poss..will pay petrol :)

[buffstar]

ONE MORE SLEEEEEEP!!!! Whoo Hooo exciting much! cant freaking wait - yeh stuff camping!! we're staying at the Sunbeam Lodge $95 per night for the two of us with an extra $20 per person...... maybe there will be some rooms left?

[Premixer1]

Tracks cut up quite bad towards the end of the day

[mattnzl]

Yea, that soil was much slipperier than it looked! A few of those long straights through the trees were funny - you'd be cruising along fine then just end up sideways.
The expert sections were actually the driest parts.

[vr4king]

Was a mint weekend, Those greasy bits were good for a laugh

[BoristheBiter]

A good weekend but a bit disappointed.
So much for less roads and more forest, it has been basically the same track for the last 3 years now staring to get slightly boring with so much road.

The riding seamed a lot more friendly with less people thinking it was a race but what is it with some riders, It says expert for a reason.

A good ride all the same.

[thecharmed01]

I wanna know who the guy was who got pics of my swimming session......... :lol:

[vr4king]

I wanna know who the guy was who got pics of my swimming session......... :lol:

Seems a few people thought a dip in some alpine water was a good idea:lol::lol:

[thecharmed01]

Seems a few people thought a dip in some alpine water was a good idea:lol::lol:

haha hey I never thought it was a good idea... but it got a truckload deeper between laps one and two :dodge:

I'm also seriously paying for riding 20k in the cold, soaking wet. I'm full of the flu! GRRRRRR.

The boys got some shots of me successfully crossing the river which I was stoked about.
Shame it was a random dude who caught me falling into it.

[del-solider]

haha hey I never thought it was a good idea... but it got a truckload deeper between laps one and two :dodge:

I'm also seriously paying for riding 20k in the cold, soaking wet. I'm full of the flu! GRRRRRR.

The boys got some shots of me successfully crossing the river which I was stoked about.
Shame it was a random dude who caught me falling into it.

Which river crossing did you fall into?
West or East loop??

I for one would have thrown my toys out the coat if I had to ride back soaking wet in that cold!:baby:

[thecharmed01]

Which river crossing did you fall into?
West or East loop??

I for one would have thrown my toys out the coat if I had to ride back soaking wet in that cold!:baby:

East loop. It was fairly late Saturday on our second loop after lunch.
I made it through initially, it was easy. Then after lunch it had gotten WAY deeper. Before lunch it was up to the top of my boots. When I fell in and stood up, it was almost to my hips.
When I went down I tried to put my hand down and hold the bike up out of the water, but it was so deep that my head went under and it was all over after that!
Bloody shock when your helmet fills up with icy water hahaha

Dunno about throwing your toys hahaha
I didn't have much choice but to ride back! How would I have got back to camp otherwise?

Had to take my goggles off as they were full of water and my nose went numb real quick, but the water in my helmet I think kept head temperature, so my head didn't get too cold till I took it off!
I do have to say it was a LOT slower than when I was dry and by the time I hit the first gravel section I was barely able to change gear. Crashed it down to second when I hit forest again and pretty much held on and prayed I'd not need to change gear again cause my hands were about frozen to the grips!
I just plodded along, concentrating on holding onto the handlebars and trying to stay on the track!

By the time I got back to camp I was chilled to the bone though. Bought a new set of thermals from Richard (cause the ones on me were so wet they were wrung out when I took them off) and climbed into a shower to defrost, then rugged up in front of the fire. But even then my lips were still blue after midnight! I was coooooooooold!

Will no doubt do it all again next year though hahahahaha

[Reckless]

I wanna know who the guy was who got pics of my swimming session......... :lol:

Late sat we took a few and there was a lovely blonde lady my riding buddy helped through the river! Was a bit tentitive, waited a bit, then had a go, then fell in :)

Dunno about pics yet we took most of on his camera and some Vid. After washing down all the gear last night we haven't had a meet to put our two set of pics together. What bike and gear I'll have a look for you!!

[thecharmed01]

Late sat we took a few and there was a lovely blonde lady my riding buddy helped through the river! Was a bit tentitive, waited a bit, then had a go, then fell in :)

Dunno about pics yet we took most of on his camera and some Vid. After washing down all the gear last night we haven't had a meet to put our two set of pics together. What bike and gear I'll have a look for you!!


Bike has all black plastics with pink/black/white graphics with a white numberboard. It's actually a Honda CRF150F but doesn't look like one so much...Bike has the number 08 and Rogue on the sides.
I am very very blonde with a longish bob... all my gear was pink & black - pink goggles, pink fox helmet, pink & black fox pants/top/gloves.

I stopped before I went through as someone went before me and I waited a minute hoping the murky water would clear a little..... then I thought stuff it I'll be here all day if I wait and some bugger will fly past me and murk it all up again anyway, so went on in and whaddya know SPLASH. hahaha
I didn't know it, but while I was crossing my boyfriend had come up behind me and earned his hero badge as when he saw me go under he dropped his bike and leapt in after me....
Honestly, I don't actually remember much except my hand going down, cold water around my face and not being able to breathe, then being on my feet on the side of the river. I can't tell you if anyone else helped me. I just don't have any recollection of getting out of the water, until I spoke to the cameraman! It's so weird, like a little blank spot!
I don't even really remember my boyfriend helping me.


When I got out, I did say to the person with the camera that I hoped they got pics and he said he got pics and a video haha
Hope it was you as I'm dying to see them!!! Must have been hilarious!

[pete.ktm]

Hope it was you as I'm dying to see them!!!

if you find them, don't forget to share them :)

i've only drowned my bike once, thank god.

so it was basically the same tracks as the jan 2011 desert storm? thats the last one i did.

did they have the 'erzberg' rocky section? that was fun.

[thecharmed01]

if you find them, don't forget to share them :)

i've only drowned my bike once, thank god.

so it was basically the same tracks as the jan 2011 desert storm? thats the last one i did.

did they have the 'erzberg' rocky section? that was fun.

haha I so will, you will have seen the successful crossing on my FB yeah?

Yup still had Erzberg. I think it's been the same tracks for every DS I've done and that's 4 or so now I think. Some people were saying it was getting boring, but I dunno. I enjoyed it.
Must be time they did something new though I guess....

[pete.ktm]

haha I so will, you will have seen the successful crossing on my FB yeah?


nah, i don't use fb, what do i search on to find you?

[thecharmed01]

These are the two Tony posted on FB of me crossing the river so far.

Waiting to see if he got any more :clap:

[pete.ktm]

rivers and smallish bikes close to the ground, always good for a larf :)

although not quite as bad as this 2001 desert storm crossing...

[BoristheBiter]

What I wanted to know was why was everyone going to the right of the big rock.
If you went straight ahead (left of the rock) it was only about a foot deep as to the right was a hole, that has been said, that just got deeper.

[vr4king]

What I wanted to know was why was everyone going to the right of the big rock.
If you went straight ahead (left of the rock) it was only about a foot deep as to the right was a hole, that has been said, that just got deeper.


Your right on that one, I went left and had ZERO issues

[thecharmed01]

What I wanted to know was why was everyone going to the right of the big rock.
If you went straight ahead (left of the rock) it was only about a foot deep as to the right was a hole, that has been said, that just got deeper.

Where I went the time I successfully crossed was the only way I could go as I wasn't confidant enough to try any other way. At the time I could see an easy, no big rock path so I took it! Worked too.

Second time, I was in that deep hole LOL

[mc4aregreat]

Heaps of video on NZ You Tube. search "Desert Storm 2012 trailrde"

[Reckless]

When I got out, I did say to the person with the camera that I hoped they got pics and he said he got pics and a video haha
Hope it was you as I'm dying to see them!!! Must have been hilarious!

Finally got round to having a catch up and I found a short vid of your swim :)

Pm me your email and I'll send it to you no pics unfortunately :(

[thecharmed01]

Finally got round to having a catch up and I found a short vid of your swim :)

Pm me your email and I'll send it to you no pics unfortunately :(

Yuss! Thank you muchly, you have PM!