So who actually went to Desert Storm?

[F5 Dave]

Well we made the mistake of going on the (erm West) 55 km loop first & never completed it.

First there was the tiny bog & (admittedly fairly deep) ruts fiasco that had us waiting ~ 40min to attempt it. Then we had the uphill rut mud session. Along with more waiting.

I’ve got to say at this stage Mitas C10 rears are premo in these conditions, my little 200 was faring better than a bunch of these four-strokes which are supposed to be good in mud. I was keen to keep on going.

But people were just getting badly stuck & waiting for the quads to right themselves was painful.

Toward the end many people were wet & frustrated so everyone turned back down the hill.

Many were complaining they wanted their many back etc. Personally I think the organisers did a great job & they can’t control the weather. It must be hard to predict what will happen to the track with so many riders.

I will be going back if they run it next year, but may keep heed of the weather if it rains as much.

So what was the other (East) trail like? The carpark was pretty deserted by the time we got back & we were wet so we decided to forgo the Sunday. Did they run ok on Sunday?

[Paul in NZ]

Dunno Dave but all day sunday (we were on the road 10:30 ish) on both SH1 and SH2 there was a steady strem of vehicles with dirty dirt bikes headed away from the central NI.

One group in a big Land cruiser thingie were around Otaki stopped by a destroyed rear tyre and the trailer was off the vehicle so maybe no spare. A happy trip for them then? ;-(

Cheers

[F5 Dave]

We considered staying for the night but the party would have been subdued with the rain & muddy field. I was worried about getting the van out as well. My MSR gortex Enduro pants & warehouse jacket kept me dry for quite a while. Others seemed to be getting quite cold. I hope no one was stuck out in the bush overnight. Glad I threw the jacket in the bumbag. Can you still get Gortex lined MX pants? They are brilliant.

[chris]

So what was the other (East) trail like?

Bad. No other word for it. Had a blast though and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Feel very sorry for the novices that the ride attracted.

Just looking at the bike outside the office window and wondering how long it will take to clean it!!

[F5 Dave]

An hour to get it merely filthy.

Your riding gear another ½ hour before it is fit for the washing machine. Even had to turn my gloves inside out (hard with knuckle protectors) to get the grit out of the fingers.

[ohcrap]

We did the west track on the Saturday and managed to get the 40km mark before heading back to base.
Sunday was cancelled :(. Wanted to do the East track. Asked about a refund. Refunds are only given to those who pre entered for Sunday only i.e had'nt ridden at all on the Sat.

I've attached a photo of the first major obstacle.....

[chris]

I 'spose it ain't gonna clean itself....

[F5 Dave]

That picture doesn’t make it look that hard. I guess it wasn’t really, but the wait was trying.

I'm not trying for a refund for sunday, Didn't even stay for my prepaid meal. It isn't thier fault & I don't want Epic or others to be put off running the event again.

[F5 Dave]

I 'spose it ain't gonna clean itself....
Yeah I wasn’t even that muddy before but helping pull people out got us filthy & anywhere near a quad is just asking for it.

[tysonzane]

Well i started at about 10 on the Saturday morning with a nice new KTM 350 EXC :yes: . I went on the East Trail (65km +) with some very high tyre pressures making the bike an absolute handful, but once the pressures were set correctly i was flying!! The East trail was pretty good with alot of Forestry which then opened up to a bit of a desert near the Army training grounds and then up a river bed. Unfortunely i made the mistake of wearing Alpinestar Motocross pants and a Breathable Alpinestar Jersey which was great to start with but at about 12 when the rain came down, i was really regretting it :crybaby: . The mud in the forests during the rain was totally awesome and the new bike preformed well with the faster i was going the more in control i was. I then got back about 1 and was totally freezing my nuts off!!! Once i warmed up and put on the approriate riding gear the trails were closed :( . So then there was some real conflict as to weather we stayed the night or not. And we ended up deciding to stay thinking that the next day would be no worse then it was towards the end of the day (as the rain had stopped by now) and all the more amatuer riders who were getting stuck would have been well and truely scared off by now. Well after spending a long cold night we awoke to find we were wrong :( . The trails would have been no problem for me or the people i was riding with. They should have had the option of warning people and saying if you're up to the challenge then do it, otherwise stay well away. Im just quite bothered that they didnt say it was canceled till the morning. I would have rather have known the night before so then i could have pissed off to my warm house. I prepaid for the weekend and im pissed off im not getting a refund for not racing on Sunday. We should at least get a credit for another Epic event. I completely understand that things like this do happen and we cant blame the weather, because i sure dont have a problem with riding if its raining or not.

Man the car park was a wreck after everyone was done getting out. Thank you to the quad that pulled me out :thumbsup: , finally a good use for the beasts :P

[F5 Dave]

It’s got to be difficult to make the call. There would be a lot of pissed off people if you cancel but then again if you let them loose on a unpassable course you could be held accountable if people got stuck to the night.

What you passed over earlier in the day may have become worse with the rain & more people. Or if the wind picked up over night it may have been ok. Guess they had to wait until staff rode it in the morning & make the call.

[chris]

The trails would have been no problem for me or the people i was riding with

You can't say that if you didn't see the conditions late in the afternoon. They were closing the trail behind us at about the 10km-to-go mark and it was the right move. Even Sean Clarke (sweep riding) had to push his bike through sections.

[clint640]

You can't say that if you didn't see the conditions late in the afternoon. They were closing the trail behind us at about the 10km-to-go mark and it was the right move. Even Sean Clarke (sweep riding) had to push his bike through sections.

Dayum! Lucky I had a prior engagement in the weekend, I was thinking about going. The 640 is slow but fun in the singletrack if it is dry, but very slow & very not-fun when it's real slippery.
Hopefully some of Nick Reader's upcoming Trailblazer rides turn out better, I'm hoping to make a couple of those.

Cheers
Clint

[WRT]

I was really keen to head down, but the others that I would normally have gone down with all werent able to make it. Reading this thread kinda makes me glad! Had a great days riding up at woodhill, very few people out riding (everyone at DS?) so the tracks were nice and empty, and with the rain and recent bulldozer work it was one of the better days I've had up there.

Coupled with rebuilt shocks and a properly working powervalve, had a great day. Also took a big tumble in the superbowl, damn glad the sand was still soft in there cause as I was flying thru the air I was expecting to break something on the landing . . . but both the bike and I somehow emerged unscathed.

All in all, reading your reports makes me glad we shot up to Woodhill rather than going to DS, it sounds like it was pretty messy as down there.

[Fryin Finn]

I went - had a great time - Oh yeah I went with you Dave eh?
We went pretty good for the first 20 km then it was a slog with all those people in front. Should have got on the track earlier (10:50am too late and too much traffic to pass on track)
Dave didn't mention how easy it was to get lost. I was back at the van 2 hours before him and he was right behind me for most of the day. I had some shocking fuel consumption on the gasser 8 litres in 35 km. Ran out twice had to siphon gas bludged from Dave and others.
I'll go again but it better be dry even though the mud was fun

[F5 Dave]

Meh, it wasn’t two hours & I was kicking myself for waiting to see if those guys got through the creek ok towing. Should have stuck behind you. Then the towing XR wouldn’t start. Bah!

We would have gotten away with the huge batch of riders at the bottom of the gully but we again helped those other chaps get out & ran out of time to siphon some gas before they left. Curse of the good Samaritan perhaps.

[Dutchee]

Went & had a ball. What a great ride. Have to thank many many riders for their help over the day. Whoever says quads are easy to ride should ride one through these sorts of trails - especially ones with no ground clearance. I dropped the bike once as I just couldn't get enough energy back to ride properly (rode like a gumby, of course the sweep was behind me thinking I shouldn't be out there).
I'll be back next year, all going well.
As for the ones saying we could've got around - you probably could've asked Nick for an arrow bag & helped de-arrow if you were that keen to go riding. They were still getting some of the bikes out from the trails in the morning. They won't have cancelled the ride without a hell of a lot of thought & trepidation, but it was better than everyone dying of hyperthermia.
Looking at that bog hole, I'm convinced they did do a diversion around it as I don't remember seeing it (I don't remember trying to get the quad unstuck there).
Plenty of complaints about the lack of sweep riders, but I just kept saying they were doing the best they could. Yes, if someone had been seriously hurt, it was going to be a major - it was going to mean that some of us out there later in the day would be there still later. They had 110k of trail to look after & a shit load of people. People were there after dark (I think) - some of those complaining about the ride should stop & remember they were some of the lucky ones. We all saw how quickly everything changed with the rain.
I was glad that I wasn't an official on the day, because those guys were working damned hard & doing a great job.

The thing about rides like this is they are treasured memories - the easy rides are quickly forgotten. I haven't been to a ride like this since the last one they ran at Minginui and I had a lot more fun on Saturday than I did at Minginui (hey, wow, maybe I have improved a little bit).

Again, thanks to all the guys who helped us girls out - if anyone knows who the guy from Whakatane is on the YZF, please PM me, he was truly a saviour. What the hell were we doing with a quad? Dunno, but kept asking that same question on the ride hehehe.

My thanks to Nick & his band of merry men (great to see a couple of smiles from them at the end of the day). Maybe they do need to rethink how they go about things, but that's up to them. I just hope they continue with the rides - I've enjoyed both I've been on.

[Henk]

Went and loved it.
I think a big part of the problem was people that were out of their depth when the going got a bit tricky. I've ridden in conditions a lot worse than that and a big part of it is slowing down and picking lines, not firing lemming like into the deepest ruts and then holding the throtlle on until the rear wheel can't find any more dirt to shift. I'll be back next year for sure hoping for fine weather on the Saturday and doing a rain dance on Saturday night. The ride this year was some of the most fun I've had in ages. Cold yes but not imossible and bloody rewarding when you ride 50m ruts without dabbing and passing people in the process.
A hint for people that are strugling on days like this for, if someone catches you up let them past and follow them, they're probably taking better lines than you and you might have to pick your bike up and carry it one less time. Oh yes and stand up.
By the way I'm not that flash a rider, come last in class in damn near every enduro I enter.

[mc4aregreat]

Man!! i cant believe how lucky i was taking the east loop first up.The first half hour or so was already pretty muddy but ok to get through.Once the trail started opening up it was a ball.But on the return half when it started to rain i thought here we go again. a repeat of last year.The track was still holding up all the way back then though.For those that didnt come on the Sand Blast in December, where the track came to the river, the ride followed the river on the other side, and if you saw those grassy paddocks,they were fun.
After getting back to the campsite ,a quick snack then i was ready to tackle the west loop.The signs were there when we struggled to even get around under the rail bridge at the camp exit.Thanks to a CRF450 coming to a stop ahead of me, i was instantly roosted with the biggest load of mud that happened so quick it got me fair in the gob before ducking.This lasted until he dug himself out.Ya just gotta laugh when you have been on the receiving end of a decent pounding.Onto the west loop, what a surprize, what have i got myself into here, but foward we must go.Where,s the next exit.Got to the first short cut and 10 or so riders were debating to go on, or take the exit.Hum,do i go on or not.I still remember what it was like last year, so exit left. I had to smile when i relized they were all following me out.Didnt feel so bad then.The rest of the ride back was slippery, but rideable.After hearing all the storys back at camp, did i mention how lucky i was.A Lot werent, but we will still go back next year, cause getting dirty is what we like, and any trail ride you can get your body and bike back to the car park is a good ride.Bring on the next Alpine Express, that was heaven. cheers!!

[cheese]

I was really keen to go, but then I had to rip out my kitchen cause my new one gets installed this week. Kinda glad I missed it now. There is a few good rides on this month too. So I'll get into those instead.

[Cary]

Didn't find it too difficult but done at a slower pase than usual. Was by far the worst conditions i've experenced at DS.

Pass a lot of riders on the ground who didn't look too happy!

We did both loops Sat and opted out of Sunday, wisely it seems:yes:

Can in no way blame Epic as hundreds got around ok.

Bring on next year.

[tnarg]

Yeah we made the mistake of going on the west trail first but was first time there and thought it would be better doing the shorter loop first just to get feel for it but thought it was 45km. Was going well for the first part but started getting tired so ditched the group and took the 2/3rd way out (glad I did even though kept thinking I was lost) took it slow and let people pass where I could. Finally made it back around 1 cold and wet. The rest of the group who kept going got back 2 hours later and two more got back around 4, a long day for them. Can see why they shut down the west for sunday would have been to much carnage. Not sure what the east ended up like.
So had fun and can see how much fun it would be if a bit dryer, so will be back next year. Bummer for the people who turned up to ride sunday. :yes:

[King_Pickle]

Drove from Wellington on friday night, got to the camp around 1130 that night. Setup the tent in the cold/wet.

Woken up at around 7am by overly enthusiastic riders warming up their bikes ready for the 9am opening of the trails.

Saturday morning weather wasn't too bad, blue skys and only patches of cloud.

Picked up my breakfast after waiting in the huge queue.

Got suited up and prepped the bike ready for the imminent opening of the trails.

Got into the queue for the trails and slowly moved toward the entrance of the trail.

The start of the trails took you down the riverbank over a bridge and back up the other side of the river. There was a small uphill that some people had already got stuck on.

After that you dropped down under the railway and up another small uphill that once again about 6 people were stuck on.

I guess that should have been an indication of what the day had instore for the 1000 odd riders that were there for the Saturday.

After the railway the trail split into the to seperate loops. Left for the West (55Km) loop and right for the East (65km) loop.

Being on my 2 smoker I opted for the 55km loop to gauge the fuel useage. Bloody lucky too, at the end of the trail I was almost out of gas.

5 Km into the first lap I was sitting on the trail waiting for a quad to extract itself from one of the many ruts when another rider decided he had waited long enough and started riding past the long line of bikes. As he rode past me he clipped my front brake lever and broke it off at the bolt!!!.:angry: Had to ride the rest of the day with no front brake, which made things interesting.

Anyway, made it around the first lap in just over an hour and a half.

Got back to the camp and had some lunch, refuelled the bike and headed out for a second lap.

By this time the rain had set in and the organisers had cut the track down to a 1 3rd lap.

The trail was a different trail, after 5-600 bikes and pouring rain hammering it. Ruts that swallowed more than one poor bugger, mud bogs and rivers of water cascading down the trails.

By the time I got back to the camp, it was around 3pm. They closed the trails so all that was left to do was have a hot shower, rug up in warm clothes and watch some DVDs in the Marqee.

Bloody good ride, wet, slippery, muddy. Everything that makes for a memorable ride.

I applaude the organisers and staff for a fantastic job running the event.

Talking to the sweep riders back at camp at around 7pm, there were around 8-10 riders still in the bush which required extracting.
Sunday morning brought news the day was cancelled which was the right decision, as Sunday morning there were around 18 bikes left in ther bush from the day before. Not only did they have to get all the bikes out of the bush, they also had to get everyone out of the carpark which by 9am was a complete mudbog.

Good times.....

Whew, apologies for the long post.....

[King_Pickle]

Damn, forgot to attach pics....

Didnt get a chance to take many as it was raining and I didn't want to get my phone too wet....

31202

31203

31204

31205

31206

31207

[Brian d marge]

Looked like a fun day .. It was a trail ride right , which means its the challange of getting round the course , is the think there is no time limit right??

Sorry but I am new to the concept of trail riding .... Me I Would have called it the NZ Desert Storm 100 and made a race of it ..cant think of the one in america , the black water 1000 i think....

Anyway I am dead Jealous of the trail you fellas have ...I am ging to buy a house right next to Kimmys track!!

Stephen

[F5 Dave]

Bd'M
Yeah it’s a fun day out, (we have enough Enduros & Hare Scrambles to cater for the competitive guys) all the trails are fairly easy & you should be able to take your wife & experienced kid around without too much trouble. Often optional A loops are added for the more experienced.

Just if it rains like it did, then things change from medium easy to pretty difficult & worsen during the day.


KP:
Not bad pics from a phone.

PS: Long post fine but a couple of paragraph spaces make the post easy to read like Brian's above.

[Brian d marge]

If I ever get things organised for the 2 races in September .( there are 2 races in Hawkes Bay in September)

I should ship over me 85 CR as well then let the old man have a play He s 60 odd and his Boss says he s to old to be playing around on bikes :gob:

mind you would have to get some springs made as 40 odd years of the baooses cooking has left its toll!!

Stephen

[Wellyman]

Glad I didn't go after reading the reports on here and seing a KTM on the way home from town on sunday night. the KTM was absolutley coated in mud, so gald I had a weekend at the V8's instead.
WM

[Wellyman]

If I ever get things organised for the 2 races in September .( there are 2 races in Hawkes Bay in September)

I should ship over me 85 CR as well then let the old man have a play He s 60 odd and his Boss says he s to old to be playing around on bikes :gob:

mind you would have to get some springs made as 40 odd years of the baooses cooking has left its toll!!

Stephen

Come on over Steven, but come up to auckland not Hawkes Bay, better to be based in Auckland as there is more riding opputunities in my opinion
. most riding tracks are not a far drive away from anywhere in Auckland so is an easy trip to and from.
WM

[Buddy L]

I went down on the friday, rode only on saturday, had a brillent day, didn't even run out of gas on my CR125!!!!!!!!, had spare in the back pack just in case, did the west loop first, headed out around 9.15am and missed out on all the traffic, excepted the one bog in the pic from (ohcrap) about 30 bikes in front of me waiting,mastered that one, pulled a big wheely and fell flat on my face, while my bike was doing flips in front of me, standing up to cheers from about 200 people and bikes waiting 2 get through. managed to do the whole 57 kms, in about 2 and a half hours !!!! i rain had when i got back to the van and diceded not do any more that day, on sunday morning i when back to the ride only 2 find out that it was cancelled,im heading down again next year, still had a good time.