Desert Storm

[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

[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!

[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.........

[vr4king]

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

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

[thecharmed01]

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

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

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

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!

[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!

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.........

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!!