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 . 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 . 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