Don - Wah and I spent a serene day in my retro Troop Carrier putting the finishing touches to the bash track today.

You blokes are in for a hoot. If the weather conditions stay as forecast, prepare for wide grins, wheelies and skids.

We have some new signage, thanks to Signs by Knight at Wodonga.

Nice photos Don Boy.

No shit, this blast may well be remembered as the best yet, which is a very confident forecast given the success of past events.

I’m fully excited and not even riding!

Whilst setting out the Yack Charity Bash track yesterday, Wayno the Brave came unglued.

His handlebars somehow came a little loose and rotated forwards at the bottom of a quite steep and rough hill. Just as he reached the bottom spoon drain, instead of some brake he got a fistful of herbs and speared into the scrub at speed. This is what his bike looked like afterwards:

I wasn’t there, but from all reports, despite being fairly messed up and not moving about much, Wayno was protesting that he didn’t need an ambulance.

Hog - shit was the answer.

If you’re ever in any doubt whatsoever that a bloke may need to be checked out, then it’s very sensible and appropriate to call 000 immediately.

Sometimes, injured blokes can seem okay and be up walking and talking, but have internal injuries that take some time to cause obvious drama. It also can take a little while for a bit of shock to set in, so someone can initially seem okay, but head down hill quickly not long after.

Calling 000 is easy. Your mobile has a better chance of getting reception with 000, as it will pick up any company’s tower for an emergency. So if you’re with Telstra, but only Optus have a tower nearby, it will run through the Optus tower to ensure you can get help.

First up, you’ll speak to an operator who will simply want to know if you want police, fire or ambulance and where you are. Simple.

They then transfer you to the service you want and you get to speak to an operator at Ambulance communications. Let them ask the questions as they know what they need to ask.

Try to simplify directions for them to find you. If possible, consider sending one or more of your group to lead the ambulance in.

In our case, Wayno was a couple of K’s down a four wheel drive track that the Ambulance was never going to be able to get in to. So he was ferried in the front of Carl’s four wheel drive back to our parking spot.

We sent Andrew out to the main road to wait for the Ambos and guide them in, as the place wasn’t easy to find without local knowledge.

Be wary of moving a patient who is injured though. In our case, Wayno was coherent and a decision was made along with him that a four wheel drive trip was the right thing to do in the circumstances.

If it’s a bit sketchy, it would often be better to leave them where they are and use some other form of extraction, like a helicopter.

Try to keep the patient warm and comfortable. We laid Wayne in Don’s new trailer (which Wayne had just finished making - doing a fine job too) and covered him with blankets. I used a space - blanket that I keep in my Camelbak, which everyone should carry. They take up very little space, weigh near nothing and do a good job of keeping someone warm when the shit hits the fan.

The Ambulance officers from Beechworth arrived in short order and did an ace job looking after Wayne. He looked pretty bad and we all suspected some broken bits, perhaps a femur or pelvis. He went into a bit of shock and shook more than a 90’s KTM front end.

They did an examination then and there, then plied him with drugs and stuck a brace on his neck, just in case.

Don took on the role of ‘Steering Dampener’ (Wayno’s uncontrollable shaking was causing him more pain, so Don pinned his legs down to reduce the swapping) and Andrew got the job as Chief drip manager.

There was some concern that he may have a broken leg/ankle, so an inflatable splint was fitted.

Luckily we were riding in a large group and there were plenty of hands on deck to help the Ambos slide him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.

Then he was lifted into the meat wagon.

The professionals leave nothing to chance and just in case he had a neck injury, they sticky - taped his head down to stop it rocking.

And away he went to Albury base hospital. To our complete surprise, the x rays showed nothing amiss other than severe bruising and they sent him home later that night. He’s now on the couch sore and sorry.

Wayno was of course riding a registered bike. I’m not sure if he’s an ambulance member or not, but it won’t matter either way, as the TAC are responsible for all his costs. The TAC will pay the Ambo bill.

Interestingly, if you ever have a choice of getting in an Ambulance or getting yourself to hospital, choose the Ambo every time. If you do that, the TAC cover 100% of the medical costs. If you get yourself to hospital, you may be up for the first $500 or so. If in doubt, call 000!

The TAC will need to be notified at a later date, which is really simple. Just call them, have a chat for 15 minutes or so to explain how the prang went down, then they send you some forms to fill out in the mail. They are really easy to fill out, with most of the spaces already filled in from info you gave them over the phone.

The TAC require that you report the accident to police, to make sure everything is above board. To make this easier, I rang 000 again and notified police of the accident. Sometimes the Ambulance and police tell each other, but sometimes not, so I made sure they knew.

Local police attended in short order and I was able to confirm the details they needed to do a simple accident report. It’s better to do this at the time. For starters, they come to you. Secondly, they were able to see the ambulance, look at Wayno’s bike and get first hand reliable accounts from eye witnesses. So there was little doubt in their mind that it was a true report.

Also, calling the police also provides more resources. They are only there to help and are often called upon to help the Ambos with jobs like lifting stretchers.

Their attendance simplify’s the whole reporting process, which is often not easy to do if you’re in hospital or have restricted movement, as it needs to be done at a police station.

So, in the end it worked out relatively well for Wayno. We all fully expected him to have broken bones and so did he. He told us he thought he’d busted his femur.

The bottom line is, if in any doubt, call 000 and get your patient checked out by professionals as soon as possible. If you’re on a registered bike it costs nobody a cent and you won’t be wasting anyone’s time. You might just save a life.

Less than two weeks to go and the bash is shaping up really well. Inspected a couple of cool new tracks with Don this morning and we reckon the new loops will be way cool.

Honda and Ringmaster Graphics have combined to produce a Factory looking CRF50 for us this year.

I may be biased since it’s got my logo and the logos of many of my business partners, but I reckon it looks real cool.

Due to the Global Economic Bun Fight, we’ve been forced to shelve our plans to give the bike away like last year and instead auction it - like we did last year (thanks G -man).

So, if you reckon your kid would think you were the world’s best dad if you came home with our little bash blaster, then the auction after the bash is your chance to acquire legend status.

Conditions on the hill could be described as damper than last year, which is great, but don’t forget to fit that new rear Metzeler to avoid the whole crashing/pushing/sweating/near death thing.

Peter Galvin (Multi time Australian 125 cc GP road race champ and Australian Metzeler importer, along with his brother Pat) rang me and told me they wanted me to trial a new Metzeler front tyre.

He told me he had only two in the country and wanted my feedback before they decided to import them.

Being all gimped up with a busted Fretz, I was in a quandary. Now you’d expect that a European Metzeler test rider might have a name like ‘Stefan Everts’ or ‘Horst von Obelisk’, an American one perhaps ‘RC’ or ‘Buzz Lightyear’, an Aussie one perhaps ‘Chad’ or ‘Rocket’.

The name ‘Wayno’ never really jumped out at me, however, being the fastest rider left standing in the OOT crew he was a Monty to be Donned the ‘Factory Test Rider’ duties.

I can hear the Metzeler Euro Guru engineers now - “Vot ze fook is dis ‘Vayno’????”

It seems there were genuinely only two of these new hoops in the country, with Stefan Merriman getting to test the other one. Vayno was beaming.

Despite reportedly coming to life by being purged from the Bowels of a recalcitrant camel in outer Uzbekistan, I knew the real Wayno as our gun lead rider who could give me honest and solid feedback on the new gripper.

The new tyre is labelled as a durable hard terrain jigger, but has an interesting knob pattern that saw it handle some very soft terrain on our test very well.

Normally, we find that tyres labelled as Hard Terrain are made of Won’t - Grip in the soft stuff and we shun them. What we want is a tyre that grips in the soft stuff but also withstands the dreaded Knob Tear in the rocks. Most ’softs’ grip ace but fall apart in the rocks.

An all rounder that fulfills our needs is rare. So far, the Metzeler MC5 has proven very capable, but it looks at this early stage like we may now have an alternative.

The new ‘Six Days Extreme Hard’ has this funny knob pattern with serrated knobs to increase lateral grip in the soft. It’s also directional so the knobs are shaped to increase braking performance when fitted facing the right way. It seems their logic works.

Wayno reported that he was very happy with the hoop. He said it took him a bit of time to treat it just like an MC5, where you can just lay it over hard and push it to the limit, with it gripping confidently throughout the whole arc (from upright to laid right over). After just a little time however he reckons the level of grip was very similar to an MC5, which is awesome, ‘cause they are up near the top of the Grip Tree.

The feel was a little different, being a 90/90 aspect tyre instead of an 80/100, which in practice means the tyre felt a little ‘firmer’, but that’s not an issue, just something to get used to.

Being a track day fanatic, he couldn’t resist laying it over near the Kancoona gap and testing how it gripped on the blacktop. He reckons it performed really well there, but how that helps you and I is anyone’s guess.

The tyre we tested didn’t say ‘not for highway use’ and we’re hoping that this turns out to be not only a high performance tyre that suits trail riding in the Victorian Alps, but also a legal alternative, which all soft terrain tyres are not.

Please excuse Wayno’s use of tyre shine on the subject when I asked him for a photo of the tyre after the first tour. He’s new to the Factory Rider tag and got all excited. Nice use of the Macro however Wayno, well done.

So now, he’ll thrash it do death all over the place and see how it copes as it gets some miles under it’s knobs.

In due course after testing, we’ll let you know if it’s a wise investment for the Victorian Trail Rider.

In the meantime, I’ll try to work out how to control ‘Vayno’s’ Ego!

Many of you are expert riders and won’t need info on how to ride, however there’s plenty out there who do need help, including kids. The attached link will take you to a selection of short instructional videos I put together with the DSE.

They aired on MXTV and can be viewed via the DSE website.

www.parkweb.vic.gov.au

No amount of rider training is too much for us all. Mr Metzeler, please excuse the Pirelli badge which was in vogue at the time.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment have confirmed that they will sponsor some one day events this year.

The DSE are going to fully subsidise two tours in the Stanley Forest, with dates being confirmed as 6th September and 4th October 2009.

The tours included the guided ride, lunch and fuel after the first tank. No cost. Nada. Zip. Whilst I generally beleive that nothing in life is free, these events seem about as close as possible.

The DSE have chosen our operation over others as we are properly licensed and promote the sustainable use of off road bikes.

Bookings are now being accepted. Numbers are limited to 16 per trip.

The famous grasstrack used last year has morphed into a bigger and better monster. I’ve been spending my time off with the busted arm bushwalking to keep fit and have covered every inch of the paddock loaned to us by Leo the farmer for our wheelies and skids in the name of charity.

Getting behind locked gates makes it special.

It’s sad that my mate has to lock his gates, given his paddock leads nowhere. Trespassers leaving his gates open (what the hell were they doing in there in the first place?) means he and I now have to remember the key and unlock the padlock each time we want access.

The blasting around the paddock on green grass is a given.

You’ll have to imagine some Honda bunting and groups of mates on maniacal missions to beat their mates and be crowned unofficial Grasstrack King of the Bash.

The paddock sections will be a different layout from last year, with more corners to roost. I’ve enlisted the help of Lukey Corbett to pre ride and test the grasstrack sections leading up to the event. He didn’t take much convincing.

There will be stacks more new tracks included this year, expecially more single trail.

Most of you will know I’m partial to the term ‘leaf littered loamy tracks’. However we’re now taking it to a new level. Enter
“Mega Loam".

This stuff is the shit. It’s found living under trees, so not surprisingly, we’ll be spending some more time under trees this year.

Here’s a shot showing the corner that contained the pile of Mega Loam in the last shot. Not too tight (second or third), smooth, no obstacles, just lending itself for Thumpernats styles berms to form.

I’ve found some new tracks that we can access, so we don’t have to go through the neighbouring farmer’s paddock like last year. You will remember the frustration of having to creep through past the signs that said ‘Private Property - No Wheelies, No skide, Leave no trace’. At least I was frustrated, ‘cause it was prime roosting.

So I’ve worked out a way around it, via a new track and another sneaky gate, all with permission of course.

Tracks like this one.

I’ve included some new fairly open, second and third gear paddock stuff we didn’t ride last year.

There is a big gully that runs through the paddock, with extremely steep sides, inaccessible by any kind of wheeled vehicle. It’s what forces us into the paddock in the first place, as the existing fenceline track terminates on the cliff top either side of the gully.

As much as I’d love to ride in an out of the gully, we’re going to avoid it to prevent erosion.

In summary, I’m forecasting that this part of the bash will be memorable and quite special. I’m even considering shortening the morning loop significantly so that each rider gets a chance to do this section twice.

Bastards.

Be warned that if you wanted in on this trip, then you have little time.

I already have three deposits banked, with firm committment of another six to come.

That only leaves three spots and we’re yet to advertise. Honda have just issued a media release which will hit the websites possibly today then the mags in coming months.

Tuffy from Trailrider magazine has confirmed that he’s along for the ride and we’ll be advertising there as well. The ride will feature in a multi page story with Trailrider.

I have a feeling those three spots will not be around long.

Foul weather with 50 cm of white mud falling at Falls Creek led right up to the 4th of July and our coaching day on Saturday.

Despite the gravel, we had a couple of vehicles struggle to get into the paddock it was that wet. However, the rain stayed away the entire day and we had ace riding conditions.

Eleven blokes fronted up, with varying levels of skill. We started with a short session on bike set up, where to position your levers, bars and the like. The most common problem was found to be rear brake levers being set too high.

Wayno fixed Adrian’s leaking WR radiator with some two pack metal putty, saving what would have been a cold and boring day not riding for him.

Then we messed with all their heads and had them doing testing drills in no time that challenged all of them.

Then we had them doing braking on the wet grass, which caused some funny moments. I think we opened some eyes about the lack of value in your rear brake and just how hard you can push your front with the right technique.

We did all sorts of cool stuff, then graduated to log crossing, which many riders struggle with. First up I got Wayno and Don to demonstrate the right technique and pitfalls.

In fairness, I’d asked Wayne to demonstrate the dangers of sitting down to cross logs and how the forces from the back wheel transfer from the wheel, through the suspension, to the seat, to your arse, causing potential havoc with your control.

After a demonstration on how to do it right, it was the customer’s turns.

Dave made a valiant attempt at the harder section of the big log and from the front I could see that his eyes were as big as dinner plates. He got up laughing though. In fact, we all laughed.

Not to be outdone, Dave’s mate Steve scored 9.5 for this effort.

As usual, Cheryl put on a great lunch, with pumpkin soup and fresh assorted sangas, cake etc.

After lunch, the boys took the group out onto the adjacent hill for an afternoon session of wheelies and skids in the damp terrain. Apparently it went well. I packed up and generally moped around muttering obsceneties since I couldn’t ride.

Feedback at the end of the day was strong with everyone agreeing that they had learnt something and enjoyed themselves.

On Sunday we ran a single day trail ride. Conditions were even better, with the sun coming out amongst bright blue clear skies.

One bloke had crashed his KTM and smashed the front guard. To protect his identity, I have blotted out his name that was on a sticker on his headlight shroud with photoshop.

Despite the carnage he was grinning.

The guys suffered a pinch flat only 200 metres from the start, even though the bike had been fitted with a new UHD tube. Incorrect fitting is to blame and this was a reminder that you’re better off doing it yourself. A bike shop apprentice had done this one.

I had to play lunch girl with Cheryl. We’d sourced some more awesome Scotch from Countryside meats at Albury and the steak sangas were grouse.

After lunch, a leisurely cruise half a K or so down the blacktop, with views of a snow covered Mt Buffalo adjacent, the guys were back into the loamy hills and I could hear from their banter on the UHF’s that I was missing out on some fun.

They all made it back in one piece and some have already make bookings for future tours.

An exclusive dirt bike adventure trip is being offered to 12 lucky customers by Online Off Road Tours in May 2010. If you fancy four days riding sublime high country tracks pre ridden and hand picked by experts, with a break in the middle so you can indulge in some deep sea charter fishing at Lakes Entrance, then this adventure is for you.

Starting at Yackandandah, we will show you some of the hidden treasures of the high country in style, with overnight stops at icons like The Blue Duck at Anglers Rest. You’ll encounter a wide variety of quality terrain from leaf littered loam, high country rocky twin track to Gippsland sand, including some of Online’s secret trails.

Inclusions such as quality Metzeler MC5 tyres and UHD tubes fitted to each customer’s bike prior to the ride, Scott goggles, No Fear gloves, Alpine Star socks, Castrol lubricants, tour DVD, Honda merchandise and more set this adventure apart from all others.

The ride is advanced and not suitable for beginners, with some challenging terrain, but with four expert guides, back up four wheel drives, quality accommodation and catering, a capable rider should experience the ride of a lifetime. Numbers are strictly limited to 12 on a first in best dressed basis.

All inclusive cost is $2500 pp. This compares very well with something like a Cape York trip, but with perhaps better terrain variety, superior accommodation, meals and added bling. Our plan is to live the dream. If you want to be part of that, drop me a line.

Schedule:

Sun 23/5/10 Scrutineering, tyre and bling issue at Yackandandah. We fit the tyres for you.

Mon 24/5 Ride to the Blue Duck Inn

Tue 25/5 Ride to Lakes. Overnight at Whiters in Garden Cottages

Wed 26/5 Fishing with Mako Charters. Seafood dinner. Overnight again at Whiters. We service your bike.

Thu 27/5 Ride to The Golden Age Hotel/Motel, Omeo

Fri 28/5 Return to Yackandandah.

Routes to and fro vary significantly.

Storms, rain and snow all week, with the forecast for Saturday being fine. Does it get any better than rain then sun?

Woo Hoo!