Day 2 continued..
Ok this is going to get a bit wordy as I was a bit busy to take pics... ::006::
I know...
The tarmac ended about 20Km into the first 215Km stretch.
The first 10Km was just your usual gravel strewn hard pack stuff where the bike wanders but nothing unusual for me..
Then starts the fun stuff. Sand. Super Tenere Kryptonite.
Some people may just salivate at the thought of riding a fully loaded 290Kg plus bike through that. I call them liars or deranged.
Just to give you an idea I have put together a little guide to the next 360Km...
Now experienced dirt riders will be calling me a big pussy right now and at that stage that's exactly how I felt.
Anyhow the first deep sand snuck up on me with the only visible signs being tracks all over the place. I instinctively slowed down and the steering started to respond. Oh shit.. ???
Logical section of the brain takes over and strangles instincts and instructs right hand to twist on the throttle and legs to get body back. Seems to work. ;D
Noticed tarmac in the distance. I arrived at the tarmac slightly sideways and the rear suddenly found grip. Luckily the front was pointing in the desired direction. Talk about instant correction. Of course the tarmac lasted for about 500m and it was into the deep sand again.
That was what the trip was like. 90% OK and just when you started to relax it threw up another bit of fun..
A ROAD TRAIN Appeared in the distance. If a road train passes don't expect to see anything for the next five minutes.
Notice people have stopped and moved off the road? (Not my pic)
Well at the time I was carefully riding down a nice sandy bottom trench about 12 Inches deep listening to the bash plate scrape on the sand and gravel on each side.
A bit of target fixation, a bit of miscalculation and I back off from my comfortable 80Km/h. Big mistake. The bike goes wobbly and suddenly it's not there anymore..
Not long after I land in a pile of my own dust. All I could hear was these clank clank sounds, Mooos, brakes..Air escaping. A thud thud sound.
"Are you OK mate, here lets get that bike up." "Geez looked heavier than that.."
I checked myself out and at that stage felt a bit winded but OK. I thanked the man profusely and he jumped back in the truck and wheel spun up to his allotted 100Km/h.
Sorry guys but I wasn't about to dump the bike on the ground again for a pic..
Fug me..Surveyed the damage. I landed on the fan side of course, my levers on that side were in full attack position but OK..
Another Tragic was soon stopped and didn't laugh, which was a worry, checked the bike out. Didn't want to start. Oh that's right might help to cycle the ignition to reset the tilt switch.
Deep breath and on I had to go.
So this was the variety on offer..
Grey gravel on hard base.
Grey gravel on sand.
Brown gravel on hard base in a 2 foot deep track.
Deep Brown gravel on deep sand.
Fine bulldust over clay.
foot thick bulldust over something which didn't look much different than not much bull dust at all.
6 Inch deep bull dust appearing mid corner.
That last one was a bit deranged I thought considering there was only about 5 corners in the whole 200Km
And the final 500m into Hungerford..Deep sand..by that stage I had just learned that this bike likes power and attack mode..It might wobble and buck around but it does just fine. You just have to hope that the sand ends before a corner or 160Km/h which ever comes first..
So I arrive at Hungerford 215Km later..Just past the midway point... ???
I was being followed..
Time to fuel up..
And the bike...
Hi tech pumps out here..
Oh yes that's the best 91RON you can get..No expense spared.. ;D
So after that, off we went on the next 2Km of tar before turning back into dirt for the remaining 150Km of fun...
This bit seemed easier..That was either because it was OR I was just far enough up the learning curve not to bother about a lot of it..
Finally arrived at Thargomindah. First stop was the pub of course..
Tragic Tenere's leave distinctive trails..
So the head count was good, and we all settled into a semi drunken stupor waiting for the sweeps to arrive..
but what did we see instead...
An S10 with KTM following....
Many confused looks as I popped up my arm with a big thumbs up..."Cloud who?" they said.....
So many tales of mud and falls ensued over at the hotel...I was starting to feel my legs from hours of standing and something was not quite right in the ribs...
