a spot of bovver...

MooN

Tour Pro
Glitch spotted a pic of my bike in a compromising position over on max bikes, so i've dug up the original RR I did on that episode

this was back in 2008

... I crossed the road parralell to the river & took to a dirt track I've wanted to explore for a while now, but it's always been too wet so far this year ( for riding it without changing tyres, anyway)
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the gravel rapidly dissappeared, leaving packed earth with grass down the middle
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which went on for ages, well about 5k anyway,

a bit further on
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it started getting a bit...erm...small...
but it was clear from recent tracks that a car had been down here, & where a car can go...

Despite being about 13:00, it was so dark under the trees that the camera went into flash mode!
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it was a bit slimy, but if a car can do it...
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there was then a bit that was really slimy so i didn't dare stop, despite seeing the car tracks turn round & go back. The trees closed in & the track started to climb, staying very slimy (no sunlight to dry it out) & with loose stones & some tree roots.

I started to think that maybe I shouldn't have come up here,, & then the track got steeper, & wetter, & developed a LARGE rut down the middle & my thought went from "maybe I should'nt have done this" to "BUGGER, BUGGER, BUGGER.... FECK!":poo:

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I went down quite slowly but quite hard onto my left elbow. The pictures don't do it justice but the slope is about 35 to 40° bike facing uphill. The track is a fairly deep "V" shape with about 3 feet of gentle slope either side of a deep rut which wanders about in the middle.
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I was surprised at how calm I stayed, a few years ago this predicament would have had me screaming at the trees & kicking the bike till i broke something :looney:... probably a good job this is the first time it's happened then innit...


the problem i had was simply that I was alone, as usual, nobody knew where I was (i would have been almost incapable of describing how to get where I was) & anybody alse would have had to come by foot anyway, unless they happened to have a quad in the garage. So, on yer own then boyo...:doh:

I walked out, up the track & found that the bike was only about 300meters from the top where the track comes out onto a flat gravel trail, running perpendicular across the top.
Slithered back down to the bike, leaving it on it's side I pivoted it so that the back wheel was out of the rut, heaved it up, started it & managed to get about 5meters before losing the back wheel in the rut again & coming to a wheelspinning halt on a tree root step. I fudged about for 10 minutes trying to push the bar steward out, with & without engine & then the phone rang, so i decided to have a wee rest. Besides it was f'kin 'ot & I still still had me jacket, gloves & lid on & was sweating like a very sweaty thing.
Madame Moon on the phone, so I told her what was going on, which explained the heavy breathing...:shock:

lay the bike down again,Walked back to the top, removed jacket, gloves & lid & slid back down to the bike, pivoted / lifted rear wheel out of the rut again, then the front as well, re lifted bike, started it & away we went again, another 20meters before down we went again.. I was thinking back to the days when I used to do some off road driving, "the key is to progress, if you're progressing it's good..." so... again, pivot/lift out of the rut, lift the bike, start the engine, wont climb the tree root? roll back a bit further & try again pushing at the same time, try with weight on the seat, without weight on the seat, a different angle...etc...etc..

I actually managed to get it on the side stand at one point
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It took me over an hour of lifting, pulling, pushing, swearing & sweating to get up the last couple of hundred meters of that track... but I did it.:thumbs:

at the top
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the track I was on is on the left & goes down just the other side of the signpost.



having had enough for the day I rode home, showered & crashed out on the sofa. I am thankful that i didn't put my back out, as i'm a little fragile in that area, but my arms & legs ached like a very achy thing & started to stiffen up.

Moral of the story? if you can't see the exit, walk it first & if in doubt, DON'T!

I shouldn't have got into that alone, I was lucky a) to get out without help & not to have been hurt.

still, it had to happen sooner or later, & I've no had my first "OFF" off road & survived.
 

Hytram

<-- now went that way
Why is it that a rut only makes 10% of a track but we seem to spend 90% of the time in them?
 

Squizzy

Long Timer
That looked like fun. I have been on a few rides where it is a great day and you come across a little road and your day soon turns to shit, I carry a spot tracker now that sends a little signal every 20 mins or so. At least they know where to find the body! An epirb is great if you are able to press the button. It is amazing how far you can ride in a couple of minutes, and it takes hours (it seems) to walk back. Have a good day.
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
Why is it that a rut only makes 10% of a track but we seem to spend 90% of the time in them?


:clap::clap:

@Moon
Just recognized the white Givi topbox....and now finish up with a great yarn :chug: Good stuff. And goodonya for abttling through it....not that there was a great deal of choice, I guess.
Going downhill on greasy stuff like that usually finishes up with a great deal of pain and lots of damage.
Thanks god for the invention of crashbars...that Trannie spent quite a bit of time on its side, by the looks of it.
 

ant

AngryAnt
Great perserverance Moon! When you don't have a choice, amazing what you can do by yourself.
 
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