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)
the gravel rapidly dissappeared, leaving packed earth with grass down the middle
which went on for ages, well about 5k anyway,
a bit further on
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!
it was a bit slimy, but if a car can do it...
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!"oo:
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.
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 ... 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...
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...
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
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.
at the top
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.
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)
the gravel rapidly dissappeared, leaving packed earth with grass down the middle
which went on for ages, well about 5k anyway,
a bit further on
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!
it was a bit slimy, but if a car can do it...
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!"oo:
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.
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 ... 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...
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...
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
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.
at the top
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.