Finke 2015 (Spectator, not racer!)

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
I'm going to pre-apologize for a lack of track logs and pics in this RR. Brand new camera shit itself the day I left, and the GPS logger got left behind the the rush. Might be able some from a travelling companion in a week or so. :oops: (every now and then I'll steal a pic from elsewhere!)

So, this all came about in October last year after a few too many bevvies around a fire with Roger and a bunch of grey nomads:

Roger: "So, waddya reckon we ride to Finke next year for the race?"
Me: "Silly bloody question - of course it's a good idea!"

Me 3 weeks later: "Hmm.. Wa-ay too much on between now and then to get organised properly. This could be one of those trips"..

The rough plan was to ride up the back way to Finke/Alice Springs, crash with a mate in Alice Springs and watch the race, and come home again a slightly different back way. Sounds easy if you say it fast.

Roger was prepared well and truly before I was - new tyres, servicing done, panniers packed and repacked, test rides, etc etc. I got as far as "Must get to Pablo's and get new tyres"..

Somewhere along the line there somewhere, Roger's mate Chris was invited to come along too. As his bike wasn't really cut out for the ride up and back (YZ250), he was going to bring the Amarok ute and cart all the booze that'd be required for a trip of these proportions. :chug:

About a week before my departure date, I was finally ready:

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New tyres from Pablo's (Mitas e07's), new earplugs from Andy Strapz (You can only sing to yourself in your helmet for so long), new swag tiedown straps from Andy Strapz, a spare rear tube (normally only carry a front), and a spare pre-oiled air filter (Been up there before - I know what the dust is like!)
 
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-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
Roger and Chris left on the Sunday morning, planning to head up to Echuca ish Sunday, across to Kerang on Monday, and meet me at Morgan in SA on Tuesday evening. I couldn't leave until Tuesday morning because the boss lady works night shift on a Monday night, so being a dad trumped leaving early.

I left Tuesday morning at 09:15 - battled my way up the Monash :)mad:), and cannonballed it up the Calder towards Wycheproof. (Well, as much as a KLR cannonballs anyway). Fuel stop at Wycheproof, and then onto Ouyen. Had a chat to a bloke on a late model Suzuki sidecar at Ouyen - he was heading up to Farina for some rally, but was stopping at Ouyen for the night.

Froze my arse off all the way up - even winter gloves, heated grips and multiple layers weren't helping. The temperature gauge on the KLR struggled to lift off "C".:cold:

The plan was to head up to Cullulleraine without going through Mildura, but my lack of paying attention, and Mr GPS telling me that we really needed to go through Mildura meant we went the long way around.

Just before I got into Cullulleraine my phone rang twice in quick succession. (I was using my phone as a podcast player). Pulled up in Cullulleraine to fuel up and checked my messages - one was from Roger indicating they were at a caravan park in Renmark rather than the planned stop in Morgan. :???: Turns out Roger got a little bit carried away out near Renmark somewhere and managed to throw his GSA down the dirt road he was on. When I caught up at the caravan park, Roger was having some difficulty moving and his bike had a distinct lack of plastics left on it.. :shock:

As much as Chris and I tried to convince Roger he'd be right after a drink or 12, by morning he decided that his best option would be to head home and recover rather than continuing on. :(

Day 1: Endeavour Hills to Renmark. 99.9% bitumen. ~1030km. One broken bike.
 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
So, the three amigos was down to the daring duo. I didn't know Chris that well, and he didn't know me much better. Starting the day behind the 8 ball (as we were in Renmark rather than Morgan), we left relatively early (in the freezing bloody cold again!) hoping to make up that extra ~110km we were short on the first day.

Wide open roads from Morgan through to Parachilna meant we could stay on it for a while to eat up some miles. Not sure the KLR appreciated being flogged along at 130 - at one stage I had to flick to reserve at 200km. :eek:

The servo at Hawker recommends getting food from the cafe 500m down the road. Personally, I'd recommend getting food from the servo - quality is about the same, but it's much quicker!

At this point, we had to check the SA Roads Report again, as up until we left Renmark this morning, they were indicating that the Oodnadatta Track was closed due to rain (and Hawker was the last place to NOT have a massive backtrack if it was still closed). The Roads Report indicated that the road had been re-opened again to 4WD only. I figured "1 wheel drive, 4 wheel drive - close enough!", so we were committed.

Punted up to Leigh Creek for the last relatively cheap fuel for a while. There was a bloke there with a 200 series Landcruiser, and the biggest bloody boat I've ever seen. He saw me staring and said "I get that look a lot - we're actually not that far from Spencer Gulf"..

Still heading north, we went up to Lyndhurst and hit the dirt (yay!). Past Farina (which was very quiet considering there was supposed to be a rally on), and on to Maree.

The first section of the Oodnadatta track wasn't too bad - it was a bit chopped up from the 4wd's that had been up it in the wet, so it was a matter of paying attention and not getting crossed up in the ruts they'd left behind. There were a few floodways still wet and/or soft, so with a bit of "gently, gently", I stayed upright.

Fueled up at Marree ($1.95/l), and watched a bunch of big KTM's take off up the track ahead of us (950/990's). Man, a more powerful bike would be nice! About 200m out of Marree was my first real water crossing. Loving the Forma adventure boots - dry feet and wet everything else. Noted to myself I should really take those crossings a bit easier.. :oops:

Stopped for a look at Plane-Henge:

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..and Chris told me he'd been hearing on the UHF that there'd been an accident up ahead. While we were stopped the Marree Pub landcruiser went screaming past back towards Marree - never a good sign if they're in a hurry. A bit further up the track we came across a few cars and a bunch of KTM's parked on the side of the road. A quick chat with one of the riders - his mate (one of the bunch I'd seen leaving earlier) and eaten dirt at a fair rate of knots, and wasn't in good shape. He was wrapped in a hyperthermia blanket waiting for an ambulance to come back from Marree and pick him up. The other blokes insisted they'd be fine, so we left them to it.

Pulled into Coward Springs campground just on dark. Found a free campsite (geez, it's getting popular in there!), and proceeded to burn my irish stew (don't ask). Liquid diet for the night it was. About two hours later the rest of the KTM's arrived, along with their two support cars. The broken KTM was tied to the back of one of the support cars. They bedded down in our campsite (as it was the only one left), so when they'd got settled (my god - it was like a small city erupted) we had a bit of a chat and found their mate had been taken down to Adelaide to get fixed up. :shock: No-one could work out why he'd binned it (it was a flat, wide, straight bit of track), and he couldn't remember either.

Day 2: Renmark - Coward Springs. ~830km. 80% bitumen. 20% Rocks, gravel, mud. 1 broken KTM & rider.
 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
Woke up before dawn (not my cup of tea!), so rustled up a coffee and watched the sun rise:

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Left the KTM guys to packing up their city and hit the road towards William Creek for a real coffee and refuel stop.

I'd found the day before that the genuine KLR tank bag (thanks Glitch!) was really good when seated, but as soon as I stood up to get a bit of forward attitude on, it'd interfere with my knees, so it got thrown into the back of the ute (along with my swag so I could more easily get back on the bike if needed).

Only had one real pucker moment when exiting one of the floodways when KLR decided it wanted to go one way, but I wanted to go the other. Track was still all cut up, so most of the time it was "pick a rut and sit in it". A couple of times I had both pegs bottom out on either side of the rut. A few more floodways later, and I arrived in William Creek covered in mud and dust. :D

One bad coffee and a refuel later, we were ready to continue on. There was a Triumph Tiger that refused to start, so that poor bloke got to call the RACV, hitch a ride out to Coober Pedy, and then bus it up to Alice. :(

Turned right just out of William Creek to head towards Oodnadatta. There was a road crew a bit further north, so tiptoed around the mess they were making, and then back onto it again.

Stopped at the Algebuckina bridge for Chris to have a looksee (and me to stretch out a bit).

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Got another 15 or so k's up the road, and something didn't feel right, so I slowed up a bit and found I'd got my first rear flat. W-) Eased the KLR off the side of the road, and started to get prepared to change tubes, when Chris arrived by my side with a length of wood the right length to wedge under the pegs to get the rear off the ground. I was expecting it to be an hour stop (I fluff about a bit when changing tubes), but Chris was into it. 10 minutes later it was all done. Must remember to pump the rear brake to get the pads back to disk when I'm moving again. Chris did mention that he was really good at tyre changes from riding his YZ in the Vic high country! :cool: Hadn't holed the Mitas - the tube had a small fold in it that had eventually worn through.

Whole lot more Oodnadatta track - speed up, slow down for floodway, speed up again, etc etc.. Got to the T intersection a couple of K's out of Oodnadatta, and went for the rear brake. Shit.. SHiT.. SHIT!! OK, it's back again. So much for "Must remember to pump the rear brake to get the pads back to disk"

Stopped at the Pink Roadhouse to refuel bike and rider (and driver!)
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I still reckon the place is a shitehole, so we kept on heading north through Hamilton Station towards Eringa. Along this section, we found quite a few sections of my least favourite surface - sand. The first few times it was very nerve-wracking - slowly, wobbly, out of control. I know the theory about sand, but putting it into practice is a different story. Chris gave me a bit of a boot up the arse (boys trip remember - bigger and better than the others!), so I got into it. Well, bugger me silly - that worked like a treat! Get wa-ay back on the bike, put the throttle onto the stop, and let the front wander around. I was nearly sad when the sandy bits ended. :lol: I can also see now why Steg Pegz and steering dampers are such good inventions!

At Eringa, we had a choice. Continue heading north towards Finke, or head east towards Mt Dare. I wasn't entirely sure I'd have enough fuel to get to Kulgera from Finke if there was no fuel at Finke (which is common just before the race). Chris said he'd like to have a beer at the Mt Dare Hotel, so we went that way (which eased my worries about fuel range!). Following the track into Mt Dare gave me a few pucker moments as the track was sunk below ground level, and with the sun setting, I wasn't able to pick out all the holes in the track.

Finally pulled into Mt Dare Station, only to be confronted by 3 Unimog's, and about 20 CRF450's. :shock::???: Turns out we'd shown up to Mt Dare on the same day Darryl Beattie (and crew) had finished their ride across the Simpson Desert from Birdsville. So, we got to hang out at the bar with Darryl Beattie, Larry & Jack Perkins, Craig Lowndes & and bunch of punters with enough money to pay Beattie to be their tour guide! Was good to see Craig get stuck into the red & have a good night being one of the boys, rather than a signature machine. :scull:

Day 3: Coward Springs to Mt Dare. ~530km. 100% dirt, rocks, gravel, mud & sand. 1 x rear tube.
 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
Up before the crack of dawn again (which considering the amount of money we' d pumped into the bar the night before was a suprise!), and load up for departure. Forgot to mention yesterday - refuel at Mt Dare - $2.60/l. It's not like it's scotch where more expensive is generally better either!

On the road. Heading out towards Finke. More sand. I'm actually starting to enjoy this stuff now :looney: :lol:. Be much nicer on a bike with more poke ( & less weight!) than the KLR though. Maybe that 950 SuperEnduro is the way to go.. :rolleyes:

Out through Charlotte Waters:

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Got into Finke, and went out to the Finish/Start line. There were workers getting things sorted out, paint marking lanes and lines, etc etc. Had a chat to a few guys who looked like they could ride coming off the Finke track. They said they'd started heading up it towards Alice, but it all got too soft and chopped up for them on big bikes. I decided that it would be a better idea to head out to Kulgera, so we turned around and went out to do the ~150k out to the highway.

Sand. Sand. More sand. Throw in corrugated sand. I think I'm a sicko. I'm grinning from ear to ear while on the ragged edge. Even when it gets a bit too sketchy, I lean back more, relax on the bars and I make it through. If I do come a cropper, it's gonna hurt though! I did draw the line at heading out to Lambert's Centre (clicky) though - if it takes a 4x4 an hour to do the 24km, not sure I want to do it on the KLR!

At Kulgera we refueled (bike, rider, car & driver), aired tyres back up, and settled in for the long run into Alice Springs. ~130km/h for 2 hours (oh, and hitting reserve long before I expected to again!) goes to show the KLR is NOT a highway bike by any stretch of the imagination!

Restocked some supplies in Alice, then off to Chris' (Alice Springs Chris - I'll refer to him as Chris-Mate from now on) place to unload and have a drink or 12.

Day 4: ~530km 50% bitumen. 50% sand and gravel. No problems apart from a hangover.
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
I'm going to pre-apologize for a lack of track logs and pics in this RR.


Track logs....no worries.

Pics....BLOODY HELL!! Couldn';t you just fu^%$#$(**&:^%^f$ :thun:thun, Jeezaz, un-for-fu&^en-givable!!!!! :photo:


:wink:
 

glitch

Mapping the next ride...
Staff member
.... and watched a bunch of big KTM's take off up the track ahead of us (950/990's). Man, a more powerful bike would be nice! .....


.... A bit further up the track... bunch of KTM's parked on the side of the road. -...his mate (one of the bunch I'd seen leaving earlier) and eaten dirt at a fair rate of knots, and wasn't in good shape. He was wrapped in a hyperthermia blanket waiting for an ambulance ...


The usual pattern, aye? :(:(


Enjoying the yarn and pics, mate....this is GOOD, REAL GOOD!! :clap::clap::bow:
And HAIL the KLR's, Yessir!!
 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
Right.. Where was I? Oh, that's right..

So, we're in Alice Springs. Got hold of Chris-mate and got directions to his house. Dumped off stuff, and kicked back with a few bevvies to celebrate.

A bit of organisation, and Chris-mate loaded up the Prado with his families camping stuff, and headed off down the track to set up a camp before everyone else got there. Once set up, we headed back into town to go to scrutineering to check out the racing machines.

Had a chat to Toby Price - he seems like a nice down to earth bloke. Also caught up with Larry Perkins again. Kept running into people who knew me, so it took a long time to get around and see things. It was interesting to see how the offroad racing world does things slightly differently to the 4x4 world. Tyre sizes are one example.. 4x4's generally run 31", 33", 35", 37" or 40" tyres. The offroad racers generally seemed to be using 32", 36" or 39" tyres.

Anyway, back to Chris-mate's place for a few more bevvies in preparation for prologue in the morning.
 

-Macca-

Getting the hang of it
Saturday. Prologue day.

With a slightly tender head, we piled into the Prado to head down to prologue. Found a nice spot right on the fence near the finish to watch the goings on. We weren't early enough to see all the cars, but did get to see some of the trophy trucks & the buggies. Geez there's some money in some of them!

There were a few moments on the track in front of us:

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That's the better part of half a million dollars sitting wheels up there.. :eek:

Youtube links

Buggy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZCwrN1aVPs&feature=youtu.be

Bike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QJGT-z_M0I&feature=youtu.be

Quad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MlwwYDQ1-M&feature=youtu.be


One thing I did notice - all of the quad riders were rather .. portly .. :lol:

After prologue finished, we headed down the track to our campsite to settle in for the night. This was the bit of track where we were camped:

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