Buxton to Jerusalem Creek 7/6/08 June 09, 2008, 09:40:35 PM by David Smith
Rob Balaz’s Buxton to Jerusalem Creek Saturday 7/6/08
Arriving last at the start point, has won me the written ride report job. The first few tracks were loose & rocky with a few tricky hills, also slick, greasy & tight stuff to top it off. One rider didn’t get to see any of this. That was Leon, cause he had carby troubles in the car park. So back onto the trailer, went his bike, before the start of the ride. It was a 90 km ride to lunch. A few people dropping the bikes along the way. Good to see Ian Robinson riding again, & hasn’t lost any of his skills. The last bike he owned was a Royal Enfield 250. When fuel was 3 pence a gallon or 2 petrol ration coupons back when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. At lunch it was hamburger & chips for every one. Two people dropped out at this stage & rode back to the cars via road. Afternoon ride was similar to the morning. David Stanhope dropped his bike & smashed his radiator, so lucky at the bottom of the hill were some good Samaritans who kindly gave him & his bike a lift to his car. About an hour later we all arrived at the cars around 5pm, & 160 kms in total. A few tired bodies, but thanks Rob for a top ride & Matt Creasey for am tailman, David Stanhope for pm tailman & Russell Robinson for fill in pm tailman, and the following for your contributions to a great day for all.
Rob Balaz Ride Leader Matt Creasey AM Tailman Ian Robinson (The Fox) Matt Randall Rob Celeja Leon Van Kollenburg Mark LeBrun Russell Robinson Craig Dempsey Leo Granin Tony Comito David Stanhope PM Tailman Jason Earl (Verbal) Andrew Petrie Michael Newbecker David Kennard
Rawson 24th May 2008 June 04, 2008, 12:48:21 PM by Rowen
Sat 24th May, 2008.
Rawson ride - 2 loops.
Heading off bright and early for a 8:30 start I couldn't help but notice the temperature gauge inside the hilux didn't get above -1 all the way to Moe. It was not much warmer as we pulled into the carpark either. It was going to be a busy day in the bush as there were already around 30 bikes in the carpark ready to head off. The disappointing thing was about 1/3 of these were not registered or had unlicensed riders (kids). Does not do a lot for our image as a whole with the locals in the caravan park.
So eventually all the AMTRA boys arrived and we fired up the bikes, well all but two of the Honda's. The ever trusty XR400 just wouldn't fire up, after trying for what seemed like half an hour they decided to tow start it with the CRF. The only problem was as soon as the rope was hooked between the two bikes neither would start. Dave attached the WR to the XR and towed it for a while but to no avail. As there was no spare plug for the XR we had to leave it at the cars and let him catch up for the second loop once a spark plug was sourced from town. A very good reason to always carry a plug or two even.
Loop 1-
Heading off along Mormon town track there was still a few trees down from the strong winds a few months ago, I kind of hope they stay there because they actually make a pretty simple track a bit more technical. Onto deep creek 1 track, I never get tired of this one. There's not a lot of tracks where you ride along a river bed for 300 meters with water still flowing. The ledge at the end of the rocks is quite large now with 2 of the bikes trying to flip getting up it, it was great to watch. Next taking the turn into deep creek 4 down the big hill into the valley, the track today was quite greasy and none of us could get more than half way up on the way out, so we all went the chickens way around with our heads hanging low ( last time here I flew straight up the middle, It's amazing how a bit of rain can change the level of a ride : )
Coming down fulton track to the rivers we were very surprised to see dave get wet nuts in a river that was quiet low on the river bed, the problem was after the major flooding up there the river bed had all washed away and left a giant hole. So just because you have crossed a river a million times don't think it will always be the same.
On the way back we found a broken 4wd at the bottom of deep creek 1, that was sure to be an expensive tow truck from there. Back at Rawson pub for lunch around 1 and 70 odd k's done it was time for a feed, from steaks to parmas the food was great as usual. As with most rides if you have two loops for some reason a few always leave at lunch, might have to put a bit of cement in everyones drink bladders next time so they can harden up a little ; )
Loop 2-
So we headed off after lunch towards Erica, I don't know the names of any tracks over this way but some good names for them could be - tight snotty slippery single track or something like that. After a lot of log crossings due to recent high winds in the area we came across what was once a bridge over a stream, now more of a couple of sticks held together with chicken wire. It was a bit hairy walking the bikes across but we all got there without slipping off. Next was a awesome piece of single track which lasted around ten minutes, many tight corners and up hill log crossings. A few bumps of encouragement were given when people got stuck mid corner but it was all in good fun and all had a grin at the end of the track. At the end of this track Aaron ripped a cupcake out of his bag and began eating, I don't know where he was putting it as I was still chockers from lunch. Needless to say Aaron was know as cupcake for the rest of the day, quite fitting as all the boys were calling me Napi-san because of how white my riding gear was. Heading back towards Rawson through a very narrow track we came across a 4WD which was a bit of a surprise to see in this area, he was bashing his way down a single track looking at his map and saying I want to get here, we said turn back and go around as the bridge was out and out handle bars were banging trees it was so tight. His answer was " I have a winch, can I make it??" A few more very muddy hills and back to the cars around 5, good time for a beer at the stockman's pub before the trip home.
David - Ride leader - WR450 Aaron - Cupcakes - KTM250 Rowen - Napi-San - WR450 Matt - XR400 Mark - CRF450 Andrew - WR250 Matt - CRF450 Leo - CRF250 Stewart - KLX400
Re: 21/6/08 carrols lane.Wombat ride. June 22, 2008, 01:36:08 PM by Serge C
We had a good ride - someone got a bit wet though ! When confronted with two options, a deep hole or a deeper hole - Aaron decided the deeper hole was the better option. Recommend new tyres and welli's for this ride.
AMTRA is a club that was formed to cater specially for the Trailrider. AMTRA is a non-competitive club and holds rides throughout Victoria. Our members organise rides in areas they know or want to explore. Club members are invited to participate via the rides being advertised on the web site or the clubs monthly newsletter, AMTRACTION as well as at the monthly meeting. AMTRA was formed on the 16th of January 1969 and the first meeting was held at Milledge Brothers Yamaha with 24 people in attendance. The club membership varies and in the mid seventies had over 500 members. We average around 300 members a year at present. AMTRA members have always been very pro-active at Trail riding and helping to preserve the rights of trailbike riders and access to the track network for riders of registered trailbikes. AMTRA rides consist mainly of day rides however we also have weekend, Easter and Christmas camps organised by members. Rides are held in all areas of Victoria with day rides reasonably close to Melbourne being very popular. AMTRA owns a property south of Myrtleford in northern Victoria which is free for members to use as base to explore the Alpine areas. There is direct access to the track network from our property and it is a very popular place for members to base rides from. As we ride on gazetted roads all members must have a valid licence or Learners Permit and a registered bike. AMTRA members have also been known to organise the occasional car rally, 4wd trip, theatre night and restaurant night. We encourage families to enjoy the camping and social activities the club runs. AMTRA meetings are held on the last Wednesday of the month (except for December) from around 8 pm onwards at the St Davids Church hall opposite Tunstall Square Shopping Centre in Doncaster East. Meetings comprise of brief reports on club business, ride reports and details about coming events and often have a DVD of recent rides showing. All members as well as visitors are encouraged to come to the meetings and socialise with other members. AMTRA fees comprise of a once off joining fee and a yearly subscription. The fees are very reasonable and the clubs fund raising subsidises the yearly fees in order to keep the fees down. The current fees are listed in the store on this web site. The fees include 11 copies of our magazine Amtraction either posted to you or downloaded from the web site as well as access to the members’ pages of the web site for details on the latest rides and other articles of interest. For those of you in NSW and South Australia, AMTRA also has branches in those states. To Join AMTRA Click Here
Al's Merton Ride June 04, 2008, 09:08:16 PM by David Smith
Big Al's Merton Ride
We left home about 7 got to Merton about 9 the fog cleared about 9:40 Had a few warm-ups on al's tracks then we headed out to the bogies.
Lots of single track with a few tight snotty hills followed by a play in the pines racing around a hill where the camber of the road just got worse and worse I saw rob nearly go off the cliff at on stage.
We got to barjar at about 1ish and we fueled up and had some burgers.
Back on the bikes and into the good stuff, all took us to a play hill where al made it up a got 7/8 the way up just got to greasy on the tree roots Rowen made it to about the same as me the rest were having some trouble at the bottom of the hill. With the sun falling we were on our way back to al’s some nice flowing twisty tracks where the pace was up.
We got back to al’s about 6 got the bikes on and changed before dark.
We did about 140klm for the day
Thanks al for a great ride….
Allen White ktm625 (Ride Leader) David Smith wr450 (Written) Rowen Smith wr450 Steve drz400 Aaron ktm250 (Tail Morning) Rob ktm250 (Tail Afternoon) Allen Mason wr250
Amtra T-Shirts + Stubby holders
