The section out of the river was the stand out of the trip for me. Hooked up three wide, through the creeks, up hills and launching off spoon drains. Dan Reynolds, Kurt Christensen and Darrin Cox went at it, tapped. It pretty much summed up their day, going about their business pretty much unnoticed by most, but they were super quick and clean through every section and seeing them in full flight was quite a sight, Being cold, wet and having forearm pump like the Michelin man paled into insignificance after this section. It was worth the price of admission alone - a top display and a great section. It's always much more impressive and we'd all rather ride with riders who let the bike do the talking and the crew we had that day epitomized that feeling.

A seemingly endless series of large pools marred the next section, which would provide one of the more memorable lighter moments of the ride. Big Pete Den Hertog pulled a few moves on a couple of riders before confronting one of these pools, solution, simple just pop the front wheel up and charge through it, maybe even soak a couple of the riders he'd just rounded up in the process. Now he may be no Divine Brown but he went down in a big way for all to see! All but fully submerged he wallowed in the middle of the pool as followers by wallowed in hysterics, with not the slightest hint of help in getting him out and going again, sweet! A couple of the other riders really found this section to their liking, with Rod Harman and Butch Huckstepp absolutely scorching through it, the race face was on, they were on a mission.

We pulled up back on the main road just as a friendly lady ranger was closing access to this track due to the rain.

Exposure and how to get around it. By Jenolan caves Mr Hypothermia had joined the ride, things were really getting unpleasant by this stage and a few of the boys found relief in a warm cuppa, while others found solace with the hand dryer in the mens, but by far the most effective wasn't picked up on until we were about to leave, a handful of fellas were spotted through a window hurriedly getting dressed in the private hotel lounge. They had been quite settled on the large lounges in front of the open fire in their boxers when they heard the bikes fire up. Maybe we do deserve the Damn Dirt Bikers moniker.

We decided to can the last section and do the 30k mercy dash by road to Hampton. It was quite possibly the longest thirty kilometres ever experienced, vision through the mist and fog was down to a couple of feet, the rain was solid the wind unforgiving. I thought I was going to be put out of my misery when I led the precession straight through Hampton and back into the 80k zone. I could hear the calls of a mutiny! Finally the Hampton Halfway Motel.

Showered, revived and in the comfort of the Hampton Half-way with a refreshing ale in front of the fire. Does it get any better than that?

I can't speak highly enough of the hospitality of the motel and staff. It was excellent, the atmosphere and this crowd were conducive to having a good time and that we did. There were just one or two formalities to get over before we really tested the theory that the body is an evil thing and must be punished. The shirts were given out and we had an award for "Most Outstanding Performance" a perpetual trophy sponsored by Hasko Pty Ltd. There were a quite a few vying for the honour but the absolute stand out performance put in by Paully made him the unanimous choice. He set a cracking pace all day, somehow managed to read the wet maps and route sheets without fault all day and got us to the pub, Legend stuff.

We kicked on through the night, Manso and BJ obviously not happy there were only two girls on the trip, decided to show their more feminine side, there would definitely be no "have a look at you" calls for these guys.

All the talk and hope for a clear day Sunday and hours spent drying boots and jackets was to no avail, Sunday morning was a shocker, colder wetter and less enthusiasm had us looking for options. With more road closures eminent, the 4 wheelies already concerned about getting through some of the sections and with Jenolan no longer having fuel and with what we were carrying it would be tight. Our best option was to set the most direct route back to Binacrombi and get home as quick as possible.

If the pace on Saturday was frenetic, Sunday's was forlorn. It was merely a case of conservation, the hype was all but gone, the speed was halved and the awesome fire trail runs were replaced with main roads, but there wasn't one person complaining we all appreciated this was now truly an adventure ride.

Our course, the conditions and attitudes should of assured it was a pretty uneventful ride home but Mr Murphy joined Mr Hypothermia on the ride didn't he. Gavin Carder clashed with a guide post and threw the new KTM 200 down the tar, while Coxy hurled his 300 in the slippery stuff on the same section Stu had come to grief.  Then finally after the welcome relief of getting back to Binacrombi and just starting to settle down, get the wet gear off, someone noticed Jason was missing, this was not what was needed to cap off a good weekend. A search party went out (who else but Paully and Hasko) found him and showed him the last couple of metres home. The story that goes with this would make a novel within itself, but we've already suffered enough with it.

So at the end of the day the ride was hailed as a huge success, not bad for our first attempt but it wouldn't of been possible without the help and assistance received from everyone involved and such a great group of people. I can't thank everyone enough, to all the riders and four wheel drivers, the staff and people of Binacrombi, Paully and Hasko for all their efforts, Kenny Herbert, John White, for "doing the dirty work" riding sweep, the receptive staff at Jenolan caves, Don and staff at the Hampton Half-way motel, Jason and staff at the Boardroom for catering lunch on Saturday, Christine Hunter for saving our lives with lunch on Sunday and helping in the kitchen in the arvo, Sidetrack Adventure Magazine, Copperhead screen printing for there excellent work and assistance with the shirts in record time and Renato for his assistance. THANKS EVERYONE.....

Footnote: Just to take a bit of the gloss of the happy ending, that little slippery section, oh so close to home played havoc with the health of some. Despite a visit to Oberon hospital to get the cut checked, cleaned and redressed, Stu developed an infection in his hand. There was a bit of a scare when the doctor thought the infection had spread to the tendons and may require an operation. Thankfully after many visits to the hospital and a heap of injections cleared up the problem. (I wonder if it also cleared up that other infection?) While Coxy's little spill earned him a broken wrist - Ouch....

Check out some other stories from our touring section