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Have you ever wondered who cuts that primo single track in your favourite riding spot? Who in their right mind would put in so much effort, just so you can have some trail blasting fun? It must takes days, weeks or even years to link up some of those trails right?
Well if you've ever ridden the spectacular trails of the Coffs Harbour hinterland, then I can just about guarantee you that you have have ridden on track that has been hand cut by a 70 year old absolute legend known as Al Gillard. Al is a bit of an institution in the area and while many claim to know him, not many have had the privilege of riding with him on his amazing collection of some of the best single track this country has to offer. The guy is literally a human GPS.
I along with my loser mates have been fortunate enough to have known and ridden with Al for the past 12 or 13 years or so and over that period of time we have become very close to the old bugger. So when Al mentioned that he would love to do an adventure ride with us sometime. A plan was put into place.
As it happens Al turned 70 Just before Easter so apart from having a massive surprise birthday party for him on Good Friday a couple of us set about working out the details of getting Al out for a 4 day Adventure ride that would be our gift to him as a way fo saying thanks for all the rides he has taken us on over the years.
Our mate Chris very kindly offered up his well set up DR650 and Al's wife Gerry (whos birthday it also was) was briefed as to what he would require in the way of gear and food.
Apparently the party was a huge success (there were a lot of empty bottles and a few very sore heads around the next morning) and a massive surprise to Al who had no idea what we had in store for him over the coming days.
Al & Gerry
The girls doing what girls are good at.
Easter Saturday morning and after trying to clear our heads,we set off from Chris's beautiful country retreat near Nana Glen in NTH NSW. (not far from Russell Crows retreat actually)
There was me (the sensible one) on my trusty 640, Christian the chef on his Team moto, Dri rider, scala teamset, Acropovic, Elastoplast, Yamaha SuperTen, DR Tim the barefoot doctor on his APC Rally prepped KTM 690, 62 year old Dave on his DR650 super choofer, Al the Trackcutter on Chris's DR and of course JB the DR hater on his newly acquired Husquvarna TE610.
Originally our destination was to be Barrington Tops, but what was to follow over the next few days meant that was never going to happen.
We set off through familiar territory up the Dorrigo plateu, through some of the almost deserted little villages that once thrived when the Glenreagh to Dorrigo rail line was in use. Sadly the train no longer runs, but you can check out the sorry remains in Dorrigo, if you ever get the chance.
A quick cuppa to help try and clear the head then back down the range and into the New England national park and the appropiately named Die Happy state forest. The way I was feeling I would have been very happy to just lie down and die.
We had a ball blasting along the infamous Horseshoe trail but the conditions were a bit too much for Christian on the huge super Ten. He had a couple of falls and unfortunately on one particularly nasty downhill section he chucked the big girl away big time and in the process ended up with all 300kg+ resting on his foot. JB being the caring soul he ISN'T thought it was all quite amusing, but it was soon evident that Christian was in a fair amount of pain and we would have to detour to the closest pub in order to administer the appropriate medication.
Thats it Johhny smile for the camera, dont worry bout picking the bike up.
Only problem was that the closest pub apparently has no beer. Lucky for us they had sambucca.
We set up camp under a picnic shelter at the Town common and had a great meal before some of the boys hit the bar. Not me though...I know my limits.
It was a very dewy (and doughy) start to the next morning and Dave had a hangover that not even Chinese acupuncture could cure.
Christian decided that his foot was too sore to continue and sadly he decided to bail out to the highway and head home to get his foot checked out. Turns out he has broken a bone in his foot and will spend the next 6 weeks in plaster. Shame really as I really wanted a ride on his bike....Just kidding mate, hope you heal quickly.
The rest of us geared up and headed through some spectacular country side to Willarwarrin , where we fueled up the bikes and our bodies.
JB understands the importance of eating well on the road.
The Macleay river was our next challenge, and although no one fell in, there were defineatly a few pairs of wet boots around....Not Tims though. Perhaps we should call him the Dryfoot doctor, instead of the barefoot doctor.
JB just didnt give a shit and plowed through, obviously concerned that the Husky could stop running at any moment without notice.
The blast along the aptly named racecourse trail was great fun and there were huge grins on everyones faces as we pulled into a small picnic area for a cuppa and a panadol.
Then it was out onto the road bikers paradise that is the Oxley highway. We had a great time scratching on the chookies, then pulled into the Gingers Creek cafe, cause the big tough recon riders wanted more coffee. As you can see by the pic, I wasnt party to their pissy caffe latte drinking games, settling instead on a 6 pack of Bourbon.
From there it was into the Tapin Tops national park, and a slight diversion to the hilariosly named Blue Knob lookout. Yes we did keep ourselves entertained with that for quite a few minutes. I am sure the other people at the lookout thought we were the knobs instead of the mature aged respectable citizens that we arn't.
Our accomadation for the night would be the luxurious picnic shelter at the Dingo Tops camping area. There was a mad rush to select the softest picnic table with Dave missing out while Al decided to set up camp out on the lawn, muttering something about not being able to put up with all the animal noises that emminated from the swags.
We had a great night having a few drinks and listening to JB babble on about what shit boxes DR650's are and how he would never lower himself to that level ever again. As far as he was concerned Husquvarna's now make the best and most reliable bikes in the world, and he wouldn't have a bar of anyone offering a differnet opinion. Blah Blah Blah
We all drifted off to sleep wishing we each had a Husky in our stable as they are obviously the best motorcycle ever made, Well according to JB anyway.
And Al had a little chat to dave at bedtime assuring him that there were no wild animals around only a couple of very friendly goats and perhaps a gerbil or 2..
I dreamt the dream of Huskies all night.
So anyway after JB's preaching of last night it was ironic that the only bike that needed a spanner put it on it the next morning was.........you guessed it the Husky!!!
Dave nearly wet his pants laughing so hard, while we set about tightening all the bolts that had vibrated out of the shitbox. Every sprocket bolt and rear spoke needed attention as did the barkbusters.
Reliable indeed, but more was to come.
Anyone wanna caption these pics?????
How about this for starters
Me to Johnny
"So these Huskies are the shit eh Johnny?"
Or perhaps Dave to Al
"Don't buy one of these DR's Al...Apparently they are all shit tips"
BWAHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Next ride I go on with Johnny, Im taking incontinence pads. In fact i wouldnt be surprised if JB has some packed, he carries enough other shit.
BWAAAHHHHAAAAAAAA
Anyway, when we were able to stand up again, Tim and I set out about working out where the hell we were, and where we needed to be.
While Al explained to Dave the theory of how the front wheel of life turns.
The Ellenborough falls are the 2nd highest falls in Australia. Bit of a lame claim really, but they are pretty spectacular.
In Bellangry state forest we had a quiet naval gazing moment at a picnic area on the very pretty Wilson river.
While Al swore black and Blue that he had spotted a naked mermaid.
I reckon Dr Tim just put an extra dose of herbs in his tea.
The road out was really Rocky and Dusty. It was hard going and we were deep deep into the forest and a long long way from anywhere. Perfect time for JB mate Karma to strike yet again.
Without notice the big Italian stallion quit running. We were stumped. All the high tech gadgetry had us beat. We tried everything we could think of, but no go. The big girl was dead.
There was no option, but for the big Husky to be towed out by .........wait for it.......... yep you guessed it......... A SHIT BOX DR!!!!!
BWAAHHHHAAAAAAAAA
Yes my friends you could have heard a pin drop. JB was devastated. I just wanted to throw a match on it. Dave was ecstatic and couldn't wait to get the big girl hooked up. And this despite the fact he had never towed a bike in his life. Dave didn't care. He was beside himself. Make sure you get a photo he beamed. I'm gonna tell the grandkids about this he bellowed.
And just to rub insult into injury, we decided that Al should ride the towed bike as he was a bit lighter than JB. (not withstanding the 500 million kg of crap that JB carries) and JB was unceremoniously ordered to ride the other DR into to town. It was the ultimate ride of shame.
Initially our plan was to tow the bike to the closest farm house.
Bullshit yelled Dave, I want as many people as possible to see this, I'll take him into Kempsey. I'll stop at the first pub he screamed as he took off into the setting sun. And what an awesome job he and Al did did, reaching speeds of 90klm/h, there were several times I thought we were going to need to call in the helicopter to scrape them up off the road.
But eventually we made it to the salubrious West Kempsey hotel. Apparently the gem of all the pubs in the area.
JB was duly informed of his duty to supply beer, pizza and also the need to spring for a room for the night. Fortunately the rooms were cheap. (as they should have been with possibly the worst bed I have ever slept in).
In the mean time Husqvarna assist in the form of Chris P and a trailer were on the way. There was nothing left for us to do, but enjoy the local company and get pissed.....so we did.
And it was a sad sight to see the Big Husky leaving town on the back of the trailer......Not. I was so beside myself with greif I forgot to take a piccy.
The bikes were safely tucked away in the store room and we settled in for the night of fun and laughter with the locals, Including the publican who came and shared a few bevvies on the patio.
And then the rain started. Poured all night. We were all feeling a bit cactus from the night before and the thought of going out in the pouring rain wasn't all that attractive. Especially with us all suffering from curvature of the spine from the mattresses we had endured. Give me a picnic table and a swag any time.
But head out we did and as there was no way we going to just drone home up the highway, we decided to head up the Kempsey-Armidale rd.
Had a quick stop at the Willarwarrin takeaway/butcher shop, we met Ian on one of those pesky shit box DR650's, who decided to tag along with us for a while. Lovely bloke and he knew of a couple of nice camping areas he wanted to show us for future reference, which was great and much appreciated. I can see a bike/fishing/kayaking trip down this way in the near future.
Ian, being the gentleman he is also very kindly threw his bike down the road on a particularly slippery corner, just so we all knew how treacherous it was. Went down like a sack of shit he did, but fortunatly ni injuries or damage. Thanks mate talk about going above and beyond. Was nice meeting you. we will definatly look you up, next time we are down that way.
From there we headed up the national trail and into the forest way, which is an extremely scenic run through the bush. It was certainly treacherous conditions, the road was literally like riding on ice and there were several spincter tightening moments for all of us but we all had a ball.
In Ebor Dave and Al did a great job of scareing all the kiddies by stripping off on the footpath to put on more thermal underware, but quite a few of the old ladies were obviously impressed.
From there to home, the weather really closed in. It was pouring rain, thick fog and really strong crosswinds, so it was just head down and get home as quickly as we could. I was grateful for the small fairing on the 640 and we arrived back at the Chateau cold, wet and hungry, but having had an awesome weekend.
It was great to see Al and dave so excited about what we had just put them through.
These two boys would put blokes half their age to shame and in fact Al does so quite regularly on the small bore bikes and I can only hope to be riding as good as he does when I am his age.
I am sure Dave had a great time and I am looking forward to going riding with him more often in the future.
Al I hope you had a great 70 birthday and just remember its your shout when its time for my 70th Birthday ride.
For me its now time to get organised for our IOM TT and European tour which starts the end of next month. Stay tuned its bound to be epic.
Cop yas.
