Long Way Down (to the farm) Ride 11 - 13 May

[bwanainoz]

I will be departing my place at 0700hrs Saturday, travelling along Albany Hwy to North Bannister, turning east onto the Wandering-Pingelly Road, then into Narrogin. Total distance 190k. Anyone else want to join let me know.

[Jean800]

Thanks Jeff. I will SMS you my details. See you Saturday.
Cheers

[Ross Higgins]

I'll be travelling down Saturday morning via the Gt Southern Hwy. See you all 10am.

[jono]

The GPX nav file with GS track from Narrogin to Kalgan has been sent by email to all riders registered for the Long Way Down (to the farm)

See you Saturday!

Cheers
JonO

[Swampy]

For all the guys taking the Long Way Down to Jeffs new digs, Have a great and safe ride, Enjoy yourselves and watch out for Emus and Roo's.

Regards

Swampy

[BillB]

BillB's spot tracker of the ride.
A group left Perth at 7am Saturday and rendezvoused with others that travelled to Narrogin on Friday arvo to meet with event co-ordination Jeff Douglas and his wife Sandy. The first stage ended in Dumbleyung with all the route on dirt farm tracks and roads. The next stage was Gnowangerup then more dirt roads thru the Stirling Ranges to Jeffs farm near the Kalgan river arriving as the sun set at about 6.15pm a 11 hour day of riding.
On the next day after a hearty breakfast most departed for home. My twisted knee from my off in the sand made changing gears very awkward on the trip home especially when I got to the city traffic as I couldn’twist My foot into the gear lever to change up or down or put the leg down quickly when stopped and found it a bit stressful. Will give it a few days to see if it improves before getting a medical appointment

[spacey1]

Ahh, the 3Bs, bikes, beer and bonfires...

Glowing reports continue to come in about JeffD's Long Way Down (to the Farm) Ride. There was the bonfire. No more glowing than that.



The bonfire proved to be a great focal point on the unusually warm night in the Albany surrounds. Among the topics of conversation was a continuing reference to 'Bleep the Sheep', an old family pet.



After the crowd left on Sunday morning, I opted to spend half a day on the tractor, towing a disc plough around the paddocks. I noted this scuffle between a gnarly old tree and a fence post. I suppose this has been a long bout. So far it's tree '1', fence post '0'...



After another night camping in the shed... Just want to say how fantastic it is not having to put up a tent but still being able to stare out at the awesome Milky Way galaxy we live in...

I woke up to a cold (at last!) Monday morning and, accompanied by a few light showers, zapped back to work. Feasted on sausage roll, minced meat pie and coffee at the Williams Woolshed. Good stop-over point. The weather stayed blissfully cold until I started the descent into Perth, when the temperature soared. I was incredibly overdressed for such high temps and surely lost a kilo or two before reaching the hill.

A resounding congratulations to Jeff and Sandra for organising a fab ride through our South-West. Superb country hospitality

More to come...

[spacey1]

So heading out from the Elders carpark in Narrogin, trip notes and gps tracks in hand, we embarked on the next big club ride...


There was that sandy section about 21 kms out...


I stole a ride on Noel's HP2


He was busy after all...




You wouldn't have thought that 20 metres of sand could cause so much angst It WAS very deep and soft. Lucky that we were made aware of it in the trip notes. A huge sign would have been gratefully acknowledged. I had a fall-over in this lot. Note: 'fall-over' not 'fall-off' Whereas that KTM blasted through like it was flat

[JeffD]

Hey Nev, thanks for the story, the photos - and the tractor driving.

To all of the riders who took a chance on an unproven ride leader ( a ride leader who brought with him a different navigation regime) and headed down the dirt roads to a largely unknown destination, thank you for your courage and enthusiasm. It was very satisfying to see such a strong turnout for our ride and interacting with you all throughout the day and evening made the planning very worthwhile.

Sandra and I enjoyed your company immensely and look forward to doing it all again sometime

See you all at Catalanos before long.

Jeff

[spacey1]

There was of course the inevitable getting lost... The trip notes said, 'Left on Wickepin-Wagin Road', sign says 'Wickepin Road'...


There was the inevitable breakdown with a view...




Sadly, this was the cause of the breakdown... not the Prez , the bike... look closer


Inspected by technical experts only 10,000 kms ago... 'Nothing wrong with that' I'm told... It's now at circa 140,000 kms. Getting nervous as mine has 172,000 kms... There was a new boot fitted to that recently too... now gone...


Couldn't really have picked a better time to fail, given that the support vehicle and trailer was only a few kilometres behind... Starting to sound like a HD Club...


Not great phone reception out here either...

[spacey1]

From here the ride down to the Stirling Ranges was pretty spectacular



And not a 'roo in sight...

[spacey1]

Onto the last section of awesome dirt road past the Stirlings to Upper Kalgan...

Catching up with the Kato on the Kalgan River crossing...




Last section of dirt before the farm comes to an end... The Kato waits...


The rest of us eventually caught up...




And as light fades...




We're all together again for the victory ride into the farm...

[spacey1]

And our Prez last in to the farm after dark...


And quickly jumps on the phone in the old Telstra box......


There's now a queue for the phone... to make that call home...


The accomodation was rudimentary although 'tardis-like' on the inside...

[spacey1]

Camped in the shed, with rats, snakes and rabbits, err... sorry Noel, not you, thanks for keeping me company...


Dinner and breakfast all banged up in that tiny shack!


And these hungry beasts gorging... tardis-like remember...

[spacey1]

And then a glorious sunrise on Sunday...


And the bonfire is still alive...


Loved this gnarly old tree in the early morning light...