Perth to Mt Augustus to Newman - not quite DQB

[bowewilson@gmail.com]

As Steve said months ago "all care but no responsibility", he was good enough to map out a route that he was taking and said that riders were welcome to tag along, beyond that good preparation and participation is your responsibility. (as Shane and Bully were politely saying)

[jls]

Arrived back with bike in Perth at 930 last night ,after being towed50 Km,s to Ashburton downs ,the station was in full swing into the muster season ,with the help of mechanic,s wife who went to the same school in Sydney as my wife and are traveling around Australia with their 4 kids after a bit of discussion and thought ,and a car going into Paraburdoo the next morning and access to the net ,I booked a flight to Perth .Ipacked as much as I could into my biggest bag ,and dressed in full bike gear ,covered in dust the metal detector was fun ,finally was let through and landed in Perth at 1030
Once home started looking at options ,wait till the station owner was doing a run down to Perth,then again the station next door Cheela plains 2 of there boys ( twins) are in my son,s class ,freight companies were always going to be difficult
With 5 days till I had to be back at work ,why not ,hire a ute ( unlimited km,s ) and off I went 3 30 am Thursday morning ,emailed the station of my intention ,there reply if you arrive in time dinner will be ready if arriving late you know where the caravan is .
Arrived 7 that night had a nice dinner sitting on the homestead veranda ,and bed the the generator fired up at 4 am had a bit of a chat to the boss cocky while he was fuelling up the helicopter for the days proceedings ,we used a fork lift to load the bike on with 1 wheel on each blade and with me straddling the blades with the hand brake on ,all in the dark tied her down and I was off 15 hours later was home
the drive out of the station was sensational through nice hilly country due to the floods they had a few months ago the windflowers were out in abundance .
As I said to the boys as we parted company at Ashburton downs .Enjoy your adventure ,my adventure has just got a slightly different twist

[bill9117]

Great story and good outcome Jamie. Well done

[spacey1]

Warms the cockles of my heart to know folks are reading my musings

A few points of clarification:

• At no point was I poking the finger at anyone. Just want to stop that nonsense right here.
• Digger did a fantastic job putting together the route plan and indeed it was one of the best rides I have been on, probably the best. Again Kudos to Steve
• It was my ride and I accept full responsibility for my ride and the comedy of errors that unfolded
• I gladly take on-board all of Shane's constructive comments. My working life is a little insane which tends to have an impact on the amount of brain time I have left for the pleasures in life. But that's my problem.
• Please note Bully's comments. He is absolutely correct.

Look forward to the CdMille production in the coming weeks.

Would I do it again? - In a heartbeat

I commend all my fellow adventure riders who got out there and gave it a go. I'm sure, as Shane points out, we all feel that same sense of achievement that comes from facing up to a personal challenge and overcoming the odds.

To the guys who are still out there, bless 'em, they're tough nuts

[spacey1]

Hey Jamie,

Glad to know you are OK. You've been a bit of a ghost for me the last few days. Seeing you one minute, disappearing the next?

DRs rule then?

[_Wilks]

Between the DQB turn off and Talawana Track tjcn.

Oh what fun... not .

[spacey1]

There you go Shane, you weren't supposed to mention the war, err, sand

4 wheels really makes a difference in that stuff

How the hell are you posting to the forum from out there?

[_Wilks]

Got home last night Nev. I didn't opt for a Thursday lay day at DQB with Steve, Chris & others and chose to ride out of DQB on Thurs morn.

It took me 3 hours non-stop (including time lying trackside) to ride from DQB to the Talawana Track tjcn - a whopping 88kms according to my GPS. It was the hardest riding I've ever done... and will never deliberately tackle a remote track like that (ie sand) again. At one stage I was lying on the track with my foot squashed under the bike pannier and pointing 180deg to what it should be. After some minutes of writhing in pain and no success at the painful process pulling on my leg in order to extricate my foot, I managed to rotate my body 180 degrees and then began to dig around my foot to free it. I sat hunched for a few more minutes in absolute disbelief at what might have happened (ie complete dislocation of my right knee) and wondering if I could stand up at all let alone pick the bike up or even to ride out of there. I had no idea if any help was on the track behind me (highly unlikely) and my ride buddy would be at least 15 minutes ahead of me plus whatever time he would 'wait' before turning back. Eventually I managed to get up, figured a photo was warranted first and then lifted the bike and rode out of there. Obviously my knee hadn't dislocated but was severely twisted.

I took a triple dose of anti-inflamms that I always carry and once on the Talawana Track, bolted for Jigalong. Took a donga room at Kumarina Roadhouse. Knee pain made for a poor sleep. Spent some with Rick & Ev on the highway yesterday as I made the 1000km dash for home.

Huge thumbs up for Howard for having tons of patience with me struggling to get out of the Rudall River track. He said he had to paddle that same section of sand. Whilst I dont feel any better about my ability in deep sand, his comment did make me feel slightly less incompetent. Howard and I rode together from DQB to Kumarina - he is a truly gifted rider... he was on his 1150 GSA.

[spacey1]

Good to hear you got your priorities right. Get the shot first! And what a great set of photos they are

Guess you would have noticed a little bit of clutch smell during that lot

I did my time on the Canning Stock Route and have no ambition to take the GSA out there

You're all bloody heroes in my book AND you made it home... THE most important thing

Thanks for the tip - add Anti-inflams to the first aid kit.

[Robbo]

FANTASTIC, What a great ride, with great tracks and great friends.
Mount Augustus was real nice, Hammersley Gorge was beautiful, Carawine Gorge was also beautiful, I spent Wednesday there with Phil, John, Jerry and Dren all of which i'd not met before this trip, we had our own beer delivery service so all good.
The hard core riders left us at Carawine Gorge to go to DQB, we headed up to Marble Bar, Phil left us there when he headed to South Hedland, and we headed off to camp the night 50km south of Newman. Friday i left Dren, John and Jerry and headed straight home to Perth down the Highway, arrived home at 8pm after an 1160km ride.
My favourite tracks were the one from Mount Augustus towards Tom Price, lots of bends through great country, and Skull Springs road from Nulagine to Carawine Gorge, superb scenery, nice windy track, up until i turned my bike upside down on some soft stuff, a bit of damage to the bike.
Jamie, glad hear you got yourself and your bike back to Perth ok.
Thanks to Steve for planning another great trip, and to everyone who gave me assistance along the way.
Robbo.

[Digger]

4 of us left DQB on Friday...Shane, pls send me some photos of that thick sand (you have my email address) and what did you think of the Jigalong Mission Track. What a ripper!!!
Myself, Paul, Chris and Mike left on Friday and Paul went to Auski to link up with family. Us remaining three bush camped 100 km south of Kumarina (just off the Wiluna road) with a further night 40 km past Paynes Find last night (Sat). Chris and i went our seperate ways around 1pm. Mike lives in Toodyay and so bid us farewell around 11.30.
As far as I know, that means everybody has been accounted for.
Mongrel Dog Production will be a couple of weeks away as soon as i get some still photos from some of the other players.
Thanks to all.
The tractor i rode did not miss a beat!!!

[KoosWA]

F&%$*#k.....I'm so jealous!

Great that everyone is safe even with some scares and some mechanical issues.

By all accounts a great trip. Let the pictures, videos and reports roll............

[_Wilks]

Gday Steve

Will send those pics prob tomorrow.

Had mixed thoughts about the Jigalong Rd. 90% of it was a blast. But the 10% of sand in the mostly unused middle part of the track had begun to get a bit old by 3pm... partic after my close embrace with the southern section of the Rudall River Road that morning.

Well done and thanks for putting together a great loop ride.

[Swampy]

Just back from the South West and glad to know everyone got back from their individual epic rides up North. Congratulations to you all it looks like their will be plenty of stories that will unfold over the coming weeks with memories to last a lifetime for all that took part.

Well Done Steve on your organisation and am looking forward to the Cecil B. De Digger films.

It appears there are some lessons to be learned from the experiences of some individual riders, However the most important thing that everyone is home safe and have gained and shared valuable knowledge from which we can all reap the rewards.

NOW for all those hero's that have just returned.............................................Your bikes must be dirty yes? ..............Well Swampy's Cleaning Service is available.........

Swampy