It is now the height of the Australian summer and we have just recently had the hottest week on record, with temperatures regularly above 40C.... Consequently, the TE250 has sat in the shed for the last few months, that is until a few days ago when the weather prediction was for showers and a max of 27C The bike was given a quick bit of TLC with some fresh oil and a clean air filter, all that was left to do was to pick somewhere to ride. My son Scott came to the rescue suggesting Nerong...a one hours drive North of where we live here on the East Coast. The weather forcast predicted "occasional" showers and 27C..Reality was somewhat different however. The trip from Newcastle to Heatherbrae, where we were to meet up with Olfatbeerman was decidedly wet, with rain chasing us all the way. From Heatherbrae to Nerong was more of the same, fortunately it had tapered off to a light shower by the time we had parked and suited up. By the time we hit the trails it was just sprinkling, none the less, every log across the trail was providing its own little challenge....(boy were they slippery.) The aim of the day was to make our way from Nerong to the township of Stroud and back again. Linking as many trails together as possible. Several of the stream crossings which are normally dry were decidely swollen, with one particularly deep one that swallowed my front wheel and had water lapping at the seat on the Husky..... All up, we covered over 120K's in 6 hours (including a stop for lunch at the Stroud pub). The trails were spot on, with no dust and plenty of traction, apart from the sections with the dreaded orange clay. Oldfatbeerman had a rear wheel puncture after a particularly snotty hill climb that took us all by surprise, but the wheel was quickly off, a new tube installed and we were soon on our way again. I will admit to hitting the deck once during the day, while crossing a greasy log bridge and ended up trapped under the bike until it was pulled off me by Scott & Al. All in all a great days riding, brilliant trails and great company....
You picked the correct username Seahorse Great report. I too have been watching the heatwave in your area, glad it is better now.
Hi Steve,vid looks great,have to catch up for a ride with it soon a bit cooler,not so much again today though Vince
Zim & GHTE...I will be getting serious about riding again after Easter when the temperature starts to become more bearable out on the trails... You know where to find me.....
Very cool vid. The terrain looks awesome. Almost like a rain forest. Not what would expect or should I say doesn't match the vision I have in my head of the Aussie landscape. Water crossing look pretty fun.
Thats actually pretty typical of what you get all along the East coast of New South Wales (Australia). Looks like a nice ride by the way.
As duggoey says, very typical East Coast trailriding. However, in this instance we deliberately avoided the tight singletrack in favour of a freeflowing open ride, mainly to keep cool. One distinguishing feature of this area, is the extremely slippery orange clay... the word diabolical comes to mind....
I strongly agree about the clay! You also get it a lot up on Mt Sugarloaf and the Watagans I live in Newcastle too and have ridden a tad further north in the state forest between Bulahdelah and Coolongolook in an organised rally last October. To ride from where you did to Stroud did you guys have a map or are you just faliliar with the area?
We do the occasional Sugarloaf ride as well, but usually prefer to ride The Watagans, and the odd trip down to Zig Zag... Have done a couple of rides from Stroud over the last year or two which we really enjoyed, so we just wanted to see if we could link it all up starting from Nerong side, as it is only an hours drive North of home ....No maps, just a couple of GPS's and lots of backtracking
