It Came From the Sky

The descent to the Kowmung River was great but steeper than I remembered. It was all good until my front let go big time on a downhill off camber right after an erosion mound. I was standing up shitting myself until it all hooked up. My bike has a very cramped cockpit as they were designed. The common modification is to raise the bars and move them forward. Mine are raised but still back. I cannot stand upright and it makes it somewhat dodgy but still capable. I landed safely at the river bed and was happy to be greeted by a low but fast flowing crossing. One week earlier it had been impassable but a week of dry had seen it drop considerably requiring only a shallow pod to a dry bed before the causeway.

Easy peasy

All accounted for

I was keen to cross first so I could capture the carnage to follow. Someone always goes down and I find that going first makes you smart. Following only brings a range of incidents each one different to the last and before you know it, you have chosen ten different lines, listened to eight different strategies and got them all wrong. I try to aim for where I think the car wheel tracks are. Chances are they have dislodged the big rocks and you will get a clean run. So it was that I rolled through without a hitch and parked at the top of the climb out dry as a bone.

As I went for my camera Snowy took off, desperate for me not to catch any possible mishap. He kept hard left, hit a rock, dunked both feet, bounced off a rock that spewed him right and had him exit into the rut he wanted to miss. He made it up OK if not a little wet. I wanted him to fall in.

Quick quick before Ian gets the camera

Funny angle to come out???

Andy is a fabulous fellow who carried more gear than a pack horse. The things he produced out of that bike amazed me and he rode like a champion. Water it turns out is the bane of his life and he declared that he always falls in. No matter how hard he tries, he always takes a dip and so it was that he was nervous. But Bruce and Richard were having none of that and gladly escorted him across without a second thought and then trudged back through the water to collect their bikes. I was impressed. Safely across, Andy did stall up the other side but managed to keep it upright and Snowy went to assist him on his way

Champion effort

The remaining riders did their thing without drama and we gathered up the other side to eat jelly snakes and talk about the demon water and just how high it was a week earlier. We talked about the Andy pack horse and the climb out and a raft of other 'get to know you' trivia before saddling up to climb out. Snowy led like a man possessed with wet feet and I trailed with one of the other guys only to come upon a sad group of riders lying down on the job.

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