This is a copy of the ride report that i just posted on the FarRider website and Diesel suggest posting here as well, hope you enjoy the read.
Blazing SaddleSore 8000K (plus others)
I had wanted to complete another long ride prior to the end of the year and having done the Trans Australia at the beginning of the year, I was really champing at the bit but still able to sneak in a SS4000K run, if the IBA certify it in the first half of the year as well. Originally the plan was to attack this one in the June/July school holiday, however due to some other commitments it was put on hold until the September/October holiday period with the last week of the holidays fitting in nicely not only for the ride but also allowed me to do the FarRide to Eungella (thanks Tack’ & Thommo for coming up with this one). This was also the last opportunity this year, I believe, to tackle the track from Port Augusta to Darwin, more on that later. Long range forecasts had shown that I could expect a bit of rain down towards Broken Hill and into South Australia. Thankfully I was lucky enough to miss it (Bazz didn’t on his trip up to Eungella) so made the first leg of the trip between Brissy and Port August a bit better.
This first leg was set up, for me anyway, as a real psychological challenge with the plan to complete a SS2000K. Now I have not done this type of a ride before so planning was to be slightly different and I had also utilized a spreadsheet made available from one of the IBA members. Whilst the spreadsheet does not do the complete package for me, I am sure someone that is clever with spreadsheets could adapt it a bit more. I found it to be more accurate in its timings than googlemaps and allowed for a bit more flexibility in setting up lengths of time for stops. Now let me explain what I mean by a different type of a ride; generally speaking I look at my rides being multiday SS1600K , so for instance in the case of the SS8000K this was 5 days of a SaddleSore each day, ok I know that theory goes out the window with doing the SS2000K and the next leg that I will describe shortly, but fitted in roughly for the entire trip and allowed for some more flexible planning in the latter stages of the ride, i.e., fitting in the RTE at Eungella. I have found in the multiday riding the timings of stops are not as critical as they are for the type of ride the SS2000K is. In my mind, it is very critical that fuel stops or any stops on this run are of absolute minimum so when LDRiders advise that they get their fuel stops down to 6 min or less then believe them and aim for similar timings. The rides that I believe fit into this type of riding are any of the rides that go outside of the base SaddleSore ride of 1610K per day others may not agree and that is fine, this is my interpretation only and what I have found to be the case for me, others will or may be different.
Not only was this a psychological challenge it was also a physical challenge, therefore prior to the run I need to be mentally and physically ready. To do this I started on a programme of convincing myself that I was capable and ready to complete this part of the ride, secondly I continued with my normal diet, well nearly, I stopped partaking in any alcoholic beverages and stopped drinking coffee about three weeks out. Did it help? Buggered if I really know, I suppose it is the same as the shoo
roo devices and wearing a high visibility vest well and truly open to discussion, I think it did and I have done the same on all my rides in preparation, again it fits in with me but may not fit in with others, just something you need to discover for yourself.
My planning also included ensuring that I rode that wonderful area between Bourke NSW and Broken Hill NSW during as much of the daylight as I could. I believe this is area is well renowned for the animal life that continually plays chicken with vehicles. Well it did not disappoint, goats galore along with those mad big birds the emu, the odd carcass of pigs also made sure my eyes were kept busy scanning the roadways and their edges. Interestingly I did not see too many kangaroos. The only really scary incident was just out of Port Augusta with a lonely sheep in the middle of the road, and I can tell you it put my heart into overdrive. Speed limits along this leg were also an important factor in determining if I felt I could make the ride and with 110Kph limits along most of the trip really did assist.
At Port Augusta I pulled up at the back of the BP servo for a sleep and climbed into the bivvy bag, then out like a light until the alarm went off. Whilst having a bite to eat prior to departure the guy behind the counter advised how surprised he was to see all the hail hitting the window during the storm, ...storm what bloody storm... I had slept through it!!
The next leg was to be between Port August SA and Darwin NT, now some of you may sit forward in your seats to read how I did with this run of Davo’s of 2724Km which he did under 24 hours and called it a Centreline24. Sorry to disappoint, that distance in that timeframe is way out of my capabilities, even with the 130Kpm speed limit.
Not unlike the renaming of Davo’s run from Byron Bay NSW to Denham WA and back as the Trans Australia and Trans Australia Gold in his honour, I felt that it was appropriate to attempt to have this run recognised as a IBA certificate ride unique to Australia and to have it named the Centreline24 in line with what Davo had called it. Currently the closest IBA ride to this would be the BunBuner 2500K Gold which was the certificate Davo did on his Centreline run. Now, a bit more explanation, we have a BunBurner 2500K to be completed in under 36 hours and a BunBurner 2500K Gold to be completed in under 24 hours, my proposal was to use this comparison to have the Centreline36 (2724Km) in under 36 hours and the Centrelin24 (2724Km) in under 24 hours both recognised as IBA certificate rides. This then should suggest that the Centreline could be set up using similar criteria as was used for the BunBurner set of rides. I do hope that this does not offend anyone, to me it is something else to help maintain the story of Davo and his support of LDRiding in Australia. Personally I also think it provides for those riders that may struggle with the 24 hour limit to attempt this unique ride within a 36 hour period. It is of course now in the laps of the IBA (Mike Kneebone).
Fuel stops on this part of the ride are plentiful, the trick is to make sure your run fits in with the opening and closing times, which can be a bit of a challenge. Let us also not forget that other strange petrol they have up there, CC will remind us of what they call it as I have forgotten at the moment. Animals again were plentiful, but added to this lot was the cows and bigger kangaroos. Being concerned about these two varieties ensured that during the night time riding speed was reduced and was to also have an effect on ride planning.
During my time riding through the Territory I am sure that three quarters of it was ablaze. Smoke haze was to stay with me to Darwin and Back down to Three Ways. Prior to Alice Springs I was travelling through some reasonable thick smoke and on two occasions travelled very close to flames with the fire up to the edge of the road. Of note to me I found the 130Kph speed limit refreshing and it soon became very natural to ride at that speed. I had told myself prior to the trip that I would not need to travel that fast, the thought soon left me once I had a taste of it. Roads were set up with a very large area cleared back from the road allowing to spot animals a lot easier. Getting closer to Darwin I found the road deteriorating and would question the higher speed limit there. My temp gauge told me outside temperature was at 41 C and my tyre temp was around 59C, needless to say I have replaced the tyres on the bike as there was not too much rubber left when I got home.
From Darwin the next leg was to reach Mt Isa for the start of the FarRide. I am glad the stop in the Isa was short, it was a bit of an eye opener for me to see the big smoke stacks puffing away and basically across the road were houses and kids playing. Not the place for me.
Continuing across towards Charters Towers for a sleep I refuelled at Julia Creek and got chatting with one of the local road transport drivers and mentioned this big kangaroo that had decided he wanted the road to which I was more than pleased to let him have, he mentioned that the animals had be large in numbers recently and to take it easy a bit further down the road as there had been cattle grazing and laying on the road. Was the best piece of advice, exactly what he had described occurred with roos all over and about 5 head of cattle around the area he had described. A bit closer to Charters Towers I passed through a little settlement where a fire (more bloody fires), had worked its way around the back of them. I thought it looked very worrying when around the next bend the fire was up to the road again, speed down to about 20Kph and very thick smoke and very low visibility, thankfully only lasted a few minutes or what seemed a few minutes then I was out of it. Refuelled and continued on to an IBA Hotel had a great sleep still smelling like smoke then up again to meet up at Eungella. What a great spot, nice to catch up with people but unfortunately I could not hang around as I still needed to get to Gladstone.
The last leg was going to be easy, not a worry in the world nearly finished the run, when bugger me another bloody fire, this one blocking the road and being held up for around an hour and half. Was it good planning, that I had a little bit of leeway? I would like to think so. So after another dash with fire, trundled into Gladstone for the end of a great run. I find out later that a fire went right up to the fence line of the explosives factory up there!!!
Photographs, am I ever going to get this right. Bought the Drift HD170 installed on the bike for the trip so it would take a series of photographs and it works well. There is this little problem with not cleaning the lense. There is also this problem with not being able to see when it is on and off. Oh well back to the drawing board and rethink how it is set up.
Hopefully the results will be; SS2000K, SS8000K, Centreline36 and thrown in as an added bonus another FarRide. Would I do it again?....already planning
