since kris & natalie went up to queensland to join kris’ parents for a week i was free to go up to the watagans again. we went on a similar loop as last time, but in reverse – which meant we were doing tunks uphill (last time i did it downhill with philippe & jeremy; it was the place where jeremy cut his radiator pipe). bad idea, especially since it had just rained on friday and after the first one-two guys the track was utterly thrashed. it must have taken something like an hour to get everyone up.
this is really the watagans: there is a lot of rocks, loads of stones, and quite a few boulders. when there are no immediate boulders there’s lots of trees, usually the in-the-face variety, and frequently the i-send-you-off-on-a-tangent-if-you-try-to-cross-me type. trees and rocks jointly work on making the hillclimbs as difficult as possible, by providing exceptionally poor traction during the steeper sections.
however, i am pleased to say that this is where the exc 250f has performed flawlessly. what is more, it seems to compensate for my flaws, too. where some guys with the big bikes struggle on the uphills, the little ktm has apparently just the right amount of power and traction. i am surprised how easily the bike moves; i am sure the low center of gravity and the (lack of) weight also help.
luckily the weather cooled off a bit in the afternoon (there a little breeze, but the thermometer in the car still showed 31 degrees), otherwise no only the engines would have gotten hot.
i took the edge along for the ride, so that i would finally be able to understand where i spend my weekends.
80 km, 3 hours riding time. basically two enduro loops.
fortunately there are no enduro competitions in summer – so i have a little more time to practice.