The following has been posted elsewhere as well, but I thought some of you might enjoy it as well. Des took most of the photos.
Donald Duck, Richard K., Desamo and myself went down from Auckland to ride the 42nd. The 42nd is mainly a mountain bike track, but can be used by 4x4s during summer. Motorbikes are allowed to use it all year round. It's a bit of a challenge on the bigger bikes, depending on the conditions of the day. It's got some steep downhills and a couple of hairy climbs.
We took in as much gravel as we could find on the way down. The plan was to stay at the Owhango Hotel and do the traverse the next morning. However, the forecast was not very favourable for Sunday.
As we arrived in Owhango around 3pm we decided to stash our gear and managed to hit the trail a half an hour later. Donald was running a prettry worn Anakee front tyre on his Dakar, so he was just along to have a look. How he made it through the first section I don't know, but he did. After that there was no going back .
We got through in 2 1/2 hours. Apart from Desamo on his 250 everybody got to pick up their bike at least once. I know a lot of you have done this ride, so I'll spare you the details. Having already done a good 6 hours of riding prior to the traverse and only haveing a limited amount of daylight left we couldn't afford to hang around, but still needed to be very careful.
Here is a selection of my favourite photos.
The four Amigos looking for trouble :-D
The local youth. For once the call of: " there is nothing to do here" is probably true.
Hitting the mud with the cylinders on the right, makes the bike go left. Thanks for getting me out of this one Des. The other two Amigos where already exploring uncharted territory by then.
Pleased to have made it through.
Richard letting off a bit of steam. Why rush through nature, when you can be in the middle of it.
I thought now I know why Donald calls himself Donald Duck, he just loves water. He was the first to respond. He is 6'5", so that creek had a deepish stop as you can see. Donald is the sort of guy you want around when the going gets tough.
This cloud kept following Richard for a while. I may have been responsible for the rain later on.
Des aced all the difficult bits. He was the only one who's bike didn't need a rest on its side. And he was responsible for all the good photos.
Richard handled his big R100GDPD with ease. While Donald had an excuse for dropping his bike, Richard and I got caught out by the easy bits. Short lapses of concentration will do that to you.
2.5 hours later. It's amazing how approaching weather and imminent night fall can focus an effort. I would not hesitate to ride with these fine gentlemen again. I guess we did "knock the bastard off". Well, let's say we crossed on ride of the list, but a few more have made it onto the list, so I guess we will ride again :-D
We didn't survive the final water crossing at the Owhango Hotel, and pretty much all fell into the drink. There was a bit of snoring going on at night, so I will be sporting earplugs next time, but I am sure the others will as well.
Donald Duck, Richard K., Desamo and myself went down from Auckland to ride the 42nd. The 42nd is mainly a mountain bike track, but can be used by 4x4s during summer. Motorbikes are allowed to use it all year round. It's a bit of a challenge on the bigger bikes, depending on the conditions of the day. It's got some steep downhills and a couple of hairy climbs.
We took in as much gravel as we could find on the way down. The plan was to stay at the Owhango Hotel and do the traverse the next morning. However, the forecast was not very favourable for Sunday.
As we arrived in Owhango around 3pm we decided to stash our gear and managed to hit the trail a half an hour later. Donald was running a prettry worn Anakee front tyre on his Dakar, so he was just along to have a look. How he made it through the first section I don't know, but he did. After that there was no going back .
We got through in 2 1/2 hours. Apart from Desamo on his 250 everybody got to pick up their bike at least once. I know a lot of you have done this ride, so I'll spare you the details. Having already done a good 6 hours of riding prior to the traverse and only haveing a limited amount of daylight left we couldn't afford to hang around, but still needed to be very careful.
Here is a selection of my favourite photos.
The four Amigos looking for trouble :-D
The local youth. For once the call of: " there is nothing to do here" is probably true.
Hitting the mud with the cylinders on the right, makes the bike go left. Thanks for getting me out of this one Des. The other two Amigos where already exploring uncharted territory by then.
Pleased to have made it through.
Richard letting off a bit of steam. Why rush through nature, when you can be in the middle of it.
I thought now I know why Donald calls himself Donald Duck, he just loves water. He was the first to respond. He is 6'5", so that creek had a deepish stop as you can see. Donald is the sort of guy you want around when the going gets tough.
This cloud kept following Richard for a while. I may have been responsible for the rain later on.
Des aced all the difficult bits. He was the only one who's bike didn't need a rest on its side. And he was responsible for all the good photos.
Richard handled his big R100GDPD with ease. While Donald had an excuse for dropping his bike, Richard and I got caught out by the easy bits. Short lapses of concentration will do that to you.
2.5 hours later. It's amazing how approaching weather and imminent night fall can focus an effort. I would not hesitate to ride with these fine gentlemen again. I guess we did "knock the bastard off". Well, let's say we crossed on ride of the list, but a few more have made it onto the list, so I guess we will ride again :-D
We didn't survive the final water crossing at the Owhango Hotel, and pretty much all fell into the drink. There was a bit of snoring going on at night, so I will be sporting earplugs next time, but I am sure the others will as well.
