Riding deep sugar sand, lesson 1.[b]Added new photos.[/b]
 

Last Tuesday I was invited to take a ride in the local bush with a friend of mine and his friend. Jason introduced me to "GuyMcFly" at the meeting point and after a few minutes chinwagging we headed off, me now safe in the knowledge that my bike "will be OK" as Guy bought one for his wife! Am I riding a girls bike? Guy was mounted on his bush ravaged Katoom 250EXC and Jason on his legendary XR400R.

We followed guy for about 30 seconds before he was so far ahead I found it difficult to see his route. Jason then slowed and offered himself as "the sweep" and followed me as I got to grips with the soft sand and whoops that line the powerline trail for the first 2km.

Below is the route we took. It was about a 50km round trip and had us out for about 90 minutes. At points we were gassing it well beyond 100kmh and other times I would just about top 20kmh. The deep sand is so sucky, then again its soft when you fall. I had 4 "get offs" in total but thankfully me and the bike came through unscathed. The open firetrails were fun and gave me time to work on my standing technique. Watching Jason drift an entire long corner at about 80kmh right in front of me was fun. I was glad I fitted some protection for the headlight.:D

The route from the meeting point to the road crossing at Neaves Road.
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The route from the road crossing up to the high point lookout. (Red trail is the loop up to the lookout.)
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We followed the same route home pretty much but it took about half as much time to make the road crossing as my deep sand technique was improving by the minute. This gave us an opportunity to gas it around and through some of the plantations on the return leg to the power line trail.

It was a great morning spent on the bikes. Work beckoned at 3 PM, so after a short debrief, one where I learned that Guy had completed The Australian Safari last year, I said my farewells and headed the 20 km back home on the slab. I'm keen to tackle some of the deep sand again and after so many tips from Guy (Expert of the first order. He has credentials) I'm sure I'll be ready for the 2010 dakar.

http://www.australiansafari.com.au/

Here is a few shots taken over the course of the morning. The terrain was pretty flat and fast, even if in the sand I wasn't. There was one hill right at the far end of the trail. It led up to a high point. It took 3 attempts for me to summit with the little KLX giving the local wildlife a shock as I gunned it in 4th for the 3rd attempt. Two Brothers at 8K sounds luuuuvely.:D Made it. The small decent was pretty tough too for a newb to the sand. You can see the exit in one of the photos. I stalled a couple of times going down but managed to stay on board the whole way. Thank f@$k for the electric leg.

Missed two Kangeroos at one point , very close call as I was still learning the art of steering in the deep sand and I'm sure I would have clipped one if they were any closer.
The snake (Western Brown, nasty, about 5 feet) I nearly ran over was lucky too, or maybe it was me who was the lucky one. Anyway it was a short encounter and we both went on our way.

One last thing. Having the suspension sorted for your weight helps so much and the Barkbusters saved the bike , me and some coin more than once.

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Apologies for the sky. You get used to it when summer lasts for 9 months of the year.

awesome,, thanks for sharing WestOZ

Thanks for sharing the pics and the ride report. Oh and thanks for reminding us that the sky is actually blue above the clouds. ;)

There is something fun about the way the moves around below you when riding in the sand, well at least once I got used to it that is. Still need a lot more practice.

Today I got an email from Guy one of the riders on the ride. He sent some photos he took during the ride that day. For anyone that has never ridden deep soft sand I can tall you it's a little unnerving to be told that you will be OK if you go faster. The truth is it's true. It still doesn't stop that feeling of dread as you ride along faster than your brain is telling you is safe.

A couple of the shots show "The Sand Highway" and the steep hill I only managed to summit on my third attempt. I was supposed to turn left at the top and follow it up to the view point but having got that far I wasn't going to bin it on the turn. I carried on for another 50M, did a doughnut and started down to make the turn. I cocked it up but managed to doughnut the bike and ride back the way I came. "MORE SPEED" was the war cry from Guy and Jason. I was committed, start in second, short shift third, gas it. I railed the deep sandy berm like I pro. :D I carried the momentum through the corner, fourth gear, past the parked XR and Katoom. Im on top. I need more practice, but I'm improving by the minute.

As I said before, it was a really fun day and I was grinning ear to ear on the cruise home with a great sense of achievement having learned some new skills.:D

"The Sand Highway"
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For those that don't know, this is a good illustration of "the Bush."
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The bottom of the sand hill. It's a lot steeper and deeper than it looks.
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Making the crest having dragged the bike out of the sand and back down twice before.
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Bogged on the turn. Non committal, too slow.
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Committed. Yeehaaaar. Just a dab of clutch. Got some roost.:D
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Soft like sugar. A skill to be mastered for sure.
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At these crossroads (there are plenty of them) the sand becomes twice as soft and twice as deep. You have to lean back and gun it to make the the trail ahead. At the end of the ride I was passing these sections at about 80 kmh. :D
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Super pix Woz, if I didn't know better I'd say you might be my neighbor. I have terrain very much similar within a stones throw of my house. Only thing remotely different is the vegemite, excuse me vegetation, in the scrub around here. Lots of palmetto (think dwarf palm tree) and pines around here, but there is also a bunch of stuff that looks like the bushes in your photos. Sugar is Sugar I guess, and lends itself to the same kinds of plant life, even if half a world a way.

Looks like you got a decent once over for the day, plenty of fun and some work to boot. Thanks for sharing.

Great pics, Woz, that's a heck of a long straight away, I bet that is some seriously fun riding! Thanks for the pics!

On that section we clocked over 110kmh on my speedo. Faaaark in ell!https://s3.amazonaws.com/advrider/ricky.gif

Nice work man, r u near the beach? Is that why there is sand.

Nice one Westie, it's hard work on the KLX sand like that, low power and not much clearance, the XR would be good in those conditions, good power and heavy enough not to be deflected easily. The Kato in the right hands would be good fun.

Good report :cool: