After the heavy rain we’d
seen the night before I was
expecting the track to be
seriously wet and slippery,
but the forest seemed to
drain pretty well
Pulling up in the forest the early morning
mist and clouds started to clear and it
looked it might be dry-ish. The previous
night had been a cracker for thunder and
lightning with a tree being hit in the paddock
opposite. The rain had been torrential. It
looked like we weren’t actually going to be
drowned – always a bonus for a Saturday in
my book.
Waiting for us were some other trail
markers, Sean’s son Jesse along with
Graham and Jayden. The plan was for the
riders (Sean, Jayden and me) to take a
slasher each to remove any overhanging
greenery, as well as a bag of arrows and a
staple gun to make sure each of the routes
were easy to follow. Jesse and Graham took
the Viking side-by-side with the rest of the
marking gear and the heavy duty trail cutting
kit, including the chainsaw.
After the heavy rain we’d seen the night
before I was expecting the track to be
seriously wet and slippery, but the forest
74 KIWI RIDER
seemed to drain pretty well and while there
were puddles, most of the tracks were pretty
sweet. One of the things I’d been thinking
about before marking out was whether I’d
be up to all of the riding – I’m no expert
rider. Well, there was one section that
Jayden had trouble getting up on his ageing
Yamaha WR (with a rear tyre that had long
since lost its sharp edges). As he came to a
spinning halt, I had to stop behind him... we
spent a very sweaty 20 minutes pushing it
up to the top of the soft, loamy hill. I’ve still
got the dirt in my teeth.
By the end of a morning cutting, slashing,
stapling and riding, I have to admit to being
pretty tired. All the farm boys and girls out
there are used to this, but here at Kiwi Rider
we’re stuck behind keyboards most of the
week. While I wasn’t an expert with a slasher
at this point, I’d figured out how to carry it
down the side of my backpack and hadn’t
lopped any fingers off. Result.