After a brief lunch in the
sun (looking better and
better for the following
day), where I didn’t even
have time for a brief nap,
we were back at it
After a brief lunch in the sun (looking
better and better for the following day),
where I didn’t even have time for brief nap,
we were back at it. Slash... staple... slash...
slash... staple, so it went on all the while
riding through the empty forest. By the
end of the day my right arm was toast from
all the slashing, making it tough – but not
impossible – to drink my beer that night,
where there’s a will there’s a way.
The next morning was another early start,
up and out for us and the small army of
FTE’s crew to do the last minute track checks
and set up the registration and BBQ area.
It’s like a mini military operation, everyone
knows what they need to do and they just
get straight on with it. With FTE the entry
fee covers a sausage sizzle and, this time
around at least, a selection of cakes to go
with the coffee and tea.
As I was getting all geared up to ride, I
spotted KR tester Jock McLauchlan pulling
into the parking with Honda’s 2019 CRF450R
on the trailer. That changed the game, for
me at least. Where I was going to cruise
around on my own just having fun, riding
with Jock would most likely mean I’d be at
my raggedy edge just to keep up with his
cruise.
Well... that was exactly how it turned out
but a couple of loops with the much more
experienced big fella showed me different
lines and how to read the terrain a little
better, so a win for me. The best place to
stop and watch was at the top of this big
climb on the ‘hard’ extension loop where I’d
pushed Jayden’s old Yamaha. Soft, loamy soil
made it a tricky beast to get up – hence the
fun in watching for a while.