Abnormal Albucutcha

The weekend just gone had taken its sweet time to come around. We'd all be burning the hours away from family and long into the night (and still are, if I'm honest) to get ready for a trip back to the desert. Wyperfeld, Big Desert, Little Desert, ahh hell its all up that way...

Plans were pretty fluid it must be said, as we'd only taken motos there once before, and the logistics side of things was proving a touch difficult. So in true Epix fashion, we simply loaded up and rolled the dice. The boys had a good headstart into the galeforce northerly, and sorted out a place to keep out of the wind a touch. Duties done, fuel dump in place, the motos got rolled off the trailer and they threw in a sighting lap of Lake Albucutcha. As the afternoon rolled on apparently, the weather started to slide and the showers began.

As we rolled into the area late at night, we handrailed around the side of the lake on a track we'd used before. Windscreen wipers going, we knew it was a little slick, but as I came to a stop to check things out, I could hear slabs of mud peeling off the tyres. The trailer wheels were undecided if they wanted to even turn, as there was no resistance from the ground to help them along. At walking pace pretty much, we cruised around to find the rest of the crew, and get settled in...

Setting up in the rain meant trucks serving double duty as wind breaks and rain cover, all in a days work for them...

Dawn showed just how quick the clay came off the road and stuck to whatever it could find!

Sheltering from the wind for the weekend, the boys found a great little campsite right on the side of the lake bed.

Nat brought out his daughters' super BBQ tongs for the trip...

People weren't the only that needed portable fuel... This was in an effort to reach the dizzying heights of Milmed Rock which we had reached on another trip in 4wds..

A couple of the boys were rocking new Ion Cameras and there is talk of a small little video getting thrown together but until then you clever kids can have a look at some of the raw footage

Day ones' plan was to head to Milmed as I said, and we headed out after all the usual bullshit that goes with riding motorbikes. Straight into the deep sand sections, and it was already hazard lights on before we even got there. A dodgy kill switch was causing drama for Nat's bike, so that was duly thrown in the backpack and Nat resorted to having to kickstart the bike all weekend. No mean feat to kick over a 4 stroke all day in sand, but he really didn't turn it off much after that happened...!

Making it into the first stretch of deep sand, and I come around the corner to find the Hoff doing the flying W, with his feet above his head right before he piledrivered into the ground. Picking himself up, retrieving his fuel drum that was sent flying and generally getting himself back arranged, we were all a bit curious as to what happened as things were going pretty fast at the time. A little way down the track, a loose feeling in the back of the bike gave us some clue. Two massive slices in the rear tubes told the story of a log or rock buried in the sand that had given Hoff a massive pinch flat and sent him flying over the bars!

Between 5 guys, I was the only one who'd changed a rear tyre, and that I'd done with a lot of help... So I made the noble decision to 'allow' the others to learn and experience the joy of the noble art of changing a tyre...

You'd almost call it a novelty, the first time...

But then...

With all the amusement of a tyre change, the camera had been stowed whilst we rode some great fenceline whoops, all feeling ten foot tall and bullet proof. Milmed Track was turned onto, the sand got deep, and we were flying. And then I got a flat... And then Nat came back from getting the others also with a flat....

So thats 3 tubes we've gone through. Leaving us with none left... And a fuel situation that wasn't going to let us get to Milmed, so we did the (amazingly) smart thing and bailed. Better to fight another day on that one. You'd almost say we were getting quite accomplished at changing tyres, but you'd never call us good at it.

I don't think a patch at camp is going to fix this little problem... My new tyre seemed to grip the sand and the tube all at the same time, and obviously the rim lock was the weak link.

But happily we did do some more riding on the way home, showing that we can make the best of a situation!

Hoff was still riding by brail with a fair headache, sometimes the corners just didn't go the way you want... (I'm joking, the bloke rode the wheels off the thing all weekend!)

AC getting caught straightlining the corner! An awesome ride throughout the weekend regardless!

New tyre seems to hook up quite well...

Hoff hauling the mail...

Whilst its never pretty, and often comical, I do sometimes have a ride as well... Makes me feel even more of a novice chasing these guys around all day.

 After another wild ride back to camp with out tails between our legs, we had a bit of a spell and then headed back out for an explore. On our way back to camp, we took the 'great aussie short cut' to try and get back to camp quicker. This pretty much ended is us trying to bushbash trough the dense bush on the lakes edge, and time and time we were beaten. In the end we diverted to the long route to make it happen, but it did show me a new area to start to look in. So after lunch, this time we headed north to see if we could link up any more trails . We didn't have much luck on a tired and limited run, but we did stumble across another sand blow, and so we had a bit of a rap around in there thinking we were some sort of Dakar racer...

And so with the light fading, the rain coming (and going, and coming and...) and bodies ready for a bit of a relax, we posed up for one final couple of pretty ordinary shots, and headed all of the 1.8km back to camp!

And the sunday? Well we did the Outlet creek back and forth and hit up the bird cage, and not once did I get the camera out...

 I think I was just tired, or trying super hard to keep up after a few weeks of being laid up with a bit of a toothache, but one way or another, we're going to have to wait for the video I think...

And it was a pretty long drive home, but it always is, and you know what? Its worth the drive!