TRAIL BOSS BLOG:

TO BIRDSVILLE & BACK!

Every now and then you just have to take the time and make the effort to get in an epic ride. A ride somewhat more special than just another session in the sticks in your regular riding area.

We just rolled back into TZ HQ after exactly that kind of ride: a 2,500km epic from Broken Hill to Cameron Corner to Birdsville to Maree to the Flinders Ranges and back to Broken Hill ... and it was an absolute ripper!

Myself and Lance 'Russ' Turnley from www.offroadexplorer.com planned the route for this little jaunt and were joined by a motley crew of dual-sport disciples that included Steve 'Wolfman' Smith from www.adventuremoto.com.au, Terry 'The Major' Muldoon from the Club Y Yamaha owner's group, Clive 'V-Stormer' Ward from www.motorcyclebiz.com.au and Heath 'KLRs Rule' Schiemer from www.trailbikerallys.com.au.

Along the way we also picked up three TRAIL ZONE readers -- Greg, Len and Rob -- who tagged along for a day on the run to Birdsville.

In the space of six days we sliced our way up the Strezlecki Track, guzzled a few beers at the Birdsville Hotel, blasted down the Birdsville Track and then spent a lazy hour on the banks of the flooded Cooper Creek near Lake Eyre waiting for the wind to die down and the punt to fire into life and ferry us across. Next up came a leisurely day exploring the mighty Flinders Ranges, before looping back to the Hill.

Now, that summary of the ride makes it sound all refined and gentlemanly, but what I failed to mention was the massive amount of water, mud and greasy gloop that still dominates much of the red centre of Australia, and two crazy nights spent riding in the dark -- the first of which included running out of fuel 37.9km (how accurate are Spot trackers!) short of Birdsville, and the next dealing with the seat-deep floodwaters of Frome Creek just shy of Maree. Yee haa!

Oh, and then on the final day, we got peed on from a great height and copped savaged side winds all the way from Hawker to Yunta as a massive cold front roared in from the west.

Russ filmed the entire trip for our next IN THE ZONE DVD that will publish with our Christmas issue of TRAIL ZONE at the end of the year.

We're also piecing together a cracker story and photos on the ride, which will appear in TRAIL ZONE issue #32, so if you've ever dreamed of an outback adventure run, this will be an issue not to miss.

All of us on the ride had a heck of a great time, no one more so than The Major, who at age 66, came into the trip as an adventure riding virgin with a brand spanking new Yamaha XT1200Z Super Tenere that was to undergo a real baptism by fire. The Major and the Super Ten did unreal and came through with flying colours, despite a couple of small tumbles in some of the greasier sections of the Birdsville Track -- on ya, Major!

After a week of outback solitude -- and how good is it?! -- it's tough getting back to city life and into the daily grind again. But with a zillion memories of some of the best adventure riding in the world fresh in our minds, we will all have plenty to keep us inspired for those long and dreary days behind the office desk.

Bring on the next epic adventure, I say!

-- Clubby, www.trailzone.com.au

TRAIL BOSS BLOG:

HEADING FOR THE CORNER!

Okay, it's taken me five years to do it, but I'm finally getting to take aim for Cameron Corner.

When we kicked off TRAIL ZONE five years ago, one of the first things I wanted to do was take a look at the junction point of NSW, Queensland and South Australia -- clearly good things come to those who wait!

Tomorrow the long trek west to Broken Hill begins, where myself and Lance 'Russ' Turnley from www.offroadexplorer.com will be hooking up with Wolfy from Adventure Moto, Clive and Heath from MotorcycleBiz, Terry from Club Y and a couple of dedicated TRAIL ZONE readers from Queensland for a five-day lap out toward the centre.

But that's only if the weather gods let us, as a stack of roads and tracks north and west of Cameron Corner are still closed from all the rain they've had out there this year.

Our plan is to head to Cameron Corner the first night, then on to Birdsville, then Lake Eyre and then the Flinders Ranges before looping back to Broken Hill.

It will be a ripper ride if we can get through all the gloop and slop ... and quite possibly an even MORE ripper ride if we can't!

I know I'm treating the threat of mud-jammed front wheels seriously and have just fitted a Touratech high front guard to my mount for the trip: our Yamaha XT660Z Tenere Project Bike. A fresh set of Dunlop D606 knobbies should also help deal with the sticky brown stuff ... I hope!

Needless to say TRAIL ZONE Blogspot updates will likely be slim-pickings over the coming week, so I apologise for that in advance.

In the meantime console yourselves that TRAIL ZONE issue #31 hits the streets next week -- grab a copy and soak it all up and enjoy our fifth birthday celebrations. I know I will be at the Corner!

Catch ya!

-- Clubby, www.trailzone.com.au

PS: That photo is the actual signpost at the Corner: impressive, huh? Makes you just wanna get on your bike and ride three days straight and go out there and check it out, huh? You bet!

TRAIL BOSS BLOG:

HAPPY FIFTH BIRTHDAY, TRAIL ZONE!

The brand new issue of TRAIL ZONE has just rolled off the presses -- and this one, issue #31, is a very special one, as it marks the fifth birthday of TRAIL ZONE. Woo hoo and happy birthday to us!

We've thrown a few extra pages at this new issue to mark the occasion, and had a few members of the TRAIL ZONE wrecking crew -- myself, Tania, Dr Phil, Russ, Big Baz, Big Rich and Ron to name a few -- take a look back over the years and highlight some of the best times of their dirt bike riding days. Make sure you take a close look at some of the classic photos that accompany these stories -- talk about a trip down memory lane: Big Baz and Big Rich just have to be two of the coolest cats from back in the day!

Of course TRAIL ZONE issue #31 is also loaded up with all the awesome reading about trail, enduro and adventure bike riding you have come to expect every second month -- kicking off with a look at Husaberg's new two-stroke enduro weapons, which are featured right there on the front cover.

Of course that's only the beginning of the editorial treats that lay inside -- so get your new issue and get into it.

Subscriber copies of the new issue went out in the mail this afternoon, so all you loyal subscribers (thanks guys and girls for your support over the years!) can look out for the new mag to land in your mailbox in the next couple of days, while newsagent copies will go on-sale nationally next week.

Of course, this issue features the return of our bigger and better than ever Choose Your Ride subscriber promotion -- now is the time to subscribe and get your chance to win your choice of a new BMW G 450 X or Husaberg TE300 or Husqvarna TE310 or Kawasaki KLX450R or KTM 200 EXC or Suzuki DR650SE or Yamaha WR450F ... wow, what a line-up!

So happy birthday TRAIL ZONE again, and thanks to all our loyal readers, subscribers and advertisers for all their support over the years -- and here's to the next five years!

Ride on,

-- Clubby, www.trailzone.com.au

TRAIL BOSS BLOG:

SUBSCRIBE NOW & CHOOSE YOUR RIDE!

TRAIL ZONE issue #31 has just rolled off the presses and will soon be winging its way to subscribers' mailboxes and newsagents everywhere in the next few days.

Now, this new issue marks the 5th Birthday of TRAIL ZONE -- happy birthday to us! -- and we're rapt to say we're clicking gears and roosting. A large part of the success of the magazine over the past five years has been our annual subscriber bike give-away, so it’s most appropriate that our latest Choose Your Ride subscriber promotion kicks off with this issue (see pages 44/45).

We’re stoked to reveal that our Choose Your Ride promotion just keeps getting bigger and better, as this year we have ‘The Magnificent Seven’ prize bike line-up that one lucky TRAIL ZONE subscriber will get to choose from.

We are totally rapt that BMW Australia and Husaberg Australia have both joined up as part of our Choose Your Ride promotion – so without further ado, the prize bike line-up the winner will get to choose from this year is as follows:

• BMW G 450 X or Husaberg TE300 or Husqvarna TE310 or Kawasaki KLX450R or KTM 200 EXC or Suzuki DR650SE or Yamaha WR450F.

The winner is chosen entirely at random, so everyone who enters has the same chance of winning. You don’t have to tell us in 25 words or less why you deserve to win: there’s none of that carry-on. Our promotion is registered with the state lottery offices as a pure Game of Chance, so we simply pull one coupon out of the barrel on February 25 next year and then one minute later the winner gets the phone call with the good news and he/she gets to choose his/her ride.

So check out the new issue of the mag or the www.trailzone.com.au home page or call the TRAIL ZONE office on (02) 9905 ZONE and get your entry in and subscribe to TRAIL ZONE and you could Choose Your Ride!

-- Clubby, www.trailzone.com.au

TRAIL MAIL:

SEARCHING FOR SECRET RIDING SPOTS

Loved the article in the latest issue on the Gas Gas EC250 - looks like a perfect blend of the best bits of Japanese and Euro bikes! More specifically though - where did you ride it? I watched the video review, and some shots looked awfully familiar, but you never do specify which forest you were riding in. I'm from the Southern Highlands myself and know the area's forests pretty well. It would be awesome to do something similar to your recent TZ ride at Clarence down our neck of the woods. In fact, I suggest it be a more regular thing - there are so many good places to ride in NSW -- the more riding the better! Keep up the good work on the mag, too - it's my favourite out of all the Aussie ones because of the great trailriding content.
-- Richie, via www.trailzone.com.au

Thanks for your email and your wrap on the magazine, Richie. Yep, we certainly loved the Gas Gas EC250 4T with its Yamaha WR250F motor. It definitely made for an exciting quarter-litre thumper package that combined a proven Japanese powerplant with a high-quality European chassis and detail package. Now, as for saying exactly where we test-ride bikes, we have to be careful here, as getting too detailed with locations may well lead to places being inundated after the magazine goes on-sale, possibly -- and unfortunately -- by bikes and riders that are not necessarily as 'legal' as they should be for riding in state forests and public lands. If you're local to the Southern Highlands south of Sydney, then for sure you will have discovered the riding areas that we've used for testing bikes like the Gas Gas. Licensed riders aboard registered bikes are entirely able to ride in these forests and that's the way we want to keep it. As for a Club Y trail ride in the region, now that’s a sweet idea. We'll give it some thought. In the meantime, ride on!

-- Clubby, www.trailzone.com.au

PRESS RELEASE:

NED SUESSE DUAL-SPORT RIDING CLINICS IN AUSTRALIA

The creator of the popular Dual-Sports Riding Techniques DVD series, Ned Suesse, is coming to Australia in October to conduct two one-day ride technique training days, each followed by a two-day overnight adventure ride with Ned to help you hone your skills. You can attend the training day only or all three days, with accommodation packages available.

Each session will be restricted to just 10 to 12 riders, so get in quick. The events will be Sydney-based and the dates are October 8/9/10 and 22/23/24, with each long weekend kicking off with the training clinic on the Friday.

For more details and to register your place, call Adventure Moto on 1300 46 66 86.

TRAIL MAIL:

LOOKING FOR A DIRTY WAY SOUTH OF SYDNEY

Hi guys: Do you know any ways from Cronulla out of Sydney to Kangaroo valley and surrounds via the dirt?

-- Mike H via www.trailzone.com.au

Hi Mike: The short answer is no. To find dirt roads open to the public you have to go north-west to Wisemans Ferry, west to Windsor or south to Nowra. Any national park close to Sydney is securely gated. Travelling south from Cronulla you can ride the main road through the Royal National Park but that's as good as it gets. We re-signed ourselves to black-top miles all the way to Nowra a long time ago. To make it worse, the road to Nerriga is now sealed, so not matter what direction you go, getting out of Sydney is ugly. If you are looking for adventure bike routes, check out the Travel section in www.offroadexplorer.com or do what we do and do your research starting with Google maps.

-- Lance Turnely, www.offroadexplorer.com