IspentallofSaturdayontheSouth
Loop,takingphotosandworkingupa
sweat,butifonly60%ofitwassingey
theneitherIortheblokewhomadethat
claimontheFBpageneedstogoback
toschoolforsomeremedial
mathematics.Itwasstraightintothe
pinesrightfromthestartandIwas
busierthanaone-armedtrombone
playerwithcrabs.Locktolockaround
theChrissytrees,thethrottleand
brakeswereonandoffconstantly,then
abumpmis-seatedmeandabitof
whiskythrottlesawmemakeaclose
andintimateacquaintancewitha
branchfullofpineneedles.Afewk’sof
thatandwecametoaroad.“You
beauty”Ithoughttomyself,“abitof
speedandsomecoolingbreeze”butthe
coursemarkers,thedeviousbastards,
justsentusstraightacrossandback
intothesingle.
EventuallyIhadenoughphotosand
nolongerhadanyexcusetostopfora
sneakybreatherbutmadeitbackto
campinonepiece,tiredbutintact.
Thisgetting-olderthinghasgotknobs
onit,anditjusthappenswithoutany
warning,yougetnochanceto
practice.Thetwobriefrainshowerson
thefirstdaydidaprettygoodjobof
coolinghotridersandsettlingthedust
as,initially,thecoursewasasdryasa
Pommy’sbathtowel.
KowenForestisapineplantation
and,assuch,thereisnorealworry
aboutrunningagroupofdirtbikeson
singletrackasit’sallgoingtobeclear
felled,bulldozedandreplantedoneday
anyway.Justaswell,as 974 riders
turneduptoridetheverywell-marked
loops.Aswellasthehard/easysplits
ontheEastandWestloops,allthree
hadsignpostedshortcutsforthemost
directroutebacktobase.
Lock to lock
around the
Chrissy trees,
the throttle
and brakes
were on and off
constantly
Sydneysiders felt right at home in the traffi c Saturday morning as they waited for the loops to openTRAILRIDE I DSMRA KOWEN FOREST
80 |JUNE 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au