do not want to be on the Pacific Hwy on last day of school holidays trying to head back south through the roadworks-only heading up from Newcastle

Didn't even think about school holiday traffic.

Isn't the trend these days to have an extra day off after school holidays?

Man up, and put on another Hilltop Hoods cd.

Guys is there room for one more?

What is the accommodation situation like?

There should be as Liam booked the delux villas which sleeps 6 each with 2 people sharing the double bed but Liam can confirm this. I've put your name in the list http://nobmob.com/node/30427#comment-98673

Great, Count me in.

Also does anyone have room in their car for me and my bike? I live on the central coast, If someone could grab me on their way through that would be awesome. Can meet at an exit just off the freeway?

No prob if I cant join someone, I can drive up but would probably be on my own as I assume most of you guys would be coming from sydney.

PM me and we'll arrange.

http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/WeatherMap#NSW/Mid-North-Coast/TINONEE

Lets hope it improves in the next couple of days

Well, now you've mentioned the weather it definitely is not looking good at all.

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/nsw/mid-north-coast/taree

Not a lot of sun/warmth today. I'd be surprised if the trails are good by the weekend, had a look yesterday (not a ride) and they were sloppy at best and underwater in other spots.

Really need a week of 25C+ and even then they would still be a bit mushy at the weekend.

Hi Jason,
Can we please check in again with you closer to this weekend? Not necessarily to get you down to the trail for a definitive look, but maybe just to get another firsthand opinion on how much rain has fallen over the course of the upcoming week.
At this stage, I am unlikely to bin this ride, especially when a minimum of rain is forecast for this upcoming week.
Cheers.

I think if you all keep in mind the trails will be muddy you will have a great time.

Bit like lining up at the start of a wet race and then laughing about it afterwards as you hose yourself and the bike off at the end.

There are some pics floating around taken today that give you an idea of how wet.

Going from the pictures posted a couple of days ago. I'm tempted to pull the pin as the ground looks soaked and going from the forecast there is more rain due.
Last thing I want to do is damage a track.

Cheers
Evan

When are we making a Go/No Go call?

I'm out but at this stage it actually looks like most the rain will miss Kiwarrak.

Go at the mo!

Unless we get a deluge between now and midday Saturday, I am definitely going.

... in Tuncurry AND Taree. The lower parts may be a bit muddy, but "nothing major".

The consensus is the trails are eminently rideable so long as there's no further heavy rain. Forecast at the moment is only for a few mm, so looking good.

Awsome - we are heading up about 7.30am.
What is the go for the meeting point - is there a carpark or such - is it pretty easy to ID?

Hi Guys,

I'm pulling the pin on this.
Hope you have fun.

Cheers
Evan

The Bucketts Way Land Fill and Recovery Area seems to have a bitumen car park across the road. Is that where the Google Map meeting place is directing us?

Yep, thats the spot, on the grass opposite the start of the trail on the easterrn side of the tip entrance.

Guys / Girls

Wheres the download from this trip - how did you all get on ? How was 'The River' ? Did you tackle Stairway to heaven or any of the woodwork ?

Please tell ?

D

Did I read it correctly and Hawkeye broke his collar bone?

You did. I did.

You can't leaving it that. What happened? Silly mistake, misjudged a 3 meter gap jump, do tell...

spit out all the gory details

what a great trip - thanks goes to Liam for organizing it and Dave (a local) for showing us around the beautifully groomed trails on both days. also hope John mends soon after an unlucky off.
credit to state forests for allowing the construction (under licence) of 40k's of singletrack and some awesome woodwork by the locals...skinnies, endless gap jumps, tabletops, berms, massive see saw down a shoot, fast flowing steep singletrack, techy descents over rock gardens, big roll down roller coaster ride, other gems include the ring of fire and the vag. the place has it all and is well worth a visit. for all those naysayers the trails were mainly dry with a bit of water in the creeks and there was no traffic there or back. have to get back there again soon.

Great photos - brings back some fond memories from last years trip.

Need to get back up there again soon.

Pressing the pace to keep Dave in sight. Riding the return section of the XC loop in the reverse direction.

Got caught by surprise by a tightenig right turn and found myself on the off-camber (wrong) side of the corner entry. Knew it wasn't going to end well when the escape line was blocked by a gnarly tree.

Lost the front under brakes and hit the deck shoulder first.

Dunno how mchargy managed to not run me over... but i am grateful

I did the same at yollomundee Saturday morning but didn't break anything and just took some bark off and sore shoulder.

should have bit the bullet & left rainy Newcastle for the Sat. ride-oh' well

Great riding that! I loved this place, I can't wait to go back.

The biggest thanks must go to Dave and his crew up there who showed the city slickers around their much loved trails. We all really appreciated your time and effort in trail building and devoting your whole weekend to us! Simply outstanding comraderie! Whenever you are in town, don't hesitate to ask and I am sure we can hook you up with a fantastic ride that suits your preferred style.

John, again, sorry for your untimely injury. That sucks big time, though I notice you are already at the keyboard. Is this all one handed no doubt?

Thanks to all that travelled up to Taree and made for a great weekend away. I have not had that much fun riding in a very long time. I rode my first see-saw!

Hopefully we will post some photos and video soon.

Wow that's gonna take some beating. What an excellent weekend. Big thanks to Liam for organising this gig. Fantastic riding, great digs and most important sensational company. This is the reason I ride bikes, so that every now and again you get to enjoy an aswome time like the one we had.
It didn't look great weatherwise on the way up, then Hawkeye bit the track - I though oh oh what have we got ourselves into, but then we set of following Dave on some of the best trails I have experienced- and the rest is history. I had been told it was good, but couldn't believe how good.
There was something for everyone, flowy single track, great techy decents and the timber stuff- unreal.
Again I would like to thank Dave - as we said anytime you are down this way drop us a line and I would be more than happy to give you a tour of the beaches- but be warned - the worst of what you have would rival the best we have! I look through the pics and can't wipe the silly grin off my face, be heading back in the not too distant future for sure
Steve

... I'm thinking I should change my handle from hawkeye to Mr Magoo.

It's not the whole reason for the stack but I wasn't helping myself by ignoring it, so I've just this morning spent a silly amount on some distance vision prescription Oakleys. Hopefully that will mean I can actually see the trail about the same time the rest of you folks do, so hopefully no repeats of Saturday's embarassing little disaster putting a damper on everybody's weekend.

It's funny, you get so used to your local trails that you can almost ride them by memory, it's only when you're outside the familiar these little shortcomings are shown up as ... well, not so little. It surfaced as an issue at the Mont... my fault for waiting so long... sorry, guys.

On the upside, now you know what Black Flash and I have been raving about this year

Hoping to be back up there before Christmas. Any takers?

How bad is the break? Do you need an op to fix it?

Single break. Supposedly it's "non-displaced", but I can feel rough edges. I might have accidentally moved it Monday evening ... trying to get the bloody child-proof cap open on the Nurofen!

Will keep y'all up to date when I find out.

Well, there's good news and bad news...

Good news: "an operation would not significantly improve the alignment" - surgeon-speak for don't need an op.

Bad news: 6 weeks before I should ride a bike, 8-10 before I attempt off-road and 12 before full strength returns to the bone. Don't fall off before then.

I've seen the pics and watched the videos of this place and it makes me want to go.

Is anyone keen to do another weekend up there in the next couple of months?

Hells yeah, i'll be in!

Sounds good. This time I'll stay upright.

I'd be a maybe, love that place!

Missed out last time
And keen to ride here after all the talk about the place

I might come up for this one?

Me to although my schedule is pretty tight up to Dirtworks.

PS. I should have went to this one as I ended up crashing at Yellomundee that weekend and still haven't fully recovered

Seems a few are interested.

I'll start a new thread.......