
Time to play the game…
Time to play the game…
If you are a fan of WWE you will know the words (click here if you don't, sorry about the ad!):
Its all about the game and how you play it,
Its all about control, and if you can take it,
Its all about the debt and how you pay it…
Its all about the pain and whose going to take it.
The pain came today..and the boys took it, and won through in the end. Goog was a tough man, living where he did and doing what he did. Cutting a track through the bush gave all of us, bikes, 4wd, support team, a supreme challenge. This turned out not to be a game, but it was about control, between machine and sand, about the debt of energy taken out of riders and machine, and about the pain of continuing, dune after dune, up, down, sideways. How did we play it, we played it hard, and in the end, we won. It was a hard, grinding day, clear and hot, with a northerly tail wind. A tough day in a tough land.
We started just down from the trans-continental railway, were we had stopped the night before. Another great morning but only a continental breakfast. We started out straight into dunes, with one of the hardest first up. It was long and steep and had a couple of twists in it. Being first up it was a hard one and the cars had a couple of goes…would we make? Yes we will!
As we got over this first big one confidence rose, but then the sheer slog of getting over dune after dune took its toll. We decided not to go to Mt Finke, a big lump sticking out of the bush, as time was passing by. The day
passed in fits and starts as the physical requirements and mental concentration required to keep going on started to hit.
Bikes got bogged, a few got put down, one complete flip (what for the movie for that one!). The boys
reported that the trees on the side of the road were whacking them, and as hard as going up the hills was, going down was harder. The bike guys went deep. In the end we got through to our objective, Goog’s Lake.
Some comments from the boys on the toughest day yet for the Trek the Track Team:
Gary – lots of fun, yeah, jeez it was real fun, it didn’t at all feel like it at the time…it got easier as the day went. A bit of a shock to start with, but when I got into the groove it was easier. Thank you to the support team.
Rohman – Well for me the day just got betterer and betterer as the confidence grew and I got faster and faster…till I did a double back flip on the last dune (note: he didn't actually say this, but everyone thought it was a good idea to put it in!). I said to Brock at one stage, “I’m going to fall off’…and then it was top gear, flying along. Whacked a couple of trees. One smashed into my left shoulder.
Scotty…It was unrelenting, but it was good fun.
Carlos…Ferg, today I was challenged both physically and mentally to the depths of my being. I had lots of soul searching on the track a number of times to make sure that I made it to the end. The Beemer went down twice, bogged twice but the support team were there to help me out and I got to the objective of Goog’s l Lake which was very rewarding in the end.
Leighto…What. I was well pleased that we purchased extra beer.
Hooch…Awesome countryside, awesome efforts, we washed all the dishes with 200ml of dishwater.
Hector…I saw some monumental efforts today… I saw men searching for their last ounce of strength today, to get to the end. They all pulled through like superstars.
Mitch…I was very impressed with the bikers intestinal fortitude today…lesser men would have given up, and are, just looking from the outside looking in the boys excelled today because they could have pulled the pin and
reassessed early and gone home.Walking the dunes gave me some understanding of what the riders did on the bikes.
Brocky – today was all about why we do this…why once a year we go out and squirt around tracks like this…it was challengingit was outside the comfort zone…there's no sand at home…it as soul searching…they were hot, very uncomfortable conditions, no rest, hammer and tong all the time because if we didn’t we’d fall off. You’ve gotta give it to it in sand. In the end as we sit back at the campsite, rewarding.
Time to play the game…
If you are a fan of WWE you will know the words (click here if you don't, sorry about the ad!):
Its all about the game and how you play it,
Its all about control, and if you can take it,
Its all about the debt and how you pay it…
Its all about the pain and whose going to take it.
The pain came today..and the boys took it, and won through in the end. Goog was a tough man, living where he did and doing what he did. Cutting a track through the bush gave all of us, bikes, 4wd, support team, a supreme challenge. This turned out not to be a game, but it was about control, between machine and sand, about the debt of energy taken out of riders and machine, and about the pain of continuing, dune after dune, up, down, sideways. How did we play it, we played it hard, and in the end, we won. It was a hard, grinding day, clear and hot, with a northerly tail wind. A tough day in a tough land.
We started just down from the trans-continental railway, were we had stopped the night before. Another great morning but only a continental breakfast. We started out straight into dunes, with one of the hardest first up. It was long and steep and had a couple of twists in it. Being first up it was a hard one and the cars had a couple of goes…would we make? Yes we will!
As we got over this first big one confidence rose, but then the sheer slog of getting over dune after dune took its toll. We decided not to go to Mt Finke, a big lump sticking out of the bush, as time was passing by. The day
passed in fits and starts as the physical requirements and mental concentration required to keep going on started to hit.
Bikes got bogged, a few got put down, one complete flip (what for the movie for that one!). The boys
reported that the trees on the side of the road were whacking them, and as hard as going up the hills was, going down was harder. The bike guys went deep. In the end we got through to our objective, Goog’s Lake.
Some comments from the boys on the toughest day yet for the Trek the Track Team:
Gary – lots of fun, yeah, jeez it was real fun, it didn’t at all feel like it at the time…it got easier as the day went. A bit of a shock to start with, but when I got into the groove it was easier. Thank you to the support team.
Rohman – Well for me the day just got betterer and betterer as the confidence grew and I got faster and faster…till I did a double back flip on the last dune (note: he didn't actually say this, but everyone thought it was a good idea to put it in!). I said to Brock at one stage, “I’m going to fall off’…and then it was top gear, flying along. Whacked a couple of trees. One smashed into my left shoulder.
Scotty…It was unrelenting, but it was good fun.
Carlos…Ferg, today I was challenged both physically and mentally to the depths of my being. I had lots of soul searching on the track a number of times to make sure that I made it to the end. The Beemer went down twice, bogged twice but the support team were there to help me out and I got to the objective of Goog’s l Lake which was very rewarding in the end.
Leighto…What. I was well pleased that we purchased extra beer.
Hooch…Awesome countryside, awesome efforts, we washed all the dishes with 200ml of dishwater.
Hector…I saw some monumental efforts today… I saw men searching for their last ounce of strength today, to get to the end. They all pulled through like superstars.
Mitch…I was very impressed with the bikers intestinal fortitude today…lesser men would have given up, and are, just looking from the outside looking in the boys excelled today because they could have pulled the pin and
reassessed early and gone home.Walking the dunes gave me some understanding of what the riders did on the bikes.
Brocky – today was all about why we do this…why once a year we go out and squirt around tracks like this…it was challengingit was outside the comfort zone…there's no sand at home…it as soul searching…they were hot, very uncomfortable conditions, no rest, hammer and tong all the time because if we didn’t we’d fall off. You’ve gotta give it to it in sand. In the end as we sit back at the campsite, rewarding.