Page 61 - AMB Freelist

hill like we’re on a pea gravel pump track, the stoke builds. We skim over a small rock garden and we’re off the edge, into a series of bermed switch backs. The soil changes. What was pea gravel with just the right amount of slip is now clay-based loam with perfect grip. Berm roller, berm roller, roller berm. Pushing harder trying to hold the wheel of the rider in front of you, hoping to open a gap to the rider behind you. We’re in the flow zone now. The gradient has flattened (slightly). The switchbacks have been replaced by gently sculptured turns and the speed is picking up. Faster and faster, tyres glued to the matte brown dirt, vivid green zamia fronds brushing our arms and whipping our legs, a roller to pop, a dip to squash, flick, flick two berms, big dipper. This trail is Inzamia!
Riding back up the Munda Biddi trail there are grins all round and Ollie’s sleepiness has been replaced by eagerness to hit the next trail. For another lap, we could turn left at the Faultline - Quollity Street intersection and climb Faultline to the start of Inzamia or Karrakatoa, but we head onward.
Blue Marron is described as a cross-country trail. A good cross-country trail it is, too. Along with the requisite climbs and descents, it has magnificent views of the Murray River and
surrounding countryside. We take a break at the top of the first climb, catching our breath as we discuss the upcoming features. Built by Three Chillies Design, and with Sam Hill involved in the design, you know there will be more to the trail than one line. The discussion revolves around the optional black features on the otherwise blue trail.
“Are you going to take the inside log hit on the tight right hander?”
“Do you huck the rock at the top of the off- camber granite rock garden?”
“I’m definitely taking the inside rock garden on the left turn; you can save over a second.”
I follow Tim down the trail. We don’t ride
together as much as we used to, but instantly the trust is there. Years of chasing his wheel come back. I’m pushing harder than normal but it feels right. We all stop to session the rock garden. I crash. My pride takes the big hit as knee, shin, elbow, glove and demo bike all receive superficial injuries. As the group moves on, I go back for another crack, and Tim hangs back to make sure I survive. Cheers mate.
We ride back up to The Roost on Yarri Up. Rod has arrived with breakfast, and I quickly wolf down some banana bread and a coffee whilst dressing my wounds.
“Do we get to do jumps now?” Ollie wants to
know.
“Yes, we’re riding Busted Nuts.”
The kid is beaming as he leads the charge.
“Ready to Shreddy!” he yells as he takes off from the car park.
The Karrak (Red Tailed Black Cockatoo) is the mascot for the Dwellingup Adventure Trails. It has a large beak and is known for ripping open Marri nuts to feed. You can identify what bird did this by how the nuts are busted. And so, to Busted Nuts. It’s a black trail and my confidence is off. I roll through the well-crafted berms, step downs and tables, content to watch as Jake, Alan, Tim and Ollie get sendy. More sessioning follows. A stepdown burps Alan’s rear tyre before Jake rides out the heaviest nose landing I’ve seen in ages. They move on to a sneaky inside gap. Hidden in
in the dappled light of some thick pines, on an otherwise clear-cut face to the hill, it is tricky to judge speed and take off. Ollie balks first time through; Jake nails it; and Tim just makes it without casing the landing.
At the bottom of the trail, we jump into Ash’s Loose Riders Shuttle van and head back to The Roost. With the morning’s riding over, it is back to Waypoints Café in Dwellingup for lunch and a quick rip around the pump track before we part ways and head to Collie.
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