G'day

Just completed my first "tour" so to speak. Does a two mountain bike
ride with panniers count as a tour? Well anyway five of us from the
Perth Bushwalkers Club completed the Waterous Trail
<http://www.naturebase.net/content/view/2773/1431/> which is a loop
trail running off the Munda Biddi Trail.

We camped overnight at the bush camp at Lake Navarino Forest Resort
(they clearly have a different concept of resort to me) on the Friday
night (cost $8.00 per person) before heading off in an anti-clock wise
direction along the Waterous Trail to the Bidjar Ngoulin campsite on
the Munda Biddi Trail.

The first day's ride was approximately 39 km of a mix of single-track
and forestry roads with one significant climb out of Samson Brook (had
to do some walking on this one). All up a pleasant day's riding except
for missing the turn-off to the campsite. It is currently not marked!
We averaged 6 km/h overall today.

After a great night at Bidjar Ngoulin (this would be one of the best
campsites I have come across in WA) where we celebrated Doug's
birthday, we headed off on Sunday morning to complete the Trail. We
didn't get far before Doug broke a rear dérailleur cable. Thankfully
he was carrying a spare, so with a bit of bush mechanics we got him
going again. We made Nanga for a spot of morning tea, only to have
Perry get a puncture. Another track side repair and we where off again
to tackle the climb out of Nanga. Nearly made the top, but the
pea-gravel and a long climb beat me with about 300 metres to go. Just
had to dismount and walk or fall off!

After the hill it was easy going through to Haul Road where we stopped
for lunch and of course things have to happen in threes and yep it was
my turn. Blew out the valve on my old tube. So lunch was extended
whilst I did a quick tube change.

From there on, once we left the bitumen it was pleasant riding to
finish off the trail.

Our second day of riding was about 35 km and we averaged about 6 km/h
over the day on a mix of forestry tracks, single-track and bitumen
roads.

All up a nice introduction to mountain bike touring with panniers.

A few photos from the ride can be found at
<http://aushiker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=317>.

Regards
Andrew

===
Aushiker.com <http://aushiker.com/> - Comprehensive resource on bushwalking
in Western Australia
Bicycling <http://www.bicyclewa.com.au/blog/8> - Andrew's Commuting and
Touring by Bicycle Blog
Geocaching <http://www.geocaching.com.au/> Bicycling in Australia
<http://bicycles.net.au/> Bicycling in WA <http://www.bicyclewa.com.au/>



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