The Bridal Track
For more than 2 years now my riding buddy Steve and I have been talking about doing an adventure ride on dirt. Well, he has more than me. For as long as I can remember though, road riding has been my poison of choice. Even track days have been part of my staple diet. Steve though, ever keen to mix things up a bit bought a shiny new DL800 from Western Motorcycles and was now bursting for an adventure ride on dirt. Talk about peer pressure! I had tried riding a big adventure in the dirt a few times in the past but never felt completely comfortable riding a bike that big in the dirt.
Josh from Western Motorcycles had an idea. Why not try the new V Strom250SX. He was sure I would be pleasantly surprised. I gave their demo bike a whirl on both the road and in the dirt. He was right. I was. It was very confidence inspiring in the dirt and handled freeway speeds exceptionally well. 5 minutes with Laura and the deal was done. I am such a pushover. I am now the proud owner bright orange V Strom250SX. Love the colour.
Our first trip was planned. The Bridle track. 3 days, 2 nights. West towards Lithgow but peel off before Lithgow and head to the Bridle track. We stopped at the dirt and lowered our tyre pressures a little. It makes a big difference. (We had a pump to re inflate our tyres. Westerns sell those too.) The scenery is awesome eye candy. The little Strom was in it’s element. Over too soon. We headed into Bathurst for lunch, then road to Mudgee. We stayed there the night. The next day was fire trails pretty much all the way to Glouster. Thang goodness Steve knew where he was going. We stayed the night at Glouster.
Next morning we rode to Singleton for breakfast and then back home to Penrith via Putty Road. What an absolute blast!! Any concerns I had about the 250 being too small for an adventure ride with bigger bikes completely vanished on day 1. Brilliant in the dirt and more than capable on the road. Dirt adventures are definitely now on the menu. Many thanks to both Josh and Laura for both their advice and help.
Now, where too next?