Russells Ride 2010, Australia

Hello, my name is Russell Nurse.

This year's ride is a follow up of my first long distance dirt and tar ride last year.

We (my son Karl and I) traveled 8300km in 16 days on a pair of DR 650s and afterward I found I really had the bug.

The Donahue and Plenty Highways, the Tanami Desert, Wolf Creek Crater , the Kimberleys, Birdsville & Innamincka were no longer just places on a map and I'm itching to get going again.

Last year was about learning (lessons like running out of fuel on the Tanami or getting water in our fuel) fortunately we had vehicular support.

This year I've got a new side kick (my eldest son Luke) and we're doing it without support. On the agenda is Menindee, Tibooburra, Camerons Corner, Lyndhurst, Oodnadatta, Mt Dare, Dalhousie, Purni Bore, Finke, The Olgas and The Rock, Jervois, Boulia, Bedourie, Cordillo Downs and more.

I'll be blogging my way, as internet access permits so subscribe to the Two Wheel Touring Newsletter (see side bar) to follow my progress.

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18 June, 2010
Maree to Oodnadatta,
The morning was crystal clear , the air was frosty and the sun struggled to provide a little warmth. Extra clothing was the order of the day and we got away not long after sunrise.
The road was dirt (it's the Oodnadatta Track) but it's in fairly good condition for the first few kilometres. The road follows the old Ghan train line and we stopped for photos of relics as well as the  lookout at Lake Eyre (which of course has plenty of water in it). Further along we came across a nunber of sculptures not far from the turnoff to Woomera.
The road was gradually deteriorating by the time we hit William Creek. While we were filling up several people heading for the Finke desert race came over for a chat usually enquiring if we were heading up to watch the race.
The Finke is THE big race of the offroad racing world and it was natural to think that was where we were heading.
We were slow to move out after we filled so we had to eat our Finke friends dust.
We managed to pass them in time to find a seriously deterioting and very rough going.
A couple of misjudged corners and dips had both of us thankful we had a little luck to get us through.
The road now had a b it of everything, ruts, potholes, potholes with water, dips, floodways. hard packed corners with a light dusting of sand and worst of all - fast corners with deep sand.
The terrain was slightly undulating and I approached a corner at about 90kph only to realise it was deep soft sand.
The front of the bike washed out heavily which took off most of the speed but this also resulted in me having to slam my leg down to stop the bike falling. I mumbled to myself I was too old for that sort of rubbish as my leg continued to pain for a few minutes.
Caught up with friends in Oodnadatta - we were going to head for the Simpson. They had decided the deep sand was not to their liking and their bikes (same as ours) were not suited to the conditions. They said they had already tried some sandy areas near Finke which they found extremely
difficult.
We later  crossed these areas without problem but more on that later.
Had a late lunch - an Oodnaburger with the lot, booked a cabin and had a comfortable night.

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