Yesterday morning was such great fun I decided to head back out this morning for another poke around the Watagans but with a touch more time to spend. I left just after 7 and went to fill the tank at the local servo, less than $13 for yesterday’s ride. Riding off road certainly seems cheaper than banging out k’s on Iron Butt rides, at least at this stage.
I took the usual route back out through Mulbring, Sandy Creek Road, Heaton Road and stopped at the foot of the mountains to turn the traction control off. Up the hill I caught up to a car that wasn’t showing any manners in terms of allowing me to pass but fortunately some overnight rain meant there was no dust to eat. I decided to turn right down a fire trail – Georges Road, just for a look. It’s not on my TomTom nor can I find it on Google Maps so I had no idea where it went. It was in reasonable nick, I followed it for about 10ks and decided I’d leave it for another time to follow it further. As I rode back four trail bikes were heading out, fortunately not riding like lunatics and no danger of head ons.
Back in familiar territory on Watagan Forest Road I turned right towards The Pines with a little detour into an old camping area which is now just for picnics. I ran across a guy who was riding a CRF250 and we had a chat for a while. Friendly bunch the riders out here.
Past The Pines, and once again missed a right turn I believe will take me towards Bucketty that one day I’ll find, I turned right towards Wyong making much better time today than I did last time. My confidence standing on the bike is increasing but I still travel at a snail pace I imagine to those who are not offroad muppets like me. I turned and stopped to check out this sign, have a snack and a drink and enjoyed the quiet of the bush for a while. Then a couple of riders, one on a very nicely done 66 Tenere pulled up for a quick chat before heading off the way I’d come. 
Ten minutes later I discovered a VW who’d decided to park in an unfortunate position. The vines growing on the top suggested it’d been there a little while. There’s a story here I’ll bet.
I’m starting to get used to riding in the Alpinestars Tech 7’s too. There’s certainly not as much feel when it comes to the gear shift and brake pedal but I only found myself careering down a hill in neutral once today and the back brake wasn’t an all or nothing affair either. That’s going to take a while but I have to admit the extra support around the ankles, the solid standing platform and the pivot pegs are really starting to work for me.
The road gets a little rocky between here and the tar near Dooralong but I was much more comfortable on it today than last time. Back on the tar I high tailed it back home on the slab very happy with my short offroad adventure today and quite comfy kicking back on the slab with the cruise on.