TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS PROFILE:
MY NAME IS RICHARD & I'M A TÉNÉRÉ TRAGIC
As per your request for pics and stories re the Ten, I thought I would note down some of the trips we have done over the past 12 months since I purchased my 2010 Ten in Oct 09. I saw the 2010 Ten the week it was released in Au and purchased and picked up a black one a week later. A lot of homework was done beforehand: BMW GS 650 or GS 800, DR650 or KLR650. But after reading all the reports from Europe, I knew what I wanted even before I saw it, but I had to see it before I forked over the cash.
I typically ride with Pete (XT660R 2008) and George (GS 650 2007). We have done the following treks on the Ten:
Jan 2010: Barry Way, 2 days, 1200km:
Melbourne to Albury (road) to Jindabyne (over Snowy Mountains) stayed in caravan park – then down the Barry Way to Bairnsdale and home to Melbourne. Was an awesome ride – going over the Snowy Mountains was fun and great to see the Snowy Mountains electricity scheme.
May 2010 – Oodnadatta Track:
What inspired me to adventure riding? About 15 years ago, in my mid 20s I used to go goat shooting in the northern Flinders Ranger on bikes at Warraweena HS (near Beltana). During one of our trips, we went to the Marree camel races and had a ball. As we were leaving Marree, two large fully-decked out adventure bikes arrived. I said to my mate, "I will do that one day!!!" Perhaps a mid-life crisis has hit, but I am now starting to fulfil that dream! And boy, has Marree changed for the better. It was an absolute #$%^ hole (much like Oodnadatta is today) but now it’s a great place. So in May 2010 we did the following trip – two bikes only – Pete and myself (no support vehicle): Melbourne to Mildura by road, then Mildura to Broken Hill via Pooncarrie and Minindee (over 60 per cent dirt) and stayed two days. Next came Broken Hill via Yunta to Arkaroola where we did the extreme 4wd track – just 13 km but it took us the whole arvo! From Arkaroola we rode to Marree then on to William Creek via dirt the whole way and loved the pub there (great people!) and took a flight over Lake Eyre, which was awesome. Next up was William Creek to Oodnadatta, but the less said of that place the better. We had intended on staying two nights at Oodnadatta, with the second day, a trip to Mt Dare and Dalhousie Springs, however in the “driest and hottest” town in Australia, it rained 35mm that night, so the next day all roads were closed except the road to Marla – the way out. So we took it! We went to Cooper Pedy, then Quorn, Bordertown and home. All up we did 4,300km in 13 days and it was an awesome trip.
November 2010 Little Desert / Grampians:
We would like to cross the Simpson Desert but neither Pete nor myself have sand experience, so we headed off to Little Desert. For me, it was a complete success. I know now I cannot ride on sand! A lot more practice is required ...
Of course I'm happy for you guys to use the pics and this story in your magazine or on the Ténéré Tragics web site. It should be a great event – can’t wait to get there!
– Richard, Ténéré Tragic
Nice job, Richard: thanks for submitting your story and photos of you and your Ténéré out there in the boonies and racking up the big miles. Oh, and thanks for the heads-up on the extreme 4WD loop ... crikey! To all our Ténéré Tragics, send us your stories and photos and we'll post them up here so all of us can view them. And then we'll see you in the Flinders in March!
-- Clubby, Ténéré Tragic #1
TÉNÉRÉ TRAGICS DREAMING:
