Watch some of the highlights from the 2013 EB Cross Country Adventure Ride
2013 EB Cross Country Adventure Ride Update
So the inaugural EB Cross Country Adventure Ride is over! Finished! Complete! Mission Accomplished! And what a ride it was…
From Kenilworth through to the wonderful Darling Downs, the ride was an adventure and a half. We met some amazing people, saw some incredible hidden gems of the Queensland outback, and in the process raised (at last count) $38,000 for the National EB Nurse Program.
Pictured below are the riders and officials with Molly and her family from Mt Isa. Molly lives with EB and will benefit directly from the funds raised for the EB NUrse Program. Rex kindly donated flights for Molly and her family to visit Kyuna to meet the riders to say thank you in person.
Our thanks must go to Anja and Rob, who did a super-terrific-wonderful-fabulous job of organising the whole ride down to the finest detail. Without their support and enthusiasm for the cause, none of this could have happened, so thank you guys.
Next, thanks so much to our riders and officials, wonderful men and women who really made this ride what it was – a crazy adventure filled with laughs, high energy, and true compassion for the cause. CLICK HERE to meet some of those riders and officials who rode or drove the hard yards across more than 5000 kms of Qld’s outback on the very first EB Cross Country Adventure Ride!
Special thanks and congratulations to Earl and Kev who raised the most funds for DEBRA in preparatioin for the ride – they are pictured below receiving their prizes for the most funds raised.
Of course, we coudn’t have done this without the wonderful support of our sponsors! Thanks to the great companies pictured at the bottom of this page for offering their services, products or hard earned cash to get this ride going and in turn for supporting the National EB Nurse Program.
We’ll be sending out an email wrap-up of the whole ride shortly so if you want to be added to our email list, please let us know by emailing us at ebcc@debra.org.au
EB Cross Country Adventure Ride – Day-by-Day Wrap Up
We would like to thank all riders and officials for the support of DEBRA Australia and for making the ride a great success and a lot of fun!
Thanks as well to everybody who participated in the survey, with your feedback and suggestions we will be able to improve the ride for next year.
On the way to Alice Springs Rob and Anja dropped in at the Hotel Corones in Charleville and at the Blue Heeler Pub in Kynuna. The response we got from the publicans was very positive and everyone was happy to host the EB Cross Country crew and support a great cause.
For those who missed out, here is a short summary of 2013’s EB Cross Country Adventure Ride
After meeting at the Bellbird Creek Café in Kenilworth on Saturday it was a test day for riders and bikes on some tracks to Gympie. Everyone’s ability was above expectations so the easier track was not needed.
The Gympie Conference Centre was a great venue for the evening and we met the Woodford Family, Dean Clifford and Sam – the EB Nurse. Thanks to all of them for making the effort to join us.
On day 2 the first hill in Curra set the scene for the day and some riders were struggling with the rocky conditions. Thanks to Rob Simpson who had some forward scouts checking the route for us so we could dodge a couple of flooded creeks.
We took the easy option to Tiaro and the section to Biggenden proved to be a challenge with lots of washouts and fallen trees. Apparently that was our team building day as everyone helped each other over obstacles and showed great team spirit which set the example for the rest of the ride.
Two Bob’s met moomoo on a fast section of the road at Mingo Crossing which left one of our lead riders with a broken wrist. If only Rob would have gone left …
We finished the day in the Grand Hotel in Mount Perry with a great party together with the locals. Thanks to Darryl & Ronny J for the entertainment and Diana for the impromptu dinner setting.
Day 3 and back on the National Trail and through the Boolboonda Tunnel on some great soggy tracks towards 1770 to end the day at the beach with a pig-on-the-spit and music from Billy Guy. One of the best days according to the survey.
The tracks through Eurimbula National Park on day 4 were closed due to flooding and Yogi and Booboo wouldn’t let us through. So we took some backtracks to Calliope and into Mount Morgan where we had lunch and John took us on a mine tour and showed us some history. Then back on the bikes to get to a night at the Fitzroy River.
Day 5 was the day of diversions and alternative routes due to flooding. Doc’s bike decided to stop so he had a comfortable ride in the truck. A detour via Rockhampton put us back on track with a great run to a night at the Old Station Teahouse with its famous wood fired pizzas and music by the EJ Barker Trio after which riders were rewarded with a bed at the Cape Hillsborough Nature Resort.
The rest day (day 6!) in Hillsborough was packed with a lot of bike maintenance as well as Kris’ birthday and a bonfire at the beach. Thanks to Renae and Ben for their hospitality at the resort. There would also have been the opportunity to race blo-karts on the beach, but unfortunately the wind gods didn’t want to play on the day according to Dave from Mackay Blo-Kart Hire.
Early rise on day 7 and on the road in the fog. Smithy led us on a back road blast to Eungella Dam with the chopper in hot pursuit. We had to test our bush mechanical skills as the pilot forgot the key to his fuel tank. Thanks to Peter and Sam for the loan of the chopper and taking some great aerial shots.
Bowen River Hotel for an Iceberg and a hamburger for lunch and then through some more slimy causeways which caught Smithy, Adam and a few others out. Adam was seen practising his causeway crossings on a few occasions and improved his “picking-the-bike-up-technique”. The crossing at Scartwater tested out the waterproofing of some bikes. Everyone arrived at the Fletcher earlier than expected but later than we wanted (at least Anja lost the bet that we would only make it to the Campaspe River that night!).
Day 8 and on the Basalt Byway we rode some great backtracks and were rewarded with scenic views. The only casualty on this day was Anthony who decided to take his bike for a dip in the creek. Awesome cross-country trails to Porcupine Gorge and the back track to Hughenden. After a visit to the Flinders Discovery Centre we partied with Tony Cook (singer) and the locals at the showgrounds and raised more awareness for DEBRA and EB.
On day 9 we followed the Dinosaur Trail heading for Richmond to check out Kronosaurus Korner with more dinosaurs. Rob had only two flat tyres on the way to Richmond so Zach and Anthony led everyone towards Kynuna – well, all the way to Kynuna as Rob had another flat tyre and arrived last.
After visiting the Combo Waterhole on day 10 we hit the dusty stock route towards Winton. The mayor of Winton, Butch Lenton met us at the lunch stop on his Honda XR 600 and showed us his local trails as well as some Aboriginal rock art before leading the riders to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs where we met Trish and George. Trish made it possible to stay overnight on the jump-up and George took us through the dinosaur laboratory and kept us entertained. Thanks to the AAOD Team and David Elliot.
Day 11 started with a visit to the Bladensburg Homestead and then onto the tracks to Lark Quarry. Hank took some riders “the long way round” after the missing a turn. Rob collected the missing riders and made it to Lark Quarry for a late lunch and an express tour through the dinosaur stampede.
Riders raced the sunset as we headed for Stonehenge and the Doc supplied the road kill: Kangaroos: 1, Springboks: 0.
Everyone had a good night at the pub in Stonehenge, David had a great night at Longreach hospital and Sue and Belinda had a night on the town.
Day 12 early on the road to Jundah and then passed the Retreat. Kevin’s KLX arrived at the regroup making bad noises and more oil did not fix it – so up in the truck.
A bit more bitumen towards Quilpie then cross-country on some unsealed tracks to Adavale for a quick pub stop as we had a big day. Another KLR and Earl clunk to a stop. No oil … how could that happen??? Nigel’s “Outback-Recovery” ute to the rescue and we all made it to our night’s accommodation: Hotel Corones in Charleville with a tour through the historic pub, meals and beers – so all good.
Day 13 and ANZAC Day Dawn Service. Most of the EBCC team made it to the service (well done!). Brekky and off on some long dirt sections to Thrushton National Park. This was the highlight of the day as riders got to blast some fantastic tracks and visit the wild dog collection, then off through a cotton farm before arriving on the banks of the Balonne River in St. George for the night. Thanks to Toddy, Skitch and Halpin Motors for making that night such a good one.
Final day and from St. George to Adora Downs. On some fast great dirt roads through Flinton and Westmar.
We had to make it to Mount Tyson in time for our school visit at 2pm, utilizing as many backtracks as we could and arriving on time at Mount Tyson school. The school children did a fundraiser and handed over a donation of $109 which is a great result considering there are only 52 students at the school. The P & C did a fantastic job catering for afternoon tea.
3pm: School is out and a job well done by everybody. So open the esky, Overlanders shouted a drink for all before we had one last short ride to Adora Downs for the end dinner and a party night with the boys from Desiato.
