Been gearing up for months to ride the Simpson dessert on trail bikes and this has meant new bikes, designing and building a trailer with some 4wding capability, getting a son a bike license, downsizing our already tight load and re-examining every bit of equipment to see if it is really needed because we have to squeeze extra people into the car.
But in all the fun of getting ready I seemed to have overlooked the most important element.
With our plan to carry 4 adults in the car, of which 3 will be riding bikes the 4th person, my wife, would be left to face driving the Simpson in the car by herself, and also towing the trailer and supplies to boot.
In addition , because she would have the best radio setup she would have to operate the radio and co-ordinate things as
well.
On past trips she has been content to be passenger and mostly watch the proceedings so long as the track wasn't to rough to upset her knitting.
But this time we have realized we are asking her to do the hardest job.
So what to do ? -
Well before you even start you have to do some serious crawling, with promises to visit that relative you can't stand, increased attendance at chick flicks and even picking clothes off the floor and delivering them to that room called the "laundry" which has wandered so far froms one's memory that it requires a new Waypoint to be entered into the brain.
Amidst constant reminders that "Other wifes" had said "No" before their husbands words had made from their
minds to their mouths, we began a training program liberally interspaced with stops at approved coffee shops.
First up - was to use the GPS and to goto waypoints - this actually went better than I thought once I changed the GPS from "track up" to "North always up" to stop the map
rotating on her.
Next was backing the trailer -
well this was a total loss, and all we could do was just assume that the 4800 patrol will have no need to reverse.
Then we made the car easier to drive by down-specking its 4wd capability.
1/ Remove front Winch to reduce pitching
2/ Re-attach swaybars to reduce sideways movement
3/ Replace 33 inch wheels with standard Nissan wheels to make it easier to get off the line.
4/ putting a cushion on front
seat to improve driver visibility.
5/ Vox operation of radio to allow hands to stay on steering wheel more.
Last was practising getting up early in the morning - I lost badly on this score and was lucky to escape with - "We will break
camp at 9am! ".
With all the above in place - we headed off into the bush nervously for a full trial run.
Well have to admit I was impressed with the driving result and most of the mistakes were made by the boys on the bikes - but we covered them up pretty
well so they don't count.
Now all we need is no rain in
Birdsville for the school holidays !