The most wonderful, powerful and coveted thing in life is 'choice'. Fortunately, many riders have it. Riding is good like that. You don't need to spend a tonne of coin to open up a wealth of choices on when, where and what to ride.
By way of comparison, when you are looking at the big-ticket recreational pursuits there are few other things that offer the same sort of bang-for-your-buck as riding.
Sink $25K in a tinny and you'll probably be able to fish...or ski. But I doubt you'll do both with the one boat. What is equally as bad as it is inevitable? You'll end up entertaining all your mates that don't have boats; and it will be at your expense.
You could do your dough on a caravan. But I struggle to see the point. Why wave goodbye to north of $30k just to sleep a few feet off the ground and (maybe, if you get a bargain) pee in a plastic tub rather than a communal ablution. A swag and tree will do me.
But for way less than any of that I can ride road, trails, hard enduro and trials. If I am really keen, I can dabble in all disciplines over one long weekend.
It's empowering; that little thing we call choice.
But sadly it is not all cupcakes and rainbows when it comes to bikes: more specifically dirt bikes. Because, whilst every other recreational pastime gets more liberties, dirt bike riders seem to be getting less.
The walls are closing in around us and there are becoming fewer and fewer places that we can go. This is not new 'news' to anybody that has been riding for a while.
But.......it is news to anyone that is thinking of tossing the van or the tinny to join our ranks, so permit me to indulge my point for a moment.
Check out the three maps below. They are not the same scale, and it takes a bit of a slide rule and a tongue out the side of the mouth to join the dots, but bear with me.
Map 1 shows the water catchment areas around Perth. Map 2 shows the areas of expansion for the Alcoa Bauxite Mine. And Map 3 shows the proposed tenement package for the rapidly expanding Calice Mining Gonneville Project and Julimar Exploration Tenement package - one of the largest nickel sulfide projects in the world and the largest Ni-Cu-PGE discovery in Australian history.
So where to explore in '24.
Maybe the question should not be 'where'. Maybe it should be 'what'.
If you are on a registered trail bike and you want to run the gauntlet in water catchment areas, you do you boo. But if you get caught you could face fines of up to $2000. Rangers have the authority to fine recreational riders riding licensed bikes in restricted areas.
A few of you might say "They have to catch me first!". Yeah, OK - I get that attitude, but that does not work for the greater good when groups like the Recreational Trail Riders Association are campaigning relentlessly on our behalf to improve the perception of recreational trail riders in the hope of opening up more riding areas throughout the Perth region and the southwest.
If you're being a numpty you are only making it harder for all of us in the long run.
Want to play on an unregistered bike? You have three options around Perth and they are all way below average. And if you are caught on an unlicensed bike and you are not in an Off-Road Vehicle Area your bike will not just be impounded - it will be crushed!
Relax! All is not lost.
Because for the price of some bike bling, and far less than the cost of towing a boat or van somewhere you can use it, you can join a club!!! You can pay your Motorcycling WA racing fees and pretty much race an event on any given weekend of the year (once the heat subsides and the fire bans are a bad memory).
The trials crews (Pathfinders and AJS) start their summer series quite early in the year. There are seven (7) events from mid-March to the end of May. They are super chill and quite informal. Racing starts early (about 7ish) and you can be packed up and, on your way home to a family barbeque by lunchtime. If you join AJS you even get access to their training park, which is open for use most days of the year. Trials is the best value for money motorbike sport you can do!
There is also a massive range of enduro style events to get yourself lost amongst. But if the fear of racing is a little too much for you to comprehend, check out the adventure enduros such as the Capel 200 and Harvey Adventure Rally.
There are Pony Express races and Natural Terrain enduros out at Campbell Town (even I'm still to get out that way!!!) and spattered across the south-west and goldfields. Then there are the ride parks like WA Ride Park, where you can ride safely on licensed or unlicensed bikes. They offer camping options too.
Hard Enduro anyone? The calendar is very soon to be released and the new WA Hard Enduro Series committee are working round the clock to tee-in their events around the more established Trials and Trail and Enduro calendars. This will enable punters to flex their riding 'choice' options and get some valuable cross-training in at the same time. If you don't want to trash your precious rego'd trail ride, you can HE on an MX/ SX bike if you like. They don't care. The more banged up the better! All races are on private property around Perth so rego is as optional as it is unnecessary.
If all that seems just a little too exhausting, then just drop another $8K on a Roady and you can hit the black top, blow out the cobwebs from the working week and spend some real valued time sipping lattes with your mates in the hills around Perth.
So there you have it. You can't go wrong with a Twist of the Wrist.
Sell the boat, sell the van.
'Find yourself' on two wheels in '24.
You won't regret it and, hilariously, you'll probably still end up financially in front.
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