Scooter and I walked up the remainder of the dune to see if we could get phone reception . We then ventured to the right-hand track which revealed just how much more compact the sand was . We both knew we needed to be coming up this track .
The bikes were rolled back down the dun to a point where we thought it would give Scooter enough momentum to pull me up over the hill . Scooter ’ s bike , a 2009 Husaberg FE450 had been doing an amazing job , of course with Scooter riding enthusiastically as his rear wheel squirming all over the place in the search of traction . And then the tow rope broke again , the knobbies on the rear tyre grabbed at the tow strap and I hadn ’ t been quick enough to release my left foot . The rope pulled tight by the tyre the inevitable happened .
The right track proved more successful and as we reached the downward side of the dune we simultaneously released both a sigh of relief and a shout of celebration . Great we ’ ve only got God knows how many of these dunes to go .
A little further along with our tow rope seeing better days , it had become a motley bunch of knots decreasing in length to the point of being useless .
In order for us to keep our ‘ best practice ’ towing technique we ’ d need to find something to extend our tow rope . Then Scooter produced an idea that would change the way motorbikes will be towed forevermore .
Scooter suggested getting my spare 21-inch tube and tie what was remaining of our tow ropes to it . This idea helped tick two boxes , it made the tow rope longer and it also absorbed most of the shunting force when we went through the whoops . Well bugger me , didn ’ t this idea just completely change the ball game , we rode for the next 10 minutes without one tow rope break , and as the momentum built , I started to think we were going to be able to make it all the way out without external help .
Our confidence grew and Scooter started reaching speeds of 65 kilometres per hour . The breeze was hitting my sweat covered t-shirt and I began to cool down , I even took a few sneaky peaks at the view before the front wheel would try and climb the wall of the rut snapping me back to realisation that we weren ’ t on a scenic tour , and that this was serious business that I needed to concentrate on .
Instincts and muscle memory kicked in and as I twisted the throttle as we hit the dunes I began laughing at the absurdity of it all . Five hours of towing and I still applied the throttle to climb the dunes .
We ’ d settled into a wonderfully comfortable routine only ccasionally ruined when I took the pressure off my left foot and the tow rope sprung forward and wrapped around the rear wheel of Scooter ’ s bike .
While we were becoming experts in towing , we weren ’ t too sure what was happening with the main group , we had assumed they had continued on to the lunch spot where they
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