Cape York Posties 2015

Brutal! 

It was the one word I extracted from Michael Cooper when he completed the 2015 Posties to the Cape run in July. Michael, with brothers Pat and Anthony and ten other mates, tackled the gruelling 1400 kilometre dirt/ gravel /sand/ bulldust roads, including the Frenchman’s Track and Old Telegraph track, to conquer the Cape on CT110 postie bikes in 11 days. 

Supported by five 4WDs, the thirteen riders set out from Cape Tribulation cutting their teeth on the Bloomfield Track up to Cooktown. Mid-season, the southern river crossings were low enough to ride across and the slippery road conditions were just a hint of things to come. 

Battle Camp Road from Cooktown to Laura was their first introduction to the red dirt that would be finding its way into every nook, cranny and orifice; staining every piece of clothing and clogging up filters. Self-doubt about the wisdom of selecting Postie bikes kicked in with the never-ending corrugations and even the drivers of the 4WDs were questioning the sanity of the expedition. 

Making things more interesting was the persistent drizzly rain adding a new element of peril; not only to the road surface but to visibility through goggles and visors already coated with bulldust. 

Once they joined the main Cape road at Laura the riders added roadtrains and grey nomads into the mix just to liven things up a bit. 

The next 265km slog along the Peninsula Development Road to Coen tested the fortitude of bikes and riders. The corrugations were relentless, loosening Nylock nuts on axles and swing arms and shaking loose mirrors, footpegs and indicators. This merciless agitation tested the riders’ sense of adventure and upon arrival at Archer River, was found to be still intact. 

The following day they ventured east to the coast and camped at the very windy Chilli Beach. The forecast was for “partly cloudy” but the downpour that ensued nearly washed their camp away. 32mm of horizontal rain fell in just two hours and after five days of punishing roads, climbing into wet swags was simply barbarous. 

The first of the major challenges was the Frenchman’s Track leading back to the main road. The support vehicles retraced their path while the Posties took the “shortcut”. The track was mostly sand – kilometres of deep, soft sand; except when it was iron ore marbles interspersed with skating on slimy mud. 

For the deeper river crossings, Michael had designed and built four fibreglass floats which were carried on the rear racks and deployed at two of the crossings. They were easily strapped to the front and rear axles, supporting the full weight of the bike which then required the minimum of guidance across the water. 

Only Kieran drowned his bike but once the water was pumped out of the combustion chamber and air filter wrung out, the resilient Postie restarted in 5 minutes after just two kicks. Try that with a BMW. 

After a two day break at Bramwell Station to watch the festival and horse race, the support vehicles once again parted company leaving the bikes to venture out onto the Old Telegraph Track facing the full gamut of surface conditions and multiple creek crossings. These tracks are arduous, often tripping up experienced 4WDers; snorkels and winches being essential equipment. One of the great advantages of a Postie bike is the light weight, requiring only one rider to lift it out of the sand or water; although an extra helper may be needed to push it up a slimy riverbank or extract it from a sucking mudhole. How much does a BMW weigh? 

One rider’s trip ended just 21kms into the Old Telegraph Track when a patch of rogue sand jumped up and bit him. His collarbone was the unfortunate victim of the subsequent fall, necessitating his evacuation to Weipa with the aid of a good Samaritan 4WDer. Extracting the stricken Postie back to ‘civilisation’ (defined by a single building with electric light bulbs) required much more imagination and effort. All the support vehicles had taken the main road, leaving Michael and Pat to “leapfrog” the bike 21kms through sand and creeks. Abandoning one bike on the side of the track, they rode a few kilometres up the road leaving another bike, then Michael doubled Pat, sitting on the rear rack, back through the sand to the first bike – covering about 85 kilometres to travel 21. Michael likened it to “dinking as kids” – the simpatico making a gruelling task less stressful. 

After this exhausting ordeal, they still had to ride over 100km to catch up with the rest of the group at Elliot Falls. 25kms before their destination, Michael’s engine gave up the ghost, with the deployment of a 3 metre tow rope being the only option. Pat described towing a Postie with a Postie with a rapidly depleting five horse power, through soft sand and corrugations, as hair-raising. [Quite an understatement Pat!] Michael was just glad that it was his brother facing this predicament with him and noted that there are very few riders he would trust with his safety under these circumstances. 

The final push to the tip was mercifully incident free albeit frustrated by the lack of decent signage. Two brave (foolhardy) riders nursed and cajoled their Posties the last 300m over slippery shale and rocky outcrops for the ultimate photo at the sign. 

They celebrated their victorious achievement with a beach race – the tension and agony of the previous 1400kms forgotten in the spirit of the tournament. 

Upon returning to civilisation, one rider threatened Michael with grievous bodily harm if he ever invited him on another such expedition. Time heals however and plans are already afoot for further adventures. 

The final word by Michael Cooper 

It was tough but by the same token it was totally worth all of the effort. Some of the scenery and creek crossings up there are spectacular, just getting to see them for yourself is worth all of the dirt, dust, sore muscles and beaten up equipment. I would do it again and I think the Postie bikes did an amazing job of handling the punishment we and that trip gave them. They go down in my book as the toughest bikes I have ever owned.

Article published in Australian Motorcyclist Magazine Issue 36 February 2016