Jack and Jill go up the Blue Rag Hill

Jack and Jill go up the hill… not quite.

Story by Philipa Tlaskal

No, it was Jack the carpenter and Juan the horse midwife who set off up the Blue Rag Track – one of the great adventure bike tracks of the Victorian High Country.
Both blokes were expecting babies: Englishman Jack (33), his second child and Spaniard Juan (51) his foals on a racehorse stud, so this was a precious day together to get the Blue Rag done.

Juan and Jack had met each other on the epic Gardens of Stone ride near Lithgow, and it was Jack’s idea to do the Open Roads weekend rally and incorporate a side trip.

Juan said with a laugh, “The Blue Rag was Jack’s brainchild. I knew it would be tough with my heavier bike, a 2013 model BMW GS 1200 (dubbed the Mothership), but who could resist doing a bucket list ride like this one?

“After leaving the 50 riders of the Open Roads rally, travelling up the sealed Alpine Road, we passed the sign for the very unsealed Blue Rag track, which is an almost spiritual moment for riders. I made the sign of the cross as I do before every ride. I wanted God on my side,” Juan grins.

“The first downhill for us is the last uphill for riders finishing the Rag. As we looked down on that loose, silvery grey track, chewed up by 4WDs with ruts, potholes and corrugations, under a hard and glittering alpine blue sky, it was very intimidating – one random wrong stone and we were out.

“That said, we scrambled down the hill successfully with Jack hesitating a little and then there was the first uphill to face together. I went in front and sent it on the Mothership, but I picked the wrong line and the chewy stuff got me – I went down, breaking my mirror, pillion foot peg, loosened the spark plug cover and got a big battering to my ego!” Juan says with a groan.

“As I was blocking his way, Jack reluctantly had to stop, which is the worst thing to do when you’re on a roll. We really struggled to lift my bike, 300 kg pushing you back and I said to myself, ‘I am not going to get up here.’ But finally with some grunt work between the two of us we had the Mothership back on her wheels.

“From that moment on, there was no joking around, we knew it was nail bitingly serious.

We were not going back, and our attitude changed when we knew, ‘it’s do or die’ and I couldn’t afford to drop it again. Back in the saddle, we started riding with more concentration, focusing hard and in our heads, fighting for survival. We did half an hour like this, got in the zone – we were nailing it.

Until… a Mad Max Tonka tow truck got in the way, rescuing a bogged 4WD from the middle of the narrow ridge road and we couldn’t get past it.

“Once the dead Amarok was hooked up and on its way,” Juan says eagerly, “we gunned it, higher and higher onto the narrow ridge that leads to the antenna at the top. The Blue Rag track really is the most beautiful place ever, and all the YouTube videos don’t do it justice. They can’t convey the feeling of ‘I’m f***ing doing this!’” he grins.

“I could see the end, what I thought was the top, and it looked doable. Jack was behind me, I picked my line and went for it, except that it got very steep, very fast. Three quarters to the top, I found myself spinning the back tyre, losing all traction.

“I turned around, thinking that Jack was on my tail, but he was not there, I was on my own. Balancing a GS1200 across the narrow Blue Rag track, was not an ideal situation. Somehow, skills, luck, balls, you name it, I managed to turn the Mothership around and went down to meet Jack and the 4WD guys waiting for me. They were amazed that I managed to spin it on that steep slope without dropping it.

“After seeing me, Jack did not want to take a chance. It was still a long way home.

“So in the end, neither of us did it, we got three quarters of the way up to base camp, but not to Everest,” Juan smiles ruefully.

“We parked the bikes, and walked the 500 metres to the summit for the photo op by the iconic abandoned antenna, covered in stickers. The 360 degree view of 1726 metres over the high country was incredible – like you can see forever.

Juan says cautiously, “The Blue Rag looks like an innocent worm, but it is a snake that will bite you. We stayed up there for half an hour with a few four wheel drivers, but then had to rush as we wanted to get to Dargo before sunset and there were plenty of downhills to go…

“If you go with a little bit of fear that’s it, a split second and you are down. You lose two seconds of momentum and you’ve lost everything. The more momentum you have, the lighter the bike gets. Downhill, Jack struggled – if you keep resetting, you lose it. Use the clutch, use the brake. Us veterans know this. I think younger riders don’t use the front brake because they’re afraid to skid, so it’s all the back brake. But you must use the front brake, engine and clutch – a bit of a technique that I showed him,” said Juan with a shrug.

“When we finally made it down all the way where we left the bags, all the suffering felt like it was worth it, we gave each other man hugs – we had pushed through the pain, heat and fear. Even though we hadn’t made it to the top, it felt that we’d accomplished something. We’ll get it next time.

Heading down Alpine South, on the Barry Way to Dargo was a sweet road compared to the Blue Rag. Now we had helmet time, relived the track and even saw some brumbies galloping by the river.”

“That the first beer in Dargo was better than sex is an understatement!

“It gives you a lot of comfort and security to do rides like this with people that you trust and who have your back and who you synchronise with. A good riding buddy is essential to take on the big or small, long or short adventure rides. And Jack was that. Hopefully I was too,” Juan says with a smile.

JUAN’S TIPS TO CONQUER THE BLUE RAG

● Get fit. I work outdoors and Jack is on the tools – you need to be fitter than the average weekend rider to take on the Rag.

● Come back with a lighter bike. I wouldn’t go to Victoria at all with a bike like the MS – the rough terrain destroys the big bikes.

● Experienced riders only – don’t do the Blue Rag for your first adventure – you will suffer and you will be sweating your balls.

● If you don’t have the confidence to go down, don’t go up.

● Know that the Victorian High Country is tougher than NSW – more mountains, more snow, more extreme weather and more tracks battered by 4WDs.