I've been bikeless since the 1KC because, as it transpired, I cooked the clutch racking up hours of slow riding in carparks and the bike has been up at Hastings Honda getting repaired. So the MDA ride turned out to be a convenient way to get to Hastings on Friday to get reunited with my baby! We had a great forecast and it looked like it would be the first time in about four or five years that we wouldn't need the wets and at 0900 on Friday we were heading to our first two stops in Carterton. It was quite relaxing to be a passenger in the car with Mark and we had soon 'shared the love' with lashings of lollies at a school and pre-school. From here the riders would go straight up SH2 then deviate after Dannevirke, so we decided to have lunch there. We passed the bikes as the cruisers (and Santa's ST – he must have been having a senior moment 90Km into the ride??) were filling on the Masterton Bypass. We pulled into the Dannevirke BP to wait for the bikes, only to find, as we were half-way through our coffee and pie, that they had passed unnoticed and were up at the cafe, so we finished up and joined them. From here we went straight to Hastings Honda while Steve took the bikes for a Tiki-Tour and $1300 later we went to the Silky Chocolate Cafe and programme my GPS while we waited because it had been left in the bike. At this point, Santa had another senior moment and got lost waiting for Steve & Cheryl, who had gone to a bike shop for new boots, but eventually we all got reunited and made the two kiddy-stops on the way to Bayview. We arrived at Bayview at about 1730, settled, prepared to meet the rest of the children who have Muscular Dystrophy, had a feed, gave them their presents, then retired for the evening, which for me meant programming the Day2 route into the GPS while the others had a few drinks. I awoke about 0500 and tried to relax to go back to sleep, eventually giving up and getting up at about 0615, scrubbed, packed, gassed up, went to breakfast, then settled the account and hit the road. Saturday is a big coast-to-coast ride day with only three visits and all the riders opted for the Gentle Annie while Mark took the Napier-Taupo & SH41 to Taumarunui. That was a pleasant ride where I sat at TEC and just puttered along at an easy pace at the rear until the cruiser refill at Z Waiouru, then I travelled in the middle of the group to our brunch stop in Ohakune and same for the stint through to Taumarunui Although I was only down to half a tank, I opted to fill while Santa kitted up as that would leave me with half a tank to start Sunday, (I got a bit of a surprise when it cost nearly $34 for half a tank but!), then I led down to Max’ place. Max is a bit of a sad wee case because the first time we visited some years ago, he was running around while his older brother Sam was chair-bound and so weak that their dad had to hold-up Sam’s forearm up so he could wave goodbye. Since then, Sam died a couple of years ago and now we are seeing Max at that same level. The effects of MD can be so sad to witness. ….But now we had got to the fun part!! I led out again, with Santa behind me (so a mini SHITA {Sporting Hondas International Touring Army) if you were, was leading the charge) as we embarked on SH4 at a semi-crisp pace (ie. at the top end of the tolerated limit) for Ramaroa Rd, which we then took via Aria and onto Totoro Rd to get back to SH3. The Aria road is one of those delightful back country, narrow roads, that doesn’t get enough traffic to wear it out, but can have scatterings of loose shit, so one can get along at a good roll-on – roll-off pace ….as long as you leave enough margin for a change-of-line mid-corner or dealing with some other emergency change of plan or line. Totoro Rd on the other hand has always been crap and where it had several Km of thick, loose, new seal two months ago when we did the NI1600, now it had several Km of constant, but sparsely littered loose crap and I’m not sure which was worse?? ….and then we got to the Awakino Gorge ….and this has to be one of the best motorcycle road the North Island has to offer!! On this occasion it was dry, clean and we only encountered two or three cars to pass as we headed south ….and they seemed to be strategically positioned, so they were encountered at a convenient passing spot. God was with us as it were …and so it came to pass that we took a few minutes of our day to navigate the delights of the Awakino Gorge ….within the tolerated limits ….most of the time ….and Gillian didn’t complain ….and then we were at the Awakino Pub ….but the cruisers rolled on by ….so we hopped back on our bikes and made our way to Urenui. We finished the day with visits to a brother and sister in Waitara, and two brothers in Bell Block before making our way to the Marae at Sentry Hill for a feed and pleasant night relaxing over a few beers. Once again I awoke early and once again tried to relax and doze before once again rising at 0615 and we got on the road at 0830 for what would turn out to be a special day. Muscular Dystrophy is a relentless disorder where we see children’s health and mobility deteriorate year after year, but it is wonderful to see the joy that Santa can bring and witness the spirit of these unfortunate wee souls. On this day, our second visit was to Sophie, a four year old who was in a wheelchair when we first visited her in 2015, so she has been afflicted early. On our first visit, she was obviously awed and excited to see Santa, but also daunted by the invasion of the big hairy biker elves that accompanied him …and when she unwrapped and found her ‘Frozen’ book, …well say no more. On this occasion she was positively beaming from the moment I rode up the driveway and waved, until our departure and the special moment occurred when she took about 30-40 seconds to get out of her wheelchair and stand unaided. It turns out that she is off to school next year and had decided that she wanted to be able to walk at school. The fact that a four year old would think to set a goal like that is cool, but the grit and determination required to follow through is astounding! That special little girl really made my day!! From there we continued with visits in Inglewood, Stratford, Kaponga and Whanganui …which ended up to be 10Km up the Whangaehu Valley and we finished off with a late lunch at Viv’s Kitchen in Sanson ….well, almost finished. I finished off with an effort to set a record for the ‘most cars passed’, because I passed lots, especially coming into Otaki where the queue was several kilometres long. I made good time doing it though, departing Sanson with an ETA of 1705 and arriving home at 1700 ….then collapsed in a heap on the couch.
What a great weekend!! PS. Special thanks to my fellow Attitudinous Elves and Santa for the weekend and all the Distance Riders that ride the 1KC events out of Hamilton and Wellington, because those events fundraise to buy the Christmas presents for this trip with any surplus accumulating to eventually be given to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, who I perceive to be very much a Poor-Second-Cousin when it comes to charities.
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After my failure to complete the NI1600, there was a comment made, "Never regret failing - just regret not starting", to which I made a facetious comment about kaftan wearers. Well I just failed again so now I'm thinking I better pop out and buy myself a kaftan!! It's not that often that I really look forward to riding a route, especially if it's one I've come up with, but last year I was eager to ride the 1KC and this year it was the same for the NI1600 and the 1KC, so maybe I better come up with something dreary for next year. I had the bike prepped and packed on Friday night, got to bed at 10pm to arise at 0500, scrub, kit up and get on the road by 0545 and having learned my lesson on the NI1600, the very gloomy looking weather over the Hutt and Rimutakas prompted me to fill at the Hutt Road BP and don my wets. I arrived at Caltex Rimutaka before 0615 and was surprised to find almost 20 bikes already there, so I checked in with Brett, took a few pix and slipped off the forecourt at 0617. I had decided to ride by myself, maintaining a good pace with short stops and I wasn't too concerned about the wet roads on the Rimutaka Hill because it looked like we should get good weather for most of the ride and although there was no rain, I was surprised to find the wet roads persisted until almost up to Waipuk'. I caught the Masterton starters before Eketahuna and Ken was maintaining a good pace so I just slotted in behind them, taking the bypass around Woodville and heading for Dannevirke. A bit north of there some flashing red & blue lights appeared up ahead as we came on to a passing lane and Nik eased off a bit, so I passed him, and a bit further on passed Tony & Michelle to slot in behind Ken. About 5-8 Km before Dannevirke, Ken opted not to pass a truck, so I took them both, thinking I would rather be in front of the big cruiser on the tight roads and I was soon taking Makirikiri Rd to get to the Weber road. It was soon very apparent that a wet Mangahei Rd was not going to be a walk in the park and even with much care being taken, I found myself twitching once or twice, especially if I found myself on the paint. I still managed to maintain a reasonably good pace though and had taken my pic at about 0820 and was departing as Ken arrived at the CP. From here the road widened and dried, so about 30 mins later I had enjoyed a jolly good fang to Waipuk' and travelled more sedately to the next CP in Waipawa and was departing for the anticipated fang up Argyll and Whakapirau Rds, because although I have known of this stretch for years, this was to be the first time I had ridden it. With CP3 at Argyll East School taken at about 0900. and feeling in the groove, I was thumping up Argyll Rd when it all turned to shit as I entered a corner and realised it didn't quite shape out as expected so all of a sudden I found myself scrambling to get back on line, scrubbed off a shitload of speed, but drifted onto the gravel verge, kept it upright and about when I should of been back on the power, the rear wheel slipped off the bank! Bugger! What a dickhead! I was fine and the bike was unscathed but after a quick try, it was obvious that I wouldn't get it out by myself and at that time a young local arrived in his ute, confirmed it would take more than the two of us so he rang his dad to come down with a quad. After 10 mins the Masterton team arrived, followed shortly by dad, No 2 son and the quad and within minutes the 300Kg ST Brute was back on the hard. It was stuck in gear, but we got it moving, it came right and the pic at CP 4, only a few Km up from CP3 was taken at about 0940, but I was back on track, negotiated the rest of Whakapirau Rd and pulled out onto SH50. There was ute approaching so I crossed onto SH50 and accelerated away, only to find I couldn't exceed 80kph! so I tried changing gears etc, pulled over to let the ute past, then puttered up toward turnoff to Fernhill as it got worse, finally giving up at the junction. Double Bugger!!
My day was done, so I sent a text to Brett and James. The Masterton team and Steve arrived, I advised I was out and sent them on their way, called Ann then called the Roadside Assist to arrange a pick-up. About two hours later we got the bike to Hastings Honda, (who were a bit confused as to the cause of my problems), I got it sorted, texted Steve to pick me up at Omahu Marae and started walking over there (as it didn't look that far on the map!! What a joke! I hadn't realised how hot it had got... or how far it was, because I had probably walked about a Km, when a car pulled over and the two occupants offered me a lift and the driver advised, "aw shit, the marae is further from town than my place and it takes me about two hours to walk from there!" (I think I've already advised that I'm a dickhead) Anyway, they dropped me at the marae and I settled down on the Our-Lady-of-the-Holy-Crossroads reserve to drink my water, eat my bananas and nut bars and have a snooze until Steve arrived at about 1530. We scooted down to Dannevirke for a fill, where I put a skivvy and wet jacket on to stave off the cold, then made for the Backbencher, arriving just before 1900 after a rough ride over the Rimutakas. I'd been conscious that I'm a fat prick and I needed to try and be 'neutral' to make things easier for Steve and once we got to the hill, the wind was up so I tried to hunker down and get a bit closer in order to reduce the windage, but even then Steve got shunted right across the right hand lane as we turned a corner and the car in front had slowed down too much, so Steve passed him and the extra speed certainly helped. I was a bit concerned that things would get worse once we had gone over the summit, but Steve's bike control and positioning were superb and we seemed to get through there without any further issues. Steve was 5th back in and the rest of the night until a bit after 2200 was spent welcoming in the other riders and by that time we had heard that the hill was now treacherous and riders were turning back. So it was another good event, but once again I find me being a bit grumpy with myself for my own stupidity. I had been cranking along, shedding minutes off my ETA, which at the time of my off, was down to 1645, but a moment's inattention could have proved fatal and I'm actually feeling a bit lucky to be just inconvenienced to not have the bike for a week or two. I guess it's time to review what I'm up to and make some changes to attitude and application. |
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