Today was a Uly ride to Hunterville, via Fordell, which I wasn't going to go on, but maybe I would, but the weather was going to be crappy so I wasn't, and I had heaps of work to catch-up on so I wasn't, and I only managed to mow the front half of the lawns yesterday so I wasn't, and I haven't been to the gym all week so I should have gone to the gym instead so I shouldn't.....then I checked the forecast again this morning and it was really crappy......but it wasn't raining when I looked out the window......so I went!! After lingering in bed thinking about not going and all the things I had to do, I got up at 0900, scrubbed up and was away by 0923, topped-up the tyres and fuel at Z Crofton, and finally got to the Plimmerton Weigh Station at 0950, telling the idiots already there that it was going to piss down. By 1010 there were 9 of us there and no other Rides Committee members so I went through the brief, got Tony to lead out and I took TEC. The trip up SH1 was the usual tedious affair although the westerly wind started to hit us after Levin and that started to ruin my economy, which had crept up to 20K/Ltr up to that time. We got to Bulls at 1145 and by then I was down to 19.5K/Ltr, some of the guys topped-up on fuel but I was only one bar down, so had another 400Km in the tank. The trip up SH1 was the usual tedious affair although the westerly wind started to hit us after Levin and that started to ruin my economy, which had crept up to 20K/Ltr up to that time. We got to Bulls at 1145 and by then I was down to 19.5K/Ltr, some of the guys topped-up on fuel but I was only one bar down, so had another 400Km in the tank.
We discussed if we should lunch in Bulls, Turakina, Fordell or Hunterville and since no one had tried the Fordell Pub, that was it and we hit the road again at 1158. This leg was straight into the wind so it was quite good being TEC as I could shelter behind the others or the cages, so more tedium and we had done the 36Km and were at the lunch stop by 1223. I had a small Spag-bol and a coffee, which was quite nice, we chatted and were on our way again at 1330. I went to lead through here and found the road quite good, although some of the road was wet and there was a bit of loose crap scattered about. I did have a wee moment when I misread a patch that was thicker than it looked and the bike twitched a bit but no real problem though as we were taking it pretty easy. We came across a few critters as well and at one point I had to stop for a herd of cattle. There was a siding with a gate off to the right so I pulled up there to get out of the way and the dickhead farmer got grumpy because that was where he wanted the beasts to go. If the gate had already been open that would have been obvious....bloody pillock!! Once we got to Hunterville, I turned to see if the others wanted fuel or another coffee stop and it looked like they wanted to continue for home, so I turned north for Vinegar Hill to let them sample some more roads-less-travelled, but a couple of Km up the road they had pulled the pin so I continued on alone. That was good because that left me free to clip along at my own pace....which wasn't that quick because it started to piss down, then once I got near the hill, was blowing a gale, but I made good time, turned off past Waituna West to go via Stanway and kept going to head around Pryces Line and emerge by Kakariki then Ohakea. It was then more SH1 riding, but the traffic was moving well, except for the car that had been taken out emerging from Campion Rd, (the left front wheel was lying flat on the ground and the front was a mess) but I didn't get a good look as I was busy passing cages and avoiding firemen. Then I had to contend with a fleet of Harleys in Foxton. They were riding two abreast and in close formation but fortunately I was able to make use of the flush median strip to filter past about half of them. One or two didn't seem to appreciate any interlopers in or around their midst, but I was gone pretty much before they realised I was there. Once we were out of Foxton I was able to pass another quarter of them in a few maneouvers as there were a few gaps now, then we got to passing lane after the bridges but they spread into both lanes so I had to wait for a clear patch on the straights before Waiterere to compllete the job and get clear. Once I was through Otaki the wind eased off (or at least it was more sheltered) so riding was easier and I made good time all the way home to average 87kph for the last 200Km from Hunterville. I got home at 1639 having done 440Km for the day at an economy of 18.1K/Ltr (no thanks to the wind) and the bike now has 21,992Km on it....hmmm 2,000 in 8 days....I better ease up!
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Yes well, another one gone and another one gone and another one bites the dust! The plan for 2012 was to do the Awakino Gorge and around the mountain (ie Mt Egmont/Taranaki), so that's what we did with a few diversions via Mauriceville, Halcombe-Stanway and Aria thrown in for good measure and to provide the 'road-less-travelled' requirement into our mix. The lead-up for me was to resurrect and check the route out of the archives, since it was an option drawn up 2-3 years ago....that was easy! Early August I just had to tweek the old Flyer for this year, print a few off for placement in the local bike shops, send out the usual 'heads-up' email to all previous Capital Cruise Riders, post it on a couple of forums, then sit back and wait for entries. About a month out, I had to tweek the briefing and work on the Ride Instructions for the various starts, and with a week to go, these were emailed out to the registered riders, certificates were printed and enveloped along with the badges &/or Year Bars, spot prizes prepared, tapes for the bikes cut, and the day before, the prizes were drawn and registration sheets printed, along with spare copies of the other documentation. Oh yes...and this year we added a disclaimer. Saturday was an early start with the alarm going off at 0445, we arose, scrubbed, kitted, bike and car were packed on Friday night so we just leapt aboard and headed for Caltex Rimutaka. While I fuelled-up, Ann set-up the table and bits & pieces with all being ready to go, as well as riders arriving by 0615. Things went very quickly and smoothly this year with most riders on the road by 0645. Unfortunately I didn't note when I left as I was relying on the Track-Log from my GPS for that sort of detail, but when I downloaded it, I only have the last 100Km from Foxton!!@#%&*!! The weather was clear blue skies as Woody and I slipped over the hill but the sub10° temperature led to me trying out the heated grips.....very cosy I must say. I didn't think we were that far behind everyone else (although I did note it was 0750 as we went past Masterton, so we were nearly an hour behind those starters) but we saw no other riders until the first Pic-stop at Mauriceville, where two guys were enjoying a durry, so we snacked our snap and carried on to Woodville and the windfarm. Whilst there, Shafty and his mate turned up, having come down from Turangi but we were on our mission so only had time to say gidday before moving on for Woodys first fuel stop at Feilding. We waved as we passed the other Turangi Starters by Ashhurst and Oh joy, we finally saw half a dozen riders still at the Feilding BP, so we were in the mix and once Woody had fueled, I decided to crib a few Km's by scooting up Makino Rd to Stanway, rather than go via Halcombe and there were still a couple there when we left, so we were no longer last on the road. We caught up to four riders on Vinegar Hill and tucked in behind them, then got passed by the two behind and separated from three of the others in traffic, so we were back to trailing the pack by Taihape, where I noted there were no bikes at the pumps. It was OK though because we were clipping along at a reasonable pace...until we caught up to a huge great queue of traffic a few Km past Spooners Hill Rd....and the people were getting out of their cars! Not being one to sit in a queue, I started slipping up the verge, until I was blocked, then shifted to the centre of the road and continued to the front, spotting where there were a group of our riders (the yellow & black tape tied to the back of the bikes is good for that). ...Then we spotted the reason for the delay with traffic in both directions blocked due to a biker down on the road.....Bugger!!...just what a ride organiser wants to see! As it turned out, Steve had been riding in the same group and was forced to take evasive action but things appeared under control, so I reported the event to base, checked out things for myself and asked the cops to order a truck for two bikes (to include the downed rider's partner). Once the ambulance was loaded, I sent the other riders on, waiting to ensure the bikes and his partner were OK, then I continued to Turangi at a rather good clip passing two stragglers on the way and finding heaps enjoying a lunch break at the Z checkpoint. I fuelled up, snacked, hooked up with Woody again and we departed, dropping the certs, badges and prizes off on the way out of town before taking on SH41 for Taumaranui. I started to struggle through here as I found the road hard to read. It has been patched and sealed with a mottled chip and it was most difficult to judge whether the surface was in tact or had loose stuff spread about...so I erred on the side of caution and started 'riding the rut' (riding in the clean wheel tracks), but then there was another problem. The temp was starting to get up and there were plenty of tar slicks and many looked potentially soft, so I then found myself trying to ride on the couple of inches between the rut and the hump! Oh well, Woody probably thought many of my lines were rather odd, but I survived with no incidences, Woody topped up in Taumaranui to get him to New Plymouth, I texted in our position, then we continued up SH4 for the turnoff on Ramaroa Rd to Aria. This is an interesting wee diversion that I have done many times and it is usually in very good condition for a back country road. The first part off SH4 is quite gnarly, single lane and poor surface, but it soon opens up and is quite a delightful ride through Aria, then on Totoro Rd back to SH3. As expected, it gave a few of the punters a headache on their navigation too. Woody and I had a good ride through there though, then, as usual, the Awakino Gorge was in great condition and we were soon enjoying another half hour break over a drink and snack at the Awakino Pub. Steve had joined us during this time, we left and the three of us scooted along the coast, over Mt Messenger and into New Plymouth for fuel (Woody’s 5th, my 2nd and last for the day), although Steve had pulled in by another mate at Urenui. We then pulled out of the servo as Steve was first away from the lights just along the road. The wind was up by now and we started to pass the Turangi starters again as we headed around the Surf Highway to Pungarehu. Fortunately though, we were on a downwind course all the way to Sanson. I was surprised at the lack of traffic all the way through here...and the speed at which many of the cages were travelling. We were going at a few kph higher than I normally do, but never caught many of the other riders, or passed that many cars. We did join Hitcher and Bill out of Wanganui (another and last top-up for Woody), but they pulled in for fuel at Sanson, leaving us to battle up the last stretch to home. By now, not only did we have the wind, but the weather had clagged in badly, to the point that I decided to don my wets in Levin. That was a good idea because then it didn't rain and we managed to include the Paekak' Hill to finish the day, arriving back in 13.5 hours...and it was still just light enough to say in daylight! We had been moving well, but the many and some prolonged stops pushed the time out for a 90kph moving average, but 74kph total average, which certainly highlights that this type of riding is not about speed, but efficiency and minimal stops. It was another great day, apart from the accident putting a damper on things, but we should be back on again next year.
Some stats for the day. I managed 1082.5 Km on the speedo but my GPS oddmeter says 1064Km (of which about 45 was getting to Caltex & home from PnJ) 1,020'something should be right. 50 riders registered with 4 pulling the pin in the last couple of days 3 more registered on the day, so we had 49 starters (including 2 pillions) 2 DNF'd due to accident and partner withdrawing 5 started Turangi; 4 Palmy; 8 Masterton; 2 Napier & 31 from Wellington I had no problems with my new hip! (It was a bit uncomfortable today...but I must have slept on it funny) My Rider seat and soft arse seemed rather compatible, resulting in little discomfort over the duration of the ride. It appears we may go close to raising $600 for the MDA. My thanks to all who participated and especially to those that helped out...Ann & Ron ensuring a smooth departure from Caltex, then Ann & Adrian greeting everyone on there return, scrutinising the pix and issuing the Certificates, badges & bars and spot prizes. Thanks also to NAC and Tudor Distributors for a few bits and pieces. This year's C1KC (or Capital 1000Km Cruise) actually started for me about 2 to 3 years ago when playing with Google Maps &/or MapSource to come up with some options for a nice wee pootle. With the Awakino Gorge probably rating in my top 5 rides in the country, I thought, “that would be nice!” and set about seeing how it could be done within the prescribed Km's …without being predominantly a horrid boring grind up and back on SH1 & SH3. Well that can't be avoided really, but we did OK. Anyway, the route was all set, but those plans had to be shelved when the Gentle Annie got sealed last year.
This year was the 6th C1KC, an event that came about one night at a Ulysses Meeting when I was talking to Steve about the possibility of heading south to sample a 'Longest Day' 1000Km ride. Times must have been hard and money scarce as we decided we could save the price of a ferry ticket by planning our own 1,000Km, ride...and that year 18 riders completed a route that included Route 52, Western Arm of Taupo, the Para's and Fordell-Hunterville Rd (after Steve (DNS) offed on a conditioning ride prior, Big Al (DNS) pulled the pin and didn't start and Grub (DNF) blew a tyre and Nasty had to fetch his sorry arse from Raetihi or wherever). The highlight of that ride for myself and Steve was to see Sweetpea (6 months experience on a restricted) arrive back on her FXR150 with the hugest grin. (The aftermatch was a dismal failure where we planned to have a few drinks and feed at the Rimutaka Tavern....but our lack of planning and their lack of anything resulted in a few laughs in the carpark). The following year was a big lesson for us! I set a route for me! ...which had all my other local favourite bits of road linked up (Mariceville Diversion, Saddle, Pohangina Valley, Rangiwahia Rd, Fields Track & Top of Para's, Ponanga Saddle, SH41...and the Forgotten Highway) Well! Dare I say that the route I was so proud to have produced turned out to be so gnarly that we had 9 DNS, 13 DNF and 37 finishers, although many of them were post midnight from a 0700 start!! (and of course, most tragically, Grubb offed and died on the Forgotten Highway when riding with Steve and myself) This brought to us the realisation that we weren't catering for a bunch of hard-arsed (literally), nutty, died-in-the-wool endurance riders, but our event was an intro jobby for riders that wanted to have-a-go, and therefore the route needed to be an open, free-flowing ride, although we did still try to stick to the criteria that wherever possible, the route should include a road, or roads that many of the participants would never have sampled. (That year we moved the return to the Petone Workingmens Club....but the lack and lateness of finishers led to another non-event and I note that after they shut, Ron waited for some time in his car in case any more came in.) That led to 2009 when the route took us over the Track, across to the Para's via Halcombe, up SH4 & SH3 to Te Kawa, then back via Waipapa Rd, The Western Lake Rd & SH1 (where Waipapa Rd was the rarely sampled section). Nasty participated in that one, carrying Grubs ashes so he finally got to complete a C1KC. This was our biggest field ever with 56 completing after 9 DNS'd and 2 DNF'd. The ride has always been a very informal, low key event with minimal planning, organisation and people (helpers) required. We have always had the badges and the small profit from selling them goes to supporting the Wellington Ulysses Muscular Dystrophy Ride, whereby children from the Central & Lower North Island (excluding Wellington) are delivered a Christmas present from Father Christmas (up until his death in Jan 2012, aka Red Fred) and of course a motley and unruley collection of altidudinous, attitudinous, elves, all riding motorcyles...with myself as Pix-E to record the events for posteriors sake! 2010 failed dismally as a fundraiser. The 2010 ride took us once again up Route 52 to Waipawa, then we sampled the delights of Middle Rd before scooting up to Wairoa and back, finishing with a squirt across from Pemberton to Ohingaiti before returning to the Parrot 'n Jigger. It was to be a boomer with over 60 registered for the event, but the dismal weather forecasts days out from the event caused 28 to DNS!! That was a shame because apart from a little drizzle, we were stripping wets by Pongaroa had enjoyed a brilliant day on great roads...but not so for the MDA as I had already bought the year bars....and still have them. Consequently we had 34 complete with 38 DNS & 3 DNF. In 2011 we had to change the system to a pay-to-register format and as mentioned in the 1st paragraph, the Gentle Annie had been sealed earlier in the year, resulting in a late change to the route. This ended up being a pootle straight up SH2 with the option to bypass Woodville via Bluff Rd, Middle Rd had proved so popular the year before we had to throw that in again, before enjoying a scoot over the Gentle Annie, then continuing on to Taumaranui and the Forgotten Highway to effectively make the ride a Coast to Coast affair, once again finishing at the Parrot 'n Jigger where we were made most welcome. This was the first year all the starters mnanaged to complete so we had 36 completions with 2 DNS. This event has arisen out of nothing, on a shoestring budget, by a couple of guys who like nothing more than to stay in saddle and do a few more Km's, rather than sit around and talk about it. My business, Affiliated Insurance Brokers has provided the badges, certificates, pens and a few bits and pieces (as well as a fair bit of my time), NAC have sponsored spot prizes over the years, the P'nJ has proved to be a good finishing point and it has been a pleasure to introduce more riders to the longer form of our passion, as well as improve the quality of gifts to the poor unfortunate kiddies afflicted with Muscular Dystrophy. We continue to get a smattering of new riders each year as well as providing another opportunity for some of the long-ride-veterans to collect a badge, grow another callous on their butts...and spend heaps in the process. Right from the first ride, we have had a group from Palmy, leave early in the morning to join the start from Caltex Rimutaka. From year 2 we have had a start from Masterton, year 4 onwards has seen a start from Napier and this year a group started from Turangi to travel in the reverse direction. Long may it continue...but we are running short on ideas for route options.....particularly since I'm not allowed to use my most excellent adventure that doesn't leave the boundaries of Wellington and the Wairarapa!! At the end of the day.....the picture says what it's all about! At another time one dear we girl was once asked by Santa, "And what would you like?" she replied in barely more than a whisper, "A hug from Santa." which she duly recieved....She died before we visited again the following year. With crap forecasts predicting crap weather, I haven't done much riding lately and didn't expect to do any this weekend either. This hasn't been very desirable because after the long lay-off and with the Capital 1,000Km Cruise on next Saturday, a few rides to harden up the butt would have been quite good, so with a hint of blue sky this morning I thought, 'Bugger the gym, I better go for a ride!'
I figured anything up to a tank of gas (500-600Km) would be good...but where to go? A trip around the local traps (Lake Ferry; Ngawi; Martinborough Wind Farm; Riversdale; Castle point) would mean I could get some distance in but peel off for home anytime (if the butt got too sore), but then I remembered the Hill Climb was supposed to be on this weekend so best stay away from the Gladstone area. Oh well, straight up two would be OK and there's a couple of roads east of Dannevirke I'd like to check out if I feel OK by Woodville....or whatever!! So I got up, scrubbed up, kitted up, downed some leftover fish curry, checked the tyres and hit the road at 0941. The rear needed a top-up so a pause at Shell Crofton was in order before getting on SH2 and heading for the hill. Traffic was light so it was easy going and although the weather looked a bit claggy out to the east, it was OK where I was, the road was dry, the temp was around 11-12.....at least, it was like that until the top of the hill and then it became obvious that the weather in the Wai'rapa was less than desirable. That definitely eliminated any ideas of heading over towards Lake Ferry and as I went through Featherston, it had started to drizzle so I stopped under a shop front and put the wets on...Damn! I've had the odd very slight twitch in the dry on the PR2's fitted to the bike, so they aren't a tyre I have a lot of faith in. Combine that with the fact that, at this stage after my accident, my wet riding confidence isn't that great, I wasn't particularly enjoying threading my way through the tar slicks on the road to Greytown (I don't recall the slicks being that bad along there too). So with the weather ahead looking dismal, I pulled the plug and swung off on Waihakeke Rd ….yeah, well I did after turning down the dead-end Ahikouka Rd....sheesh!! It wasn't too bad cruising along Ponatahi Rd back to Martinborough, although I was probably exercising more care than usual and once I closer back to Featherston, the roads dried again and I felt more comfortable. I figured once I got back I could shoot out to the coast from Wainui' or go over the Paekak' Hill and after slipping past the most courteous string of cages I have ever encountered on the hill, it was obvious that the west was to be the preferred option and the Paekak' Hill was most pleasant. In fact, as I swung up to the lookout, it was a great day all the way up the coast so I pulled in to strip off the wets before heading down to SH1. By the time I went through Paraparaumu, I'd done 210Km and been in the saddle for over 2½ hours and not being particularly fussed about riding SH1, I thought, “Oh bugger it, that'll do!” so I turned off at Waikanae, rode a little around there, then headed for home, getting there at 1340 after managing 284Km at an average of 74kph. The only thing I managed to achieve was to sit in the saddle for nearly 4 hours (with a couple of brief stops) and it's going to be a bit of a mission to do the 1,000Km next week. If I had thought about what I was up to, I would have checked the weather forecast, seen it was better up the west coast and planned a decent ride and day of it.... There's some dumb bastards out there!! |
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