Charities & Bays

I've had a couple of rides in the last two weeks.

Last week seven bikes (2 were spyders) of us went over to Masterton to support the the Wai'rapa Ulys on their Life Education Trust Charity Ride. The weather was great and I left home at 0805 (a little late) for an 0830 depature from Caltex Rimutaka....so we were only 10 minutes late. After a scoot over the hill then a sedate pootle up to Masterton, we arrived at the Copthorne at 0930, registered and socialised until departing on the ride at 1015.

The morning ride was a 160Km southern loop taking us down SH2 to Greytown, around a diversion to Featherston, around Lake Wairarapa and up to Martinborough, on to Gladstone via Middle (Ponatahi) Rd and continuing back up to Masterton (without doing the Water Towers.....). That all took just over 2 hours, was followed by a light lunch and prize draws and an hour later, those who wanted to would depart on a Northern excursion, but it was heating up by now and I had planned to nip out to Riversdale as we were having a family dinner to celebrate Mum's birthday from a few days earlier.

After spending a pleasant few hours and enjoying a great feed with the whanau, I was back on the road just before 2000. The rides out to both Riversdale and Castlepoint are most pleasant and it's really nice now that my sister lives there so I have more incentive to enjoy the fang!

This week was a Uly ride that was shuffled because the dickhead (me) who made up the ride plan hadn't accounted for the National AGM. This left few riders (4) to have a short pootle around the Wellington Bays.

I left home just after 0900 to fuel at Caltex Rimutaka and get to Brown Owl early. The six of us (two pillions) departed just after 1000, went down SH2, over Haywards, along through Plimmerton and down to J'ville, out to Makara, back in to Karori and on to Brooklyn, out to Ohariu Bay then round to Seatoun and on to Chocolate Fish at Shelly Bay. It was all very pedestrian, but quite pleasant as the weather held off until after I had finished my Omega Plum Smoothie before making its presence felt.

We were on our way home by around 1300 and I pottered around at home and the office for the rest of the day.

I have the bike booked in for its 30,000Km Svc on Wednesday and the next ride on the programme will be a Uly Dawn Ride to Castlepoint on Easter Sunday. We are hoping to see the Son rise, but if he can't make it we should catch the sun rising instead!”