This week’s ride was scheduled as a Wellington Scenic Round-the-Bays, which is a bit dry as far as rides go but provides a bit of variation and is a relaxed social ride. My gear was getting a bit stinky so I gave it wash on Friday night then Mike rang me on Saturday to see if I could take a pillion and as Ann was busy, I agreed and got away from home at 0840 to swing by Whitby to meet them. That meant we were early enough for a quick blat over the hill and back before the ride. By the time we got to Brown Owl, it was 0933 and only 9° with the road still a bit wet, so a bit of care was required but it was quite a good wee blat before having to show constraint within the city limits. We arrived back just in time as the lead riders were pulling out so slipped in at the rear of a group of 17 bikes to head back into town, around the quays to Oriental Bay, vans Bay, Shelly Bay and the first brief stop at Scorching Bay. From there we continued through Seatoun, Breaker Bay (didn't see any ambergris but!), Lyall Bay, Houghton Bay, Island Bay and a pause a Ohiro Bay before going up through Brooklyn, Aro Valley and Kelburn before the next stop on Wrights Hill in Karori. By this time, it was warming up nicely and some strolled up to the lookout while the the rest of us just 'chilled out' and chewed the fat. From here I took over as TEC to follow the bunch out to Makara for another stop before the last leg back to Johnsonville, onto the motorway and out to Whenua Tapu where we diverted back to Plimmerton via Airley Road and finally, lunch at the sandbar just before 1400 where the dozen or so riders that were left posed for a photo with our visitor from Canberra and her pet plastic blow-up sheep. I finally got home around 1500 in a pleasant 15°, 260Kms for the day and 49,455 Kms on the bike. That's 500Kms on the new Storms and they feel awesome so with only 3 weeks until the Grand Challenge, 5 weeks until the Manfield Training Day, 6 weeks until the Capital 1000K Cruise and 9 weeks until the Muscular Dystrophy Run......bring it on!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Old Blog?
These blogs were posted on the KiwiBiker forum but I decided it was time for a change. Archives
January 2017
Categories
All
|