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Needed a pie

On Saturday a couple of Tigers turned up at my place for a coffee.  The coffee was ok but what I reckoned they really needed was to visit a bakery.  So another Tiger was fired up and off we went on a short excursion to Marton.

Not Marton, just the old truck near Colyton

On the way to Cheltenham and Vinegar Hill, I decided that sport mode needed to be deployed.  This turned out to be a great idea and I really like how the engine response is sharper and how the suspension behaves.  We weren't travelling at warp speed, but I really enjoyed just how nice it felt and how well it handles.  I think I'll keep it, might even go for a decent ride this weekend...

In Hunterville, two Tigers (the ones above) needed a drink and then we were on our way again, heading towards Fordell.  We got stuck behind a Mitzi for a while, but the driver was really good - they'd seen us behind them and were obviously looking for somewhere to pull over to let us past.  They eventually found a spot and we gave them a wave as we snuck past.

Eventually we hit Turakina Valley Road but as this was a road ride, we went left instead of right but soon hit some new seal just before the turn-off to Marton.

As this was a cruisy ride (and the guys had already put up with me stopping for photos a few times), we stopped just up the road to get a picture of an old woolshed - one that Colin and I had talked about getting a photo of one day.  Today was the day.

After diving into another unmarked section of new seal at about the speed limit, we turned onto what is probably the pick of the roads we rode - and that is saying something!  The secret road is Makuhou Road and I've probably raved about it before...We even got to ride it in the best direction!

Some beautiful windies took us up the hill past the Tutaenui Reservoir with the only some hot tar at the top of the hill being of any concern.  From there it was a quiet pootle into Marton where we stopped at a particularly well stocked bakery for lunch.

From there, Colin and Dayal vamoosed it homeward in one direction and I did the same thing in another direction.  Nice day for a ride and not a bad steak, cheese and bacon.

The Mightiest of Mouses

 I can't imagine selling my quarter of an R1...

Oh, and there's a guy on AdvRider with 160,000 miles on his.  Mine's still a fair way off needing that valve check.

And slightly off topic: there's a chap with 375,000 miles on his Super Ten!

Best of '24

After much (well, some) pestering from Steve at Road to Nowhere, I've climbed into another blog challenge.

Steve's challenge was to post your top ten motorcycling photos of 2024.  Here's his effort.  But seeing as his bro broke the rules then I might as well too.  I may as well use the opportunity to do a bit of a year in review as well. - even if I didn't do quite as much riding (or blogging) last year.  Here we go:

January

The Tiger was new and I was smitten (still am) and this was just coming home from Feilding.  But I like the photo because of a the light it captured, those clouds in the blues sky, the old truck and of course, Tigger.

February

This time it is more around the event than the quality of the photo.  Pictured is a resting Tiger after successfully completing its first TT2000.  Less than a month to the next one...can't wait.

March

Time to break the rules.  This time there's no bikes, but is just one of a bunch of great pics I got while on the 6 day Maverick Muster in Central Otago.  Something completely different but in a place I love and where much fun was had!

April

I really like this one of Chris and Stella coming around Pohangina Valley East road, about half way through a Saddlesore 1000 (Egsanity edition).  I ended up joining them for a while.

May

Just some random gravel ride through Manawatu back roads.  Digging the clouds and blue sky again, along with those rolling hills.

June

The T7 again and some mint winter gravel.

July

An unblogged ride with no photos so a video grab from the Desert Road as Colin and I came back from Chris's "big" birthday in Raglan.  We were the only ones to brave the ice on our bikes - just sayin...

August

And I can't find any biking ones from August so here's a photo taken by someone else (Raveen) on a wee 4WD excursion I organised for some of the guys from work.  That's me and Colin in my ute dropping down Towai Road on our way to Waihi Falls.

September

Back on the T7 and here's another pic I like 'cos of the old building in Apiti.

October

In October four Tigers escaped for a day of delicious tarmac surfing and Harley baiting.  I love Fields Track!

November

Two pics again this time as the two wee ones have not featured yet.  First the RMX up in the Maungatuks before it had a dip.

And then the mightiest of mouses, out from hibernation and after singing it's head off up the valley.

December

Not bike related (although the yellow bike was in attendance) but a cool pic from the farm of Mount Taranaki.

And there's the winning entry in the blog challenge then...

Trio of Tigers

Yeah, we couldn't manage four this time...

Away back on the 2nd of January three Tigers went on another wee road ride through to Waipuk, and now I'm even writing about it...

For me the ride started with a wee squirt over the track in a little bit of light drizzle - nothing too bad, just wet enough to cause a bit of caution on the usual greasy spots on the track.

Arriving in Pahiatua, the guys were busy dispatching some coffee, but once I'd filled we were into it with a quiet ride across the Pahiatua-Pongaroa Road.  As usual the Makuri Gorge and the climb up over the hill were the highlights - even if there was the odd "mildly-moist" patch.  The view from the top perhaps not quite as spectacular as it can be.

I really like the blue one!

Dropping down the hill, we were soon in Pongaroa where we turned onto Route 52 to make for Wimbledon.  I may have mentioned in a previous post, but it is nice to see all work that has been done on the road.  They've widened it in places and definitely taken out some of the nastier road damage.  Still pays to keep on ya toes though.

South of Porangahau it was time for another breather and to check out TaumatawhakatangihangakoauauoTamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, which had been moved along and off the road a bit since last time.  First time that the Tigers had visited it too.

Just up the road was one of my favourite signs:

Which meant it was time for this:

Yeah, not ideal conditions for any sort of hill climb but I have it on reasonably good authority that you can get air in one spot going up there...

Our next stop was in Waipuk where we had a spot of brunch old chap and then started on the return leg.

Leaving Waipuk, the traffic was pumping so we soon turned off to take more nice back roads through Takapau and Ormondville before popping out at Matamau, just north of Dannevirke.

We then behaved ourselves again until turning off at Oringi to cut the corner through Hopelands and then on to Pahiatua and home.

Yet another nice little ride and nice to kick off the new year with a couple of rides on the trot.  If only work and life didn't get in the way all the time 😉