Castle Point

After a week of absolutely rubbish weather it was nice to wake up to nice sunny Sunday morning. Even better was NZSarge had organised a ride out to Castle Point with riders meeting up in Pahiatua before heading out to the coast.

As there were a few riders leaving from Palmy and Shannon the idea was to meet up at the bottom of the Pahiatua Track before meeting the larger group in Pahiatua itself. A couple of learner riders were also coming on the ride and the plan was to take them quietly over the track so that they could get used to riding in a group of bikes.

I was given the job of leading over the track and despite my best behaviour (80-90km/h top speed) broke away from some of the group. Although I was pleased to see one of the learners on her CBF250 sitting behind me so I didn't completely fail in my little job.

Pretty soon we pottered on into Pahiatua where we met up with some of the Ashhurst crowd and a few up from Wellington. After wandering around and doing a bit of gas-bagging with still no sign of NZSarge it was decided to press on and hope that he wasn't too far away.

The next stop to allow the group to reform was in Alfredton and a great place to get a picture of the two GTR's together. The roads through here are your typical back country roads that can't be travelled at light speed but do take you through some pretty nice country. The two GTR's kept each other company through here and before long we were in Masterton where most people took the opportunity to top up there tanks before heading out to Castle Point.

While waiting around at the gas station KoroJ turned up from Wellington. He was supposed to be visiting his mother but when he found she wasn't at home had no option but come on out to the beach for a ride. Good to catch up with him again and relive a bit of the GC. Oh, and NZSarge caught up with us here too...

On the way out of town it was good to see the local cop booking a car as it meant that it was unlikely that we would see another one on the road. This was the first time I'd ridden this road and it's a cracker. I had a great time following a few others at a quicker pace through some really great roads. Once out at Castle Point it was time for a bite to eat and a bit of relaxing in the sun.

The ride back took us again into Masterton where the little bikes topped up and we said seeya to some of the riders heading off in different directions. Once out on the main road we started to get a bit blown around as the wind had come up a bit. The pace was kept low to avoid tickets and to stay with the L-platers.

We eventually turned off the main road to head through Mangamire and then onto the track. Very windy conditions coming over the track but the learners coped really well and when we stopped at the bottom of the track they were very happy at completing a reasonably long ride in the company of other riders. Good to see how keen they were and will hopefully catch up with them again on another ride.

All in all, a great way to fill in a Sunday!

A few more pics here.