Nice day for it

Yep, sure was but the plan kinda went out the window. My idea was to go for a nice quiet ride over the saddle, back through Balance and over the track before popping in to see some friends. It all went astray at Ashhurst where I saw a few familiar bikes parked up at the gas station and I thought I'd better stop and say gidday.

Turns out they were heading out the valley and possibly a bit further north to meet up with some more of the tribe coming back with a new bike. Oh well, what the hey...

The ride through Pohangina is always nice though at this time of the year it pays to keep a good eye out through the shaded places as the road gets a bit green and is often damp. Add to this the usual pea metal, stock and the odd slip and it does pay to use a bit of caution. No majors today just a nice enjoyable little ride.

Coming through Apiti there was quite a long stretch of road works but they were not too bad and we were soon through them and out onto highway 54 heading towards Pemberton. This is always a nice ride although the low sun and the odd damp corner suggested taking a bit of care. A quick stop at Pemberton where one of the crew had to turn around to head back and look for his lost tankbag and were off again to Ohingaiti.

Here we stopped for a drink and a breather before the last leg home and to discover that one bike had lost all the air out of it's rear tyre somewhere or other. Luckily some locals had a compressor to help get him going and his plan was to take short hops to each garage if necessary to get him home. Hopefully he made it home safe sound as I and a couple of others headed off before the rest of gang.

Had a really good ride over vinegar hill following Cowboyz (borrowed '86 GSX-R750) and Barry (ZX-14) before finally waving them off at Colyton as I turned for Palmy and they kept on towards Ashhurst and Dannivegas.

Love these nice winter days!