New Rubber

With the Connie wearing some brand spanking new Pirelli's it seemed only right that they should be put to some use and with it being Mother's day then I figured maybe I should really head up to the Bay to catch up with the olds.

I started off by cruising up the main drag to Danniverke and spent a lot of my time waving to bikes going the opposite direction - this weekend was the Cold Duck Rally and all the rally goers were heading home. I think every cafe, garage and dairy on the road had a dozen or so bikes outside and there were certainly plenty on the road too.

In Danniverke I topped up the bike before pressing on. At Matamau I turned off SH2 to head through Makotuku, Ormonville and Takapau before popping out on Route 52 (just for a second) and then into Waipuk. After trundling up SH2 to Waipawa I turned Eastwards and road through to Patangata and then Elsthorpe.

From Elsthorpe I turned off onto Kahuranaki road which winds it's way Northwards towards Havelock North. It was a really nice ride through here with plenty to look at and plenty of corners to keep you interested. It's a country road though and there were two quite long sections of unmarked, unsignposted and unswept new seal - man I hate that.

With just over 200km under my new Pirelli's I rolled up at the old's place and was able to sit down and have a spot of lunch with Dad. Unfortunately Mum was at work so I was forced to watch a replay of last week's Moto GP racing before she came home and we could catch up for a bit before I had to suit up for the trip back.

In the end I left Napier just before 5pm and had a really nice ride back in the gathering dark via SH50 - got to use my heated grips too, it's certainly starting to get a bit cooler. Gotta make the most of every fine day now...

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