Escaping the Cave

Well we've had some pretty average weather lately, from flooding on the East Coast, a tornado in Auckland and plenty of wind and rain around here so it hasn't been the most perfect conditions for riding. Yesterday was also fairly crappy (in fact at one stage you probably could have ridden a jet-ski in the gutters outside my place) and today started off very windy.

Anyway, I had to get out on the bike or go stir crazy, so I saddled up the Connie and pointed her towards Hawkes Bay. Riding up the road, a quick check of the tyre pressures showed that the rear was down by about 5psi so before I could leave town I needed to sort that out. At the first gas station their tyre inflator would not fit on the Connie so I rode up to the next station with my gloves off hoping for better. No joy there either - their forecourt was all fenced off with some sort of work going on so on I went.

I was quickly running out of town and didn't fancy going too far without gloves and with a rear needed some air so I ended up pulling over and plugging in my little 12v compressor. In 30 seconds the tyre was sorted and I was packing up to get going again. Maybe all this hassle could have been avoided by checking the tyres before leaving home...

Finally on the road properly I had to get back into Connie mode as it's been about 3 weeks or so since I rode her and the V-Strom has been getting a bit of work. First things first was to remember that she doesn't need to be given as much gas as the DL and to keep an eye on the speedo...

My next stop was in Danniverke for some liquid gold before continuing on up SH2. The further I went the warmer it got and I begun to realise that maybe I'd put on a few too many layers. By the time I rocked up at the olds I was pretty keen to remove a layer or too and grab a drink.

After spending some time with the olds (it was Mother's Day after all) it was time to retrace my steps. This time I avoided Fernhill (some knarley road works there on the way up) by just taking the motorway to Hastings and then turning off to take SH50.

The ride home was pretty good as the roads weren't too busy and I didn't need a fuel stop so I was home in good time to do the shed shuffle (organising 2 bikes and a car in a single car garage) and organise some tea. Another nice little ride in great conditions.