Route 52 Blues

No, nothing went wrong - the title just sorta works with the pictures...

On our last BRRBT ride we got to take in a very small section of Route 52 and with today not being quite so hot as yesterday I decided that I should really go and take in the rest of it.

I decided to pick things up from Eketahuna so made my way there via the track and through Mangamire and just a little bit of SH2.  In Eketahuna I stopped for fuel and to buy some water as some idiot had left the camel-bak at home...

Next up was a quick 20km to Alfredton where I finally got onto Route 52 and turned Northwards for Pongaroa.  Things were now warming up fairly nicely but the wind was also picking up and every now and again I got a bit blown around as I avoided all the humps and bumps on the way to Pongaroa.  Only 60km in and I needed another drink already...

Wasn't able to send a cable...

The next section through to the Weber-Herbertville turn-off is a bit of a favourite as even though it can be a bit rough just out of Pongaroa, the road eventually gets a bit quicker with some nice corners thrown in for good measure.

At the turn-off I headed East to continue on 52 to Wimbledon.  The road was at it's normal bouncy best and I had to avoid a family of turkeys (birds, not car drivers) but I was soon tooling through hustling, bustling Wimbledon and turning North for Porangahau.  Not far North of Wimbledon I did have to put some gravel riding skills to use on some roadworks but it was nothing my 300kg adventure bike couldn't handle...

I was kinda in a picture-taking mood so my next stop was at Taumata whakatangi hangakoauau o tamatea turi pukakapiki maungahoro nuku pokai whenua kitanatahu and there were plenty of blue skies there too...

Porangahau is just a short little squirt up and over the hill from here and while I didn't need to go into Porangahau I decided to clamber up a nearby hill for some more shots.

Friendly local

After a careful 180 on the hill I dropped back down into Porangahau and made my back to Route 52 which I then took as far as Arlington Road where I turned to head for Takapau and the ride back towards home.  From Takapau I made my way through Ormonville (plenty of new seal repairs) and then into Dannevirke where I stopped for a bagel and nice cold milkshake.

Now I took my normal back road route through to the Saddle, collecting a magpie along the way and also seeing a few other bikes out enjoying a summer squirt.  The Saddle is in an absolute mess at the moment with major road works in a few places (one section was very deep and chunky gravel) but it did give me the opportunity to get a few more snaps as I neared home.

Ashhurst

By the time I pootled my way back to Palmy and across town to home both the Connie and I were pretty hot so the Connie is resting in the shade in the shed and I'm doing some couch surfing with a cold drink.  I really nice little ride of around 350kms.

More pics here.