Feb BRRBT - Don't miss the corner

Today was our monthly BRRBT ride and after poo-pooing the weather forecast (they were saying rain of all things), the forecasters actually got it right and the rain finally arrived...

Rising early, it didn't seem like we'd had much rain and I didn't get wet while walking Barty McFarty so held high hopes of a dry ride.  Riding across to Feilding with Brian we had a few spits but still nothing much to write home about and we were still keen for a decent ride.  Neil and Colin were already there and we were soon joined by a couple of riders new to the team along with Terry and his wife.  We waited around for a while, expecting a few more but it wasn't to be.

While at the garage Colin had somehow broken his topbox key so our first leg took us to his place where he found his spare and was able to access his gloves and wet weather gear.

Riding across towards Marton we had pretty constant rain and at our first stop in Fordell we all were looking a little damper than when we set out.  In Fordell we met up with Russell who was skipping the ride and in some funny 4-wheeled contraption that didn't seem to like going in a straight line when he nailed it...

Our next leg was to take us through to Hunterville and while we had one short period when the rain let up a bit, the road was still pretty wet in places.  The good thing was that there had obviously been plenty of rain overnight and the roads weren't too slippery after all the hot weather we've been having.  The new rubber was also proving to be pretty fabulous - who says you can't scrub in new rubber in the wet?

By the time we hit Hunterville we were all pretty wet and left quite a few puddles on the cafe floor (can't take Colin anywhere) as our gear dripped while we had an early lunch.

These pics by some other fella...

After lunch our numbers dropped to just four with just Brian, Colin, Neil and I heading off for round two - it must have been wet or something...

From Hunterville we cruised up SH1 to Ohingaiti where we turned off and rode over to Pemberton.  It was a nice little ride through here although there was quite a long section of new seal with plenty of loose seal on it.

At the Rangiwahia Road turn-off Neil decided that he too was going to wimp out as he still had to pick up some gear from Colin's and then ride on home to National Park.  Colin thought he should also help him out so that just left Brian and I.  So we decided that we too were also wet enough and escorted the others to Kimbolton for a few pics.

First rain in a long time...

Neil and Colin departed for Halcombe while Brian and I pootled off home via Colyton and Bunnythorpe.  So, a decidedly shorter run than planned but I still enjoyed the ride in the wet but need to sort out my riding gear's waterproofness before the TT in a few weeks...