May BRRBT No need for the Paraparamedics

You can tell Neil named the ride...

Yes, Sunday was our monthly ride and this time around Neil was leading the ride and after a few recce rides (just 'cause we can) over the previous couple of weekends he settled on a route that would take us through to Ohakune for lunch before returning back to the Rangitikei.

Our meeting point for the ride start was in Hunterville and see if you can tell whether I was early or late...

Half an hour later...

Once we had all gathered and our leader had finished his coffee we mounted up for the run through to Fordell and Okoia.  This was just as much fun as I remembered from not so long ago.  One neat thing about this ride was that Meanie and Monie joined us for their first BRRBT ride.  After doing a stint as cornerman I caught up to them just before Fordell:

Once again, after taking the Okoia turn-off, we stopped at Upokongaro for a quick regroup and to pick up two riders joining us from Wanganui.

From here we were forced to take in the always delicious Paraparas through to Raetihi.  Naturally we were well behaved at all times.

Now we just had a short ride across to Ohakune for lunch but Neil managed to keep us from getting bored by introducing us to a little loop that took in a couple of narrow little back roads - Pakihi and Lake Roads.  Getting a peek at the snow on the mountain was an added bonus to this nice little diversion.

In Ohakune we parked up amongst a few other bikes who's owners' were also out enjoying a lovely day and ordered our lunch.

After lunch the plan was to gas up if required and then ride up to the Turoa ski field to check out the views.  I flagged the fuel and went straight up the mountain (only to decide to gas up once I rode back down) ahead of the others.  On the way up there was a nice mucky section of roadworks that made me happy that I canned my idea of washing the bike on Saturday...

The ride up the mountain is pretty special (hint: this video is worth watching):

And then there's the views!

Dropping back down the hill I passed the others going the way and then had some more fun playing in the mud.  Back in Ohakune I gassed up the bike and waited by the big carrot for the others to come back down the mountain.

Next up was a cruise into Waiouru and then down SH1 to Taihape.  We got off SH1 for another small diversion by taking Spooner's Hill road.  We missed the turn-off to Napier however...

Back onto SH1 we carried onto Utiku where we turned off again to take in more of the roads Neil and I recced a fortnight earlier.

Utiku

These roads were still good fun and also still took us through to Kimbolton via Rangiwahia.  In Kimbolton it was time for a catch up and for some of us to head home rather than returning to Hunterville via Vinegar Hill.

Monie with her new steed - a brand spankers Z1000SX

I ended up bailing on Vinegar Hill as I'd done it about 3 times in 3 weeks so I simply followed Meanie and Monie through to Colyton where they carried on home to Ashhurst and I turned off to make my way back into Palmy.  Another great day's riding with the BRRBT crew and yet again with very nice weather - long may it continue!

More yummy pics here.