2015 1KC

Yesterday was the annual 1KC (formerly C1KC) so that meant a very early start for the Manawatu gang as we both start and finish in Palmy but ride down to meet up with the Wellington group at their start.  There were 7 of us who hit the road at about 5am and engaged high-beam on our way down.

Clive's mighty DR - knobblies an' 'all...

It was a little chilly on the way down but we did get to enjoy a pleasant ride and to see the sun come up.  In Wellington we didn't muck around too much before hitting the road again.

Climbing up towards the Rimutakas it was still chilly and there was mist in the valley which along with a bright sun made visibility a little tricky.  Still, I had a good run up the hill before catching up with traffic on the descent.

In Masterton it was time to hanger right and make for Alfredton to the first checkpoint on the same great roads I'd ridden 6 days previously.  It was a nice little squirt although one poor little bird did lose when taking on a big, neutron silver missile...

Monie leading some Hondas into the checkpoint

From Alfredton it was the familiar Pa Valley and Mangaone Valley roads into Pahiatua for our first fuel stop and 280km on the board since Palmy.  More SH2 got us into Woodville where we turned and made our way through the gorge to Ashhurst.  Halfway through the gorge we picked up a 1290 Superduke who decided to join us for some of the ride.

Well and truly on home turf now, we crossed over to Cheltenham and then on to checkpoint two in Rangiwahia.

Al deciding to join the party

From Rangiwahia we picked our way through the debris and crossed over onto SH1 for the trip up to Turangi.  It was quite a nice ride but we were all glad not to be the guy on the ST1300 who had to stop to chat to a guy in a blue uniform and it was good to park up in Turangi for an early lunch with half the ride distance behind us.

After another great feed at the cafe in Turangi, we gassed up, removed extra layers and headed up around the top of the lake to our next checkpoint at the Tihoi Trading Post.

Now it was time to turn homeward (well, in a roundabout way) and make our way through Taupo and down to the Hawkes Bay.

The Napier-Taupo road was it's normal magnificent self and so was the Connie.  We had a great run over the "wee" hills.  In the Esk Valley I made a wee navigation error (by ignoring my GPS) and we missed the correct turn-off to Checkpoint four so went for a wee ride through Napier and Taradale before finally ending up in Puketapu.

Here we said goodbye to Al as made for home and we carried on (following the GPS again) to our last petrol stop in Pakowhai.

The next short hop took us between Clive and Havelock North and to Kahuranaki Road and Checkpoint 5 at "The Poplars".

Kahuranaki Road took us through to Elsethorpe and after turning at the Patangata Pub we eventually hit SH2 again in Waipawa.  More of SH2 got us to Waipuk where it was time to head back out towards the coast again.  Skipping Porangahau we turned South on Route 52 to checkpoint 6 at Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu - an obvious place for a checkpoint if ever there was one!

Monie in hot pursuit...

The next leg took us over the rough and dodgy roads through Wimbledon and Weber to Dannevirke where Clive and I stopped to give the DR a breather...

James and Monie soon caught us up for another short hop to Woodville for our last Checkpoint photo.

Another trip through the gorge got us to Ashhurst where we pulled up to enjoy a cold drink and pat ourselves on the backs for having just knocked over another great 1,000km ride!

More pics here.