After an early rise and walk of the dog I hit the road at about 7:15 to ride over to Whanganui for the meet. For a while it was just me and a couple of Tiggers but eventually the rest of the team turned up and I forgot to take a photo...
Once Phil had given us the run down on the ride we saddled up and headed out along the river before turning up Brunswick Road to make our way out of Whanganui. I got the job as first cornerman which meant that I got to follow the team through to the start of the fantastic Rangitatau East Road. As you can see we had a fair selection of bikes and some good keen pillions too.
After our first taste of Rangitatau East Road, we stopped at what was our planned turn-off down Kauarapaoa Road for a regroup.
A Stephen |
The Tigger twins |
Phil decided that we had made good time so we decided to explore more of Rangitatau East Road and ended up riding in as far as the Private Road sign - legend has it that it pays not to ignore the sign...
I'm guessing that somewhere along this bit Dawn got this great shot of a critter trying to race a boxer.
Officially trespassing... |
Alan checking his shoelaces are tied... |
Stephen #1 again |
Stephen #2 (TEC) |
Back in Whanganui we stopped briefly for fuel before making our way to the Cafe at Upokongaro for lunch and to pick up a couple more bikes for the afternoon's ride.
After lunch we had a quick squirt up the Paras before turning off onto Te Rimu Road which I had not done in a few years and which everyone's GPS maps said does not go right through to Mangamahu Road - there's even a no exit sign at the start of the road. But guess what?
At the end of the road Colin and I did the cornerman job and had quite a wait for the last 2 bikes. Not sure what the delay was but naturally when I finally decided to go look see I ran into them within less than one kilometre.
Next up was a lengthy section of tar which let us catch up to some of the others before being forced to stop by a misbehaving Yamaha (never heard of one of those before). It turned out that the battery terminal on the WR had come a bit loose and the bike was soon up and running and leaving marks in the gravel to show us the way.
As you can see from the end of the video we managed to find a bit of rain as we waited for all the gang at the Fields Track turn-off.
Just rain... |
The last stop for Colin and myself was at Papanui Junction where we said goodbye to the rest of the gang as we were going to head home rather than back to Whanganui for dinner with the troops (anti-social cretins that we are). A few highlights from Turakina Valley Road:
After waving to the last cornerman, Colin and I had a nice squirt into Hunterville before rocking Vinegar Hill into Feilding where a coffee at the olds place was in order.
Another great ride! Thanks Phil!