With the Connie still waiting on a battery and the Tenere having had a bit of action lately, it was time to put some ergs back into the WR's battery and flip a few more stones - multi-tasking even...
After a quick trip over to my folks place I got to enjoy a very long, straight road through to Cheltenham and Kiwitea, at the WR's normal fast touring speed 😪
At Kiwitea, I turned off and made for Coulters Line and my first gravel of the day. There has been a fair bit of truck traffic (some logging going on) up and down this road so they've made a good job of packing down the road hard and smooth.
The mouse fair shot up the road but at the top there was a little bit of excitement when a Hilux turning into Coulters Line wanted a fair chunk of my side of the road. Avoiding becoming a hood ornament involved the deployment of a fair bit of stopping power, the back end attempting to pass the front and the candle going out on the mighty power plant...
Anyway, no paint was swapped and I carried on North towards Apiti on Ridge Road. Temperatures were still pretty low but the sun was out and trying to warm things up - it made for some really nice views across the valley.
The rest of Ridge Road was much the same: great scenery and some great gravel that the little bike flew over.
Makoura Road was next and I took it very carefully on the sealed section dropping down to the river as there was still some frost about and the road is in a lot of shade. Back on the gravel I felt a lot more comfortable although with not a lot of gravel on the road in places, perhaps there could have still been some ice about...
For my trip back to Pohangina I decided that Pohangina Road was the go. This was more great gravel following another ridge line. Plenty of fun and more scenery.
Dropping down into the valley I went to check out Totara Reserve but the gates were locked. Luckily I was on a WR so I on the other side of the river I was able to follow a "track" down to the river to check things out.
After scrambling out of the river the gravel ran out and I was back on tar and avoiding a large cattle beast who was happily munching on the grass by the side of the road. This made me hungry so I stopped in Ashhurst for a little something before the trek (once again at high cruise) into Palmy.
On the way in I got to see a cop pull over a serious offender (speeder) and then be involved in a little comedy: nearing town a fast moving Audi decided he needed to get past and promptly got caught behind the car in front of me. As often works out when on a bike, he had less oppourtunities to pass the car and I was able to clean them both up without having to button off - go the Mighty Mouse!
There's nothing like a nice winters day for a quiet pootle!
Nice job controlling the back end of the mouse as you rapidly shed velocity!
ReplyDeleteSounds dramatic but secretly fun...
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