Yesterday, the dog and I got home from our walk to find a BMW in the driveway and the rider sprawled on the couch. We couldn't allow that so after plying the rider with coffee, two bikes made there way out and up the valley.
Early in the ride something just wasn't quite right. I wasn't feeling quite as plugged in as usual and that my riding wasn't exactly startling. So, after puttering around the Pohangina Valley and looking for a nice view of the river I pulled over at Adi's bridge.
There we had a bit of a yarn and it appeared that I wasn't just me that was struggling for mojo. It was a pretty nice morning, not too hot but clear and sunny, what was our problem? Anyway, we decided to carry on just see where we got to without committing to a decent ride - coffee in Mangaweka was beckoning - oh, and an interesting pie.
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| So now I know what gunpowder tastes like... |
After our coffee and a decent break we decided to check out the highlights of Mangaweka and I grabbed a few pics for various threads on Advrider. Turns out there are some pretty cool old buildings and artwork in Mangaweka - see, you can find interesting things if you get off SH1...
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| Risking life and limb on the main street |
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| Colin's kinda mates.. |
From Mangaweka we trundled down to Hunterville to fill up the Beemer - Colin managed to get $65 in it and he hadn't been bone dry yet either...
Next up was a trip over Mangahoe Road. Last time we went through there we'd noticed all the damage from heavy rain and this time we took our time and even stopped for a nosey on one of the sections where the road was washed away and is under repair.
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| These jokers would have got wet feet here a few weeks ago |
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| There was all sorts of crap down in the creek - a lot of water must have come through here |
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| Someone's sticking to showers only at the moment |
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| Job done, road is perfect now... |
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| Yep! |
Just up the road a tad we hung a left onto Turakina Valley Road to make our way back towards Marton. As it was picture taking day we pulled up for some shots at a farmers neat bridge.
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| The waters have receded somewhat... |
By now it was a lot hotter and the tar getting worse so we turned off up Makuhou Road to enjoy that neat bit of seal (apart from the hot tar at the top) to the Marton reservoir. We even stopped again for pics!
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| "Where is the coffee!" |
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| I like this bike... |
Looking at that cool water made us even hotter and thirstier so we trundled into Marton and found a dairy and some shade to have a breather in.
Here, Colin was splitting for home and me likewise. This could have been in two different directions but when I noticed Colin still behind me on the Halcombe road I took us out on one last diversion through to Stanford and then back into Fielding.
In Fielding I finally shook the BMW and cruised home via Colyton where another cold drink and a breather was in order.
So, not a huge ride (about 270km for me) but it was quite nice just taking it easy and getting the odd photo - a different sort of mojo found and enjoyed
And yes Dave, 28 degrees is hot!
Lovely photos as usual Andrew. Mangaweka is a place I always mean to stop at. I seem to remember from several years ago that an ex-SAS trooper and his family live there and he wrote a book which also features him settling in Mangaweka and getting the community involved in arty stuff. Totally understand about the Mojo thing. I haven't ridden since mid-December! I've had plenty of other things to do and Coro isn't a good place to ride with holiday crowds around. Must make the effort to get out shortly!
ReplyDeleteThanks Geoff. Yeah, there was some other stuff on different buildings too.
DeleteYeah, you've gotta know when you're not on top of your game and adjust to prevent something silly going wrong. Colin and I had a good ole chat about it and are both on the same page about not overdoing things if you're a bit off.