So, yesterday it was raining in Colin's neck of the woods but it wasn't here and I didn't care anyway so decided to zip up to Taihape to catch up with Glen.
After a nice little warm up around the Manawatu Scenic Route (including a couple of lovely sections of un-signposted new seal) I hit the cruise control for the short bit of SH1 and rolled on into catch up with Glen - who wasn't there ☹️. Oh well, never mind, I grabbed a quick lunch at the Scottish restaurant and worked out a new plan.
After opening all the vents on my gear I carried on North in a reasonable breeze to Waiouru and then turned off towards Ohakune. Rather than take in the delights of 'kune, I decided to turn down Fields Track and make for the Paras.
Fields Track was a hoot on the Tiger, its great handling did a great job of all the narrow, bumpy and windy roads. As it was a fairy (ahem) leisurely cruise I made time for a few photo stops.
Popping out onto the Paras, it was time to start making my way homeward. The Paras were their usual fun (except for the 3 sets of traffic lights still in place) but one bee/wasp spoiled my day a little when he decided to enter my helmet and give my nose a seeing to. With nowhere to easily pull over I had to put up with him for a while before finally pulling over outside the Kakatahi School. My crappy eyes couldn't find a sting so I just ignored my nose and carried on.
Just South of Upo I turned off for the normal Okoia shortcut through to Fordell and another quick photo stop to take more pics of the pretty new bike.
From there it was onto Turakina Valley Road to make my way to Marton. Along the way there was time for some more pics of a crouching Tiger by a bridge.
Just out of Marton the fuel warning came on and the bike informed me that there was about 62km left in the tank. This would have just got me home but as our servo is currently in pieces, that could of been a problem. Putting 26L or so in at Marton fixed that little problem and a quiet cruise home via Halcombe and Colyton got me home just after 3pm. Nice little ride of around 350km with the bike now having about 1,500 km on it and no chicken strips...
Not mucking around with the kilometres I see! It'll have 100K on it in no time 😁
ReplyDeleteIt's that new bike smell that draws me in...
DeleteDelighted to see you on a Triumph, Andrew 😁. Did you do the 1000 miler where we had to go through Fields Track in the middle of the night? I have a vague memory of a Beemer rider falling asleep on that road and ending up in a ditch, completely unscathed. Can't remember the year.
ReplyDeleteAll the best for the upcoming year mate!
Yeah, I did at least one 1,000 miler through Fields Track. Had a ZX-14 (he'd got last in Colyton and followed me all the way to the Para's before doing a disappearing act) up my butt as I chased the bunnies off the road. Can't remember the incident but do remember a Beemer rider falling asleep in front of us in the 3 sisters and gently going off the road - luckily he was ok and I think even got home.
DeleteAll the best to you and the boss too!
What a great looking day to be riding. I love the bridge photos.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was pretty nice. For some reason I like bridge pics too.
DeleteNice to have good riding close to home. While I enjoy my tropical beach lifestyle the down side is zero local riding.
ReplyDelete