Without actually looking at a map of the Rally, I decided just to head up one side of "The Valley" (Pohangina) and come back via the other. It turns out that I nailed Special Stage 10 when I took Finnis Road (end of the special stage) and Ridge Road. Here's the map of the rally.
I'm happy to say that the rally hadn't ruined Finnis Road (perhaps because it was downhill for them?) and I had an absolute blast charging up the hill. There was grip where I needed it but also some slightly slipperier corners that allowed the rear to slide around exiting corners under power - nice!
Hitting Ridge Road and it was pretty much more of the same except for where it wasn't...
There were some quite muddy and slippery bits where I had to pull my head in a bit to avoid the sort of off-road excursions that rally cars are prone to take (but sensible motorcyclists try to avoid) and also some bits where small, hard ruts had been formed. The ruts were the trickiest as they were quite narrow and although they weren't deep it was easier to get a little upset if you slipped into one when peeling into a corner.
Nevertheless, it was a real hoot checking out the road and the mud and slipperiness was something you don't get every day.
Arriving in Apiti, I continued onto Kimbolton where I stopped for a sausage roll and to see if Ian and his mate Craig were around as Ian had mentioned that they were going to be in the area. We kinda fluked making contact over Messenger 'cos that's something you're not usually looking at when ya are hanging onto the bars...
It turned out that they'd just stopped at a corner on Ridge Road. I let them know that it was an "interesting" ride and then after a bit of back and fourth we agreed to meet in Apiti.
Thinking I had plenty of time (with them having 20+ km of Ridge Road to ride to get to Apiti, I meandered off up the road and grabbed a snap of the Kimbolton Fire Station for the AdvRider page before trundling off to Apiti to get that one as well.
In Apiti, I mooched around a bit and took in a few more photo stops before parking under a veranda as there was the odd spit around.
I hadn't been there long when I heard a couple of bikes coming into town from the Kimbolton direction. Turning around I recognised Ian and his DR so I jumped back on the bike and raced off to catch them.
It turned out that they had taken one of the side roads off Ridge Road and hit the tar to get up to Apiti a bit sooner. It also turned out that Craig had a new horse.
After a bit of a chat, we fired up the bikes and headed for Makoura. I have to say the gravel section of Makoura Road was magic - really fast with plenty of grip. And then it was onto Pohangina Road.
And that's all the video my useless GoPro took...
Pohangina Road was in a lot better condition than Ridge Road (no rally cars eh?) and while there was the odd slippery bit, a lot of metal had been laid over the sections that can get a bit slippery. It was interesting being on some fairly clear, hard-packed stuff one minute and the next being into some deeper stuff that kept ya on your toes.
We had a quick stop in Pohangina where Ian pinched the Africa for the quick squirt back to my place fo a cold drink.
A pretty short little ride but neat to be out chasing the cars and nice to catch up with the chaps. I even had time to wash the bike as apparently it was getting a bit grubby...
Oh, and this was some video of the cars on Ridge Road:
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