On a previous Sunday...

Yeah, I'm a little behind on my blogs again...

It was the Sunday before last and with the weather due to change again (after a stunning Saturday), I decided to squeak in a wee ride.  In fact, I needed one and when I left home on the T7 I was even considering a longer run (it was only 10am), regardless of weather - well, that was one idea.

My plans had me heading on down our usual route down to Eketahuna, see what the weather was doing and then maybe having an explore out East towards the coast.

But just as I hit the first stretch of gravel, the rain made its appearance.  And the gravel was reasonably fresh.  And I forgot that my sun visor was down.  The rain and sun visor issue made visibility a little tricky so the deeper than ideal gravel was a little more challenging and some sections had to be taken with a bit of caution.

In fact, some bits weren't fun, and the weather was looking even darker the further South I went.  You might say that my once eager enthusiasm was waning with the raining.  So, I bailed...

But not completely.  Instead of just hitting the main road back to Pahiatua and back over the track, I stuck close to the ranges (you know, where the rain is).  Heading back towards Mangamire on so called seal (not a stone in it) was actually worse than the gravel.  It was really wet and slippery and then the wind started up with a vicious crosswind blowing me all over the road.  I did get pushed across the road once - I was sure that the wind was inducing a sidewise slide and was a bit worried when I had to deal with a ute coming the other way on a skinny bridge.

I was pretty happy to get onto the gravel bit of Bridge Road and then Ridge Road Central.  In fact, things got a lot better with less wind and rain and the gravel was damn good too - finally getting to have the odd squirt and leave some marks on the road.

Popping out by the Pahiatua Powder Factory, I turned back onto some seal to head towards the gorge.  The normal Tararua Road short-cut was fabulous, followed by a more careful crossing of the track (slippery when wet) and a trundle home where the sun promptly made a short appearance before the rain began again in earnest.

Zero photos or video taken so you'll have to make do with a comparison of the clean T7 after the last ride and a very slightly grubbier one after this short pootle.