Roads that is...
It's spring here. That means it's wet. We've had decent rain most days for at least 3 weeks and even some hail just before I wrote this. That means that it's been a bit of a lottery on whether (ha, ha) I manage to get in a decent ride in the weekend without drowning. On Sunday I was riding regardless.
It was the T7's turn even though the Tiger needed a new tyre to be scrubbed in before this weekend (yeah, I'm definitely riding this weekend too). Reason? All that rain maketh the gravel good!
I left home in sunshine and made my way over the track and then onto the usual gravel superhighway to Eketahuna. Yes, the gravel was good but the weather not so much. Along the way I managed to get caught in several reasonable showers and had to put up with a wet and fogging visor (I'd thrown out the old, worn-out Pinlock and not replaced it) which mad some of the gravel a little more interesting.
In Eke, I stopped for fuel and an early lunch before pointing the bike East on the always enjoyable Mangaoranga Road. At the next turn, I went right instead of left and took Mangamahoe Central Road through to the Mauriceville Road. We don't go this way very often, but Mangamahoe was great with the only issue being loose ewes and their lambs all over the road.
Next up was plenty of seal up of over Dreyers Rock Road, one minute in bright sunshine, the next in rain, before cruising South on Route 52 and then on towards Bideford. Northeast of Bideford, I got back onto the gravel of Wairiri Road and got an interesting surprise.
Wairiri dropped me down onto Daggs Road and then back onto 52. From here the stunningly good Bartons line (if you watched the video, you'll know that there's no video of it due to camera issues - dammit) where the gravel was amazing - plenty of grip but it was also very easy to get the tail out and enjoy some rear wheel steering. Magic!
Pori Road was more of the same really. I was surprised how dry and "unslippery" it was. The charge up the hill was spectacular and even though there was cold water in my old Formas, my temperature came up with the workout I got. Who says I don't exercise enough?
The ride home took in a little more gravel around Makairo which also was fun and the T7 took its first pootle over the new road before we got back to sunny Ashhurst. Mint ride of somewhere around 300km in less than 4 hours - including stops which means that the gravel was definitely good!
