CDMTC 800km in a day

Summer must be here as there seems to be plenty of rides on at the moment. Last weekend it was the C1KC and this weekend the Central Districts Motorcycle Touring Club had another running of their 800km in a day ride. I'd only done one of these before so thought that I'd better have another crack at it - trouble was the Connie was out due to a bald rear tyre - so what to do. Answer: break out the super-touring VTR for the day...

Another surprise was the old man coming down from Napier on Friday night to join Mark and myself on the ride. So it was two twins and a Bandit meeting up at 7:15 for the start - that is, until we were joined by Graeme from Napier on another Bandit.

After signing on we were given the route and basically told that we could take off whenever we wanted. The route was to take us to Wanganui, Raetihi, Tokoroa, Taupo and Napier before returning back to Palmy. We weren't told what route to take but had our odometer readings taken and also had to get receipts at four different stops along the way.

View 2010 CDMTC 800km in Day in a larger map

Leaving Palmy we took a bit of a detour to avoid the uninteresting ride over to Wanganui by riding through to Halcombe and then taking Makirikiri Road across to Turakina. Then there was just a short squirt on SH3 before we turned off the main road again to go to Fordell and then Okoia allowing us to bypass Wanganui and get to the Paraparas sooner.

The ride over the Para's was fantastic (as usual) and it was neat to be riding the Honda through here for the first time. By the time we got to Raetihi (the first checkpoint) things had warmed up quite a bit and I was glad to have the chance to remove my sweatshirt and grab a cold drink.

The next leg of the trip took us across to National Park and then over SH47 to Tokaanu (where Dad departed for home) before climbing up over the delicious Kuratau Saddle. Going up the saddle we did get stuck behind a bit of traffic for a while but once past the cars we had a great run all the way to the turn-off to Whakamaru.

At the turn-off a number of the other riders were parked up having a chat but we continued on behind the lake and thought that we were making pretty good time until the others came whistling past us. Just before Whakamaru we were stopped by some road works for a while and I used the opportunity to put on my sunglasses as the sun was well and truly up and blazing down on all the motorcyclists in their hot riding gear.

From Whakamaru it was just a short 30km pootle up the road to Tokoroa and the next checkpoint. All the other riders were there already and the garage was doing a roaring trade in petrol and pies. We just filled up and set off for Checkpoint three in Taupo.

This short hop is a pretty boring ride down SH1 where we kept the pace down as it's a bit of a happy hunting ground for the boys in blue. In Taupo we didn't need petrol so stopped in at the local Subway for a bite before hitting the Napier-Taupo road.

After pootling across the Taupo plains we eventually got into the hilly, bendy bits which make the Napier-Taupo a great ride and had a blast gobbling up the kms to Napier.

Napier was our last stop for petrol and here Mark and I also swapped bikes for the trip home so he too could also experience the astounding touring capability of the might red Honda. As for myself, well I had to get used to riding a Bandit again and it took me a while to get comfortable - ducking in behind Mark as he took to "the hill" on SH50 helped and I was soon enjoying the charms of a Bandit once again.

We had a great ride over SH50 and then took it pretty quietly on SH2 as we headed for home. After a day of fantastic weather we finally ran into some average weather just before Woodville - not rain but very blustery conditions which continued through the gorge and into Palmy. Back at Breakers we had our odo's checked and then joined the other riders for a quick drink and a chat before making our way home after a great day out in the sunshine. Rumour has it that the CDMTC is going to plan another 800km ride in the new year...

More pics here.

CDMTC 800k's in a Day

After doing the 2007 800k's in a day Andrew had decided we needed to do the 2008 version as well. The club had run it earlier in the year, but with a poor turn out had decided to run it again this weeked.

As it turned out Andrew got crook and couldn't make it so I was off on a solo expedition. The weather wasn't great with wind and rain forecast, but I had already decided I was going regardless.

An early breaky and I was off, filled up the bike on the way into town, then headed around to Breakers for the sign in and kick off. When I got there about 4 other bikes were already there. I paid my money, they recorded my odo reading and as the other guys weren't showing much sign of leaving I decided head off.

The first check point was Inglewood so it was off to the Naki I went, not the most exciting ride but easy K's to clock up early. A guy on a Harley that I had seen at Breakers passed me at Ohakea and instead of sticking with him I let him go and continued on alone. Somewhere between Wanganui and Waverley my morning cup of tea needed to get out so I had a quick pit stop to water the weeds. I'd left Palmy at 07:07 and was in Inglewood about 09:30 I got gas, had a quick drink then was off again.

The weather had looked a bit damp ahead and I tossed up stopping to put the wet weather gear on but decided to continue until it got real wet. Once I got away from civilisation I upped the pace a bit and was soon attacking Mount Messenger, the road was wet so I had to take it a bit easy. After that it was the Awakino gorge and onto Te Kuiti. I had calculated this to be about half way so it was good to know I was on the down hill side. Heading through to Whakamaru and the second check point the roads were once again wet with the odd shower to stop me getting too hot.

I pulled into Whakamaru at about 12:15, the guy on the Harley was just leaving, so he hadn't got away on me much. I had a drink and bite to eat and as I was leaving the next group pulled up.

I had hoped to get all the way back to Palmy on a tank but was going to see how things went. Down the back of the lake I got to cover the ground at a good pace with the roads dry and the weather improving, then it was onto Mananui and the western side of the mountain and into the Paraparas. I enjoyed this bit and the road was in good condition considering all the rain over the winter. I was soon in Wanganui for the second time in a day.

I decided to keep going and see how my petrol supply held up but it wasn't long before the gauge was flashing and I knew I would be pushing it to make it to Palmy so had a quick fill up at Bulls. I was back at Breakers at 16:08, nine hours and one minute after leaving with 810km in between.

800K's in a day

Quarter to six is a bit early to be getting up on a Saturday morning (especially with the alarm set for a bit later than that) but with a decent ride on offer it didn’t hurt too much. Come 7am and Mark & I were down at the Cloverlea Tavern signing in along with a crew we know from the Bay (Warren: BMW R1200GS Adventure, Brett & Alistair: VFR800’s, and an older guy (67 – did his first Grand Challenge last year!) on an old BMW R100S). By 7:15 we’d signed up, found out where we were heading and said gidday to other guy’s so there was nothing stopping us from tearing off.

Off we headed on a reasonably cool morning towards Wanganui. Not far out of town we caught up to a cop who pulled over (without indicating) and then tucked in behind us to follow us for a while. Not a good start. At Turakina I threw a few gestures at Mark suggesting we get off the main road and eventually he clicked on and we turned off and went through to Fordell on the way to Wanganui. As we dropped into Wanganui we could see mist rising over the river – I hate riding in the fog!

We didn’t hit the fog until on the Para-para’s just after I had taken off after a guy on a Hornet. The mist put a stop to that but we were able to resume play once over the top of the hill and back onto some flats. I stopped at Ruakawa and quickly grabbed my camera to get some photos of the guys coming past. Then it was back up the road to catch the other guys who had stopped at the falls for a look.

Back on the bikes we were soon onto the boringly straight roads up through National Park to Taumarunui – our first check point. A quick top up to get the necessary docket and we were off again. Had another play with the guy on the Hornet and another guy going over the Waituhi Saddle before waiting for the other guys and leading them onto Whakamaru.

At Whakamaru, Warren took the lead onto Tokoroa and when we pulled into the petrol station there was quite a few of us all lined up. After this second stop for a fuel docket he then took us on a great little back road into Taupo. By now we’d also picked up another guy (Richard – BMW R1100) who stuck with us until the finish. We had a quick stop here to remove excess clothing (getting pretty hot by now) before heading off over the Taupo road to Napier. Great fun on the hills but my tongue was definitely hanging out by the time we got into Bayview.

This was our last checkpoint so we got fuel, had a drink & a snack before heading off back to Palmy via Highway 50. Very hot riding conditions – I was riding with my visor raised slightly to let more air in but this dried me out pretty quickly. Hung in there until Palmy where I realized that we were going to be under the 800km mark. Decided we’d see what happened when we got there before worrying about doing a couple more k’s. In the end, Mark & my bikes said 791.9k, the 2 VFR’s said about 780 and the BMW Adventure 760km – who was right?

In the end the guys running the event weren’t too worried and we got our badges, had a well earned drink and a nice meal. All in all a great ride on a perfect (if a bit hot) day and good practice for the Southern Cross. Interestingly (considering we’d never met 2 of the guys), all in our group of six are doing the Southern Cross so we’ll be catching up again at Cape Egmont come April 23rd.

More photos here.

800K's in a Day

Only just found out about this ride on next Saturday (10th March). The Central Districts Motorcycle Touring Club are holding an 800k's in a day run. The ride starts 7am at the Cloverlea Tavern car park, Palmerston North and for your $30 you get a badge & a meal at the end of the ride (8pm).

You can find out how to contact the CDMTC by visiting their website at:

http://www.silver-bullet.co.nz/CDMTC/home.html

Should be good practice for the Southern Cross - our plan has us doing this sort of distance (or more) for at least 4 days in a row. Hope to be there...