CDMTC Toy Run

Yes, it's that time of the year again and it looks like I'll only get to one Toy Run - our local one run by the Central Districts Touring Club.

As the Connie is getting a ride in tomorrow I decided that the Vee could be my sleigh for the day but rather than decorate it with Xmas decorations like some of the bikes I washed some of the dust of her and pronounced her good to go.  I probably should have washed my riding gear too as it was fairly dusty from the last BRR ride - never mind, it'll rain one day...

After my elaborate preparations I chucked my gifts in the topbox and rode across to Feilding where the ride kicks off.  After some biker road food I parked up and waited for Santa and the rest of the riders to arrive.

2 wheeled pressie delivery systems

There was a bit of waiting around but I chatted with a couple of guys and me ma also showed up so I even talked to her for a bit.  Santa soon showed up on his cruiser and then things started to happen.

No, I don't want to sit on Santa's knee - I want to sit on his bike!

Leaving Feilding we made our way over to Halcombe and then turned Northwards onto Stanway Road.  It was along here that we had a really unfortunate mishap when the lady in front of me went very wide going into a left hander and eventually ran out of road and ended up putting her bike down.  I'm picking she was pretty new to riding as the corner (even though it tightens a little) is pretty gentle and we were probably doing less than 80km/h.

Approach to corner

Bike went in somewhere close to the first road marker in the pic

I hauled up and ran over but she was already getting up and didn't appear to be too badly knocked about.  Her glove had torn and a finger was bleeding a fair bit but others were on hand with a first aid kit to help patch her up while me and a few others dealt with the little 250.

The accident hadn't done too much damage to the bike and we soon got it fired up.  It had however, sheared off the RHS foot peg which was a bit of an issue.  I didn't have all my tools with me (it was a Toy Run not an Adv ride!) but I managed to remove the remaining bits of the footpeg and temporarily fit the passenger peg to the front mount.  It wasn't perfect but at least there was somewhere to put ya foot.

We eventually got going again and did the remainder of the ride at pretty slow pace.  I followed the 250 and there was another hairy moment on one right hander but she made it home safely - she probably needs to rethink riding or get some training in...

Back in town we made our way to the clubrooms where we handed over our pressies and there was a BBQ going etc.  I had a few things to do so just handed my pressies over and hit the road again.

So not the best Toy Run I've been on but at least the rider's injuries were minor and the Barnardos kids will be getting a few presents from some scruffy bikers.

CDMTC Toy Run

Today was the local Toy Run which is organised by the Central Districts Motorcycle Touring Club with all the toys going to Barnados.

The morning started off ok weather wise but the nearer it got to start time the worse it got and we actually had some quite heavy rain at times.  A phone call to Brian and we both decided that we were going regardless.

I left home in some very light spits and made my way over to Feilding where I met up with Brian and his niece for a quick bite before the ride started.  The uncertain weather certainly had an effect on numbers with probably only 25 riders turning up - two Santas though...

After a few spits while we waited, the weather actually improved for the ride and although we had wet roads the rain pretty much stayed away.  The route took us on a bit of a loop out through Halcombe, Stanway, Colyton and Ashhurst before taking us back into Palmy where we handed our toys over - sadly no badge this year :(

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CDMTC Toy Run

Yesterday was the annual Central Districts Toy Run and this year Brian, Linda, Chris and I were able to bring along a newbie with us - Daniel on his mighty Keeway Super Shadow!

250cc of awesomeness

Dan's been riding for about two years and this was his first group ride.  We started off with a quiet cruise over to Feilding where we had lunch while waiting for the rest of the riders to turn up.

Future Connie rider

The ride itself was just a roundabout ride back to Palmy - instead of the usual 20 km it was more like 70km.  Plenty of time to catch the mighty Keeway in action.

The ride ended at a local watering hole where we handed over our toys and were able to purchase a badge and a sausage.

Got a couple now...

So Dan's got his first badge and is keen for the Coast to Coast next weekend...

CDMTC Toy Run

Yesterday was the 25th running of the Central Districts Motorcycle Touring Club's Toy Run (what a mouthful) and so as the owner of nine badges from previous rides I thought that I should add number ten.

Brian, Linda and I rode over to Feilding and met up with Mark to have lunch prior to the ride start.  By 1pm there was a reasonable number of bikes - some decorated and some not - parked up waiting for the ride to kick-off.

Disgustingly blurry pic of us waiting for the kick-off

After a quick ride briefing Santa and his escort led us out of Feilding and onto Halcombe.  From there we wound our way around a number of back roads before returning back to Palmy to donate our toys and get that important badge.

View 2011 CDMTC Toy Run in a larger map

Toy run number 1 of the year done and dusted.  Wanganui next week...

CDMTC Toy Run

Yes, it's that time of the year again - toy run time! First one off the mark was the CDMTC run today. A fine day today brought out plenty of riders keen to support the cause and enjoy a short ride over a few back roads to Palmy.

Brian and I got there early and had a bite of lunch while we waited and were soon joined by plenty of others including Mark and some of the other Manawatu crew. We even were given a huge bag of soft toys by a nice lady who wanted to make sure they got to the kids. These had to be spread amongst quite a few bikes but was a very nice gesture by a non-motorcyclist.

Next toy run: next Sunday, Wanganui...

CDMTC Toy Run

Yep, it's that time of year so there's Toy runs to ride. Today was the Palmerston North one organised by the CDMTC - they also organised a very hot & sunny day.

I met up with a few of the usual Friday night ride crew and headed over to Fielding where the ride started from. We parked up, got badges and waited for the arrival of Santa on his Honda (Rudolph was riding pillion).

The ride was a simple one through to Halcombe, back in behind Fielding, across to Ashhurst and finally ending up at the Awapuni Hotel where toys were donated, sausages eaten and drinks drunk. The next one is the Wellington one tomorrow - don't know if I'll be doing it just yet but it looks like they should definitely have good weather for it.

CDMTC Interclub Ride

Strangely enough the weekend yielded two fine days in a row and just as I was contemplating firing up the mower, Brian rang to tell me we were going on the CDMTC Interclub ride.

I had all of about quarter of an hour to wolf down some lunch and get my act together before he turned up and we headed off to meet up with the rest of the group. Once at the launching point we ran into a few people we knew including the guy that used to own my VTR (Brian knew him) and Robin, another Connie rider from Levin.

The ride itself was a fairly simple potter around the back of Halcombe & Fielding before heading over through Colyton to Ashhurst for coffee. It was however very hot work (shoulda taken the liners out of my gear) and Brian and I headed home from Colyton where I finally got to the lawns...

A quick, short little ride that brought the weekend's tally up to just over 1,100km.

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...

CDMTC Toy Run

Another nice day in the Manawatu today - you'd almost think that it was summer!

A good day for the local toy run organised by the Central Districts Motorcycle Touring Club.

The ride was a quiet ride from Feilding to Palmerston North via some back roads. A much better turnout this year so hopefully a lot of decent toys for Barnardos.

More pics here.