Bruce

 

Squids and cows...

So, after posting the video of my near miss with the calf, another YouTuber asked if it was ok to include it in one of his compilation videos.  I said yes, thinking that maybe it could show others that it pays not to fixate on just one hazard when another might leap out of you.

Anyway, I ended up amongst a heap of morons doing stupid things (Squids), so I don't quite know what to think about that...

At least a couple of people commented that I wasn't a complete idiot...

Winter Wander

Winter riding can either suck or you get a magnificently sunny (but not warm) clear day and a great day out on the bike.  This is the story of a ride that didn't suck much at all...

And it was a Tiger ride with Colin turning up on his 900 not long after 8 and looking for coffee after seeing 0.5℃ on his way up.  Of course, it was much warmer in Ashhurst - about 8 if I remember rightly.  While someone defrosted, we chatted about a possible destination, and I suggested a ride up the Parapara's even thought this might mean we'd need to be careful in the frosty bits.  The frost didn't put Colin off the idea and soon he was warm enough to give it a crack.

My initial plan was to cruise over to Vinegar Hill and then ride through to Fordell via the usual track we take from Hunterville as I'd ridden this a few weeks earlier with a different Colin (who doesn't have the sense to own a Tiger) and the road had been in good condition for winter.  But, after firing my Tiger up and checking the fuel situation, I calculated that Hunterville for gas might be a stretch.  So, without telling Colin a thing, I took him on a magical mystery tour to Marton and introduced him to a road (Mangaone Road) that he reckoned he hadn't ridden before.

Through here the temperature was around 6℃, which wasn't too bad with grips and seat on and after a fuel up we carried on out the back of Marton to hook back up with Turakina Valley Road (mind the peacocks - we had three separate flocks to avoid!) and then onwards to Fordell and Okoia.  Through here the temp dropped to between 3 and 4 degrees and there was plenty of evidence of frost in the paddocks and in the shady bits.  Yes, we rode like nanas in the shady, damp looking stuff...

Popping out onto SH4 and turning North towards the Paras, the temperature pretty much didn't move but the road was actually not too bad - it wasn't icy where I have encountered it in the past so maybe it wasn't as cold as I thought...yeah, right.

Next up was the turn to take in Fields Track which I really enjoy.  You have to ride it - pay attention and don't leave ya brains at home.  Skinny, bumpy, slips, gravel on the road, animals on the road - you name it.  Oh, and some decent views too.

Here's the ride out from our photo stop:

Oh, and if you didn't watch all of that video, you probably missed some excitement:

Yeah, a close one.  In case you didn't work it out, I spotted the far calf first and slowed up.  The one on the side of the road was completely invisible to me and then decided to check my ticker out.  It just goes to show that while you might see and react to one hazard on the road, there could be more than one...Brakes work!

Popping out on SH49, we turned for Waiouru and I decided to record a wee frosty bit:

But believe it or not, by the time we hit Waiouru, the temperature had climbed to 5.5℃ and it was even warmed in our favourite Waiouru eating establishment - the toasted sammies are the best in the country!

After lunch, it was time to head back home but along the way we got to sample some more delicious back roads (screw SH1!).  It got really cold a few times and we managed to get caught up in some light showers but no snow...

My only gripe is the ice grit which sometimes can be invisible, and you really can slither around on it without trying too hard.

Never mind, it was a great ride (the temperature even came up to a balmy 8℃ as we neared home) and I'll take a chilly, clear day over a windy, wet one any day!

The Britten Museum

Just back from the TT2000, but you'll need to wait for the write-up...

We had plenty of time this year to get the to the ride start in Christchurch so ended up there early with time to kill.  A good thing that the Britten Museum had just opened its doors for the first time the day before we got to Christchurch...

I've previously seen the large Britten display at Motorcycle Mecca in Invercargill on a previous trip and now I believe that all the Britten stuff has been moved to the new museum along with a whole lot more.  

Along with the memorabilia (including 2 of the 10 final version Brittens currently) there was plenty of information about Johns life and birth of the Britten.  There was even an AI hologram of him chatting about the bike.

Anyway, here's some of the pics and a video I took of one of the Brittens:

Sleeping in...

 ...is a waste of good riding time.

On Sunday, Colin and Andy got up early and were at my place just before 8am.  I was even ready for them too...

After coffee it was time to make tracks with the initial plan (based on our usual detailed planning session) being to head for Turakina Valley.  But first I had to show off and demonstrate that I was only 5 minutes from gravel - ok, so it was only a short bit of gravel on Watershed Road, but it got us over towards Colyton, Feilding and then Halcombe and Marton.

North of Marton we got back onto gravel on Galpins Road and dropped down Taurimu Road onto Turakina Valley Road.  The drop down Taurimu is particularly nice as there are some good views at the top and then a cool dive into the valley of Peacocks.

Did I mention peacocks?  Oh yeah, this time around they were out to get me.  I didn't see the damn thing until I was nearly on top of it but luckily it went for a near vertical take-off next to me rather than head butting me.  Damn, they are pretty big when they're taking to the air - even Andy mentioned it after watching it all from behind me.  Oh, and there was another one just up the road a bit too...

Once North of the peacocks, the gravel was good, but we had to deal with quite an unusually large number of vehicles along with plenty of sheep to keep us on our toes.  Still totally worth it 😉

The last bit of gravel (North of the above pics) was its usual sublime self.  Plenty of pace could be applied and Andy sat just behind me eating my dust as I slithered around a fair bit.  Great fun!

In 'kune we stopped for an early lunch and fuel before crossing over to Raetihi and turning South for a bit, aiming for the gravel of Oruakukuru Road.

This was another cracker with the gravel being more fun than the seal at the start of the road.  Once again there were a heap of sheep all over the place and even one taking a permanent break in the middle of the road courtesy of something bigger than a bike (I hope).

Not far from the resting mutton I had my next run in of the feathered variety.  Coming out of a right-hander, I disturbed a snacking hawk, and it was blimin close - I reckon I could have given his nails (big ones at that) a trim for him.  I dunno what he was doing there when the feast of a lifetime was just down the road - probably a bit much for a hawk to takeaway...

After the last stretch of fast but very corrugated gravel we hit Whangaehu Valley road and enjoyed its tight and twisty corners before it turned to gravel and took us up over Burma Hill.  This time around we had to deal with cattle as well as sheep, but the big chooks left us alone.

At lunch and because we had plenty of daylight left, I floated the idea of adding in a trip through the Badlands, North of Whanganui.  The two others both thought this was a reasonable idea so we decided to use Te Rimu Road as a short-cut to get over that way.  It's always fun and though the bulls were hiding today (I'm not complaining), there was the odd bit of silt from flooding around the (dry) fords that behaved a lot like the dreaded sand, and everyone hates sand...

Not being able to ford the Whanganui River (might have got run over by the paddle steamer) and not being naughty enough to sneak across the pedestrian bridge, we had to briefly dip into Whanganui to cross and then make our way back up the other side of the river before the great run through the Badlands.

What a blast it was!  This is a really neat little track that gets narrower the further you head in and you really feel like you're in the middle of nowhere.  This is why we have adventure bikes.  Oh, and once again, there was plenty of slithering around.

Andy ready for a breather

Colin makin' dust

Luckily, the end of Kauarapaoa Road doesn't mean the end of the gravel.  The ride out on Rangitatau East Road is on 20+km of wider, faster gravel and it was good!

Expensive!

Rangitatau East was the last of the gravel for the day and after a cool drink just out of Whanganui it was time to slab it back on the seal and wave off the guys at Sanson before parking the trusty T7 up.  About 510km for me and 700ish for the Southern contingent.  Great ride!  Oh, and I need a new rear...

A quick investigation

My boss has just bought himself a little Jimny.  Yeah, not a bike, but quite a fun little vehicle and he's dead keen to go out exploring in it.  And he wants to find mud...

So, I suggested a wee excursion up Hall Block Road, through the windmill farm with me on the WR (still on knobblies from a visit to the farm) and him following me.  This way he could get his feet wet, and I had a little backup if things got snotty.

We met up in Ballance and were soon off up the hill.

At the top of the hill, I paused to await the Jimny.

No sign of a little Jimny

A-ha!

You may or may not be able to tell from the above video, but damn it was windy up on the hill.  You can normally blast across the tops, but I was getting blown silly.  It was also a pain in the corners as I never knew which way I was going to go when coming out of a more sheltered spot and then getting slammed by the wind.

Eventually we got to the end of the gravel and the start of the dirt track/bog hole section.  I stopped again for Colin (yep, another Colin!) and then with him watching tackled the first decent puddle and stalled in the middle...

Seeing how deep it was made Colin a bit nervous as the standard Jimny doesn't have a very good wading capability, (he's looking at adding snorkel and some diff breathers) so he wasn't keen to follow me.  Instead, we had a bit of a wander around before I decided to go on a little bit further.

As you can see, I was able to make it around a few decent lakes (including the one I had ridden through on the way in) but chickened out on the large one.  I didn't really feel like drowning the WR or myself - maybe if I'd had a different Colin with me, we might have given it a shot.

So, mission incomplete, we turned around and made our way back the way we'd come.

What's that in the distance?

And I enjoyed the descent too.  Watch for a bunny chase:

BTW: I played with the audio on the videos to attempt to remove the wind noise...

Back at my ute, we ignored it and popped down beside the river so that Colin could sample something with a decent power-to-weight...

Excitement over, the bike went back on the ute and it was time to cross back over the new road and head home.  Quick bit of fun, but a shame we couldn't ride the whole road.