Searching for snow 2

A couple of years ago we had a bit of a cold snap and I took the opportunity to take the Vee for a spin up into the snow and onto a closed Napier-Taihape Road.  You can reminisce with me here: http://banditrider.blogspot.co.nz/2014/07/searching-for-snow.html.

Well, last week (and yesterday), we had more shocking weather and there have been road closures all over the place - down in the South Island (funny that) and all across the Central North Island.  So, today it was the Tenere's turn to have a winter adventure.

It took me a while to get sorted this morning (I even packed a thermos for a hot drink up on the Annie) but I was finally gassed up and on the road about 10.  The day was actually relatively pleasant - the sun was out and it wasn't too windy - but it was still fairly chilly.

A quiet pootle over Vinegar Hill and up SH1 kicked things off and by Mangaweka the temperature had dropped quite a bit.  I got some light rain as I rode up the hill and saw my first "close" snow up on top of the hills.  The hot grips got tuned up a notch to 40%...

I turned off SH1 and rode across to Taoroa Junction taking it fairly easy on the greasy tar and carefully maneuvering around small slips and downed branches.  At the junction I went left instead of right (fighting the urge to go and jump off a cliff) and just a short distance up Pukeokahu Road hit the gravel.

The gravel wasn't too bad although it had been graded recently (the grader was still up there parked on the side of the road) and as I climbed a little I started to see snow on the side of the road and in some of the paddocks.  about half way through the below video I stopped to take some photos and take in all the whiteness.

If you watched all the video (you did right?) then you will have noticed that the snow got even thicker and the road got fairly icy.  In the end I thought that it was only going to get worse (and more dangerous) so I stopped and retraced my steps.  Unfortunately, nowhere near the Napier-Taihape - I wonder what the road would have been like up there?

Rather than completely follow my route back towards Gravity Canyon I turned off onto Moawhango Valley Road and took this (and a couple of others) back to Taihape.  These were all neat little back roads which I pretty much had to myself and managed to eke some enjoyment out of them.

I arrived in Taihape at around about lunchtime but noticed that everyone else had too so I just carried on down the road to Utiku where I turned off the main road to take in more (sealed) back roads.

Eventually I was onto Ruahine Road where I turned the cameras on again expecting quite a few slips and plenty of mud on the first bit but it was actually pretty good.

Approaching Rangiwahia there was a slight delay as the locals were hogging (sheeping?) the road.

In Rangi I stopped briefly to turn the cameras off (remote not playing ball for some reason) and momentarily contemplated the thermos in my topbox but decided to race for home instead.

For the rest of the ride I kept the pedal to the metal and got to enjoy some fast, windy and sometimes slippery roads.  There was even rain at times with some of the worst just before home of course...

I eventually rolled up the drive just before 2 and after putting my baby to bed finally got around to having a late lunch and thawing out my feet.  Brilliant day out on the bike though - plenty of adventure and another 275km under the Tenere's wheels.  The E-07's were fantastic too - just one little slip on greasy tar and nice grip on the gravel!

Another gizmo...

I should really get off the 'net every now and again...

Yeah, I bought another gizmo.  This time it's yet another GoPro in the form of a Hero 4 session - they just happened to be on sale...

Cute little tacker

It's got some features that are better than my Hero 3 silver and some that probably aren't so great.  Better quality recording and a slightly smaller package (especially when you consider that the 3 needs a housing).

One of the disadvantages is that you can't swap out the battery but I did a wee search and for about $30 you can get a housing with a spare battery (extra 4 hours) outta China - I haven't bothered yet, we'll see if I end up needing it.  It theoretically can be charged on the go but bye-bye waterproofedness...

One nice thing is that I can control both cameras simultaneously with my remote.

Anyway, I got it on Friday so I needed to try it out on the weekend eh?  I decided to try it up front on the Tenere and also to run the 3 pointing out the stern.  BTW: another neat feature of the 4 is that it knows which way up it is and will automatically flip the picture - on the 3 I have to tell it that it's upside down.

So after popping over to Feilding to catch up with my folks, sister & kids it was time to ride.

Alex meets a whale

I had somewhere else to be but had plenty of time to take the not-so-long way via Colyton and Valley (sealed), Zig-zag and Finnis Roads (gravel).  The evidence is below:

The video didn't turn out too bad (and it's cool being able to do picture-in-picture stuff) but the audio was crap from the Session 4.  It apparently has 2 microphones and some smarts that are supposed to help cancel out wind noise.  It couldn't cope with the noise of a Tenere smashing its way through the air so I ended up using the audio from the 3 which had the benefit of being a bit more protected and being close to the exhaust...

Overall, it's cool to have 2 cams and more options for recording so I'm happy enough.  Let's see what other mayhem I can get up to with it...

Just 'cos

Yesterday I did something strange and slightly unbelievable - I gave both horses a bath!  I know, crazy, they probably didn't know what hit 'em!

Anyway, today I decided that they were looking just a little bit clean (although I did of course, notice some bits I missed) and they both got to have a little exercise.

First up, there was a tag to get and I decided that the Connie was the weapon to get it.  About ten minutes after I left home the tag was in the bag.

And then it was off to find something suitable for the new tag.  An idea came to me and after a short ride I took the pic below at secret location X.

A short while later I was back home uploading the pics and then getting the S10 ready for her little outing.

After gassing up I pointed the bike towards Ashhurst and then on to Pohangina very keen to see how the new E-07's would hold up.  Pohangina Road was in superb condition and I daren't mention how well the tyres worked on the really hard packed gravel - we'll just say "well" for now...

Pohangina Road eventually dumped me out onto Makoura Road where I turned left to make for Apiti.  Once again the gravel was nice and hard packed and the Tenere got a chance to use top gear quite a few times...

In Apiti the local MX-5 club had taken over the pub so rather than stop there for lunch with a bunch of hair-dressers (eh Geoff?) I decided to make for Feilding and a late lunch.  I good squirt on tarmac from Apiti to Kimbolton was fun even on wet and gritted roads was followed by a slow cruise into Feilding and a hot lunch.  Then it was home after a couple of nice little rides - just over 200km all up.

Got grip

Well, I hope so after all the effort!

Today was tyre changing day on the Tenere - after slithering around all over the place the other day it was time to ditch the Tourances and slap on more familiar (and grippy) E-07's.

First up was the front.

Front wheel removal was a piece of cake

After the wheel was off it was time to grapple with tyres.  Plenty of soapy water and my bead braking axe soon had the old tyre off and then it was time to put the new rubber on.

Lots more soapy water and plenty of grunting, hammering and levering eventually got the tyre on.

Next came main event - the other end.  Funnily enough, I'd never taken the rear wheel off so this was a learning exercise.  It turned out to be pretty easy although would have been easier if the cush drive hadn't decided to fall out and reduce the clearance for removing the wheel.

No chain to get in the way eh - just this thing.

Once again the mighty bead braking axe was pressed into service and the tyre came off pretty easily.  Getting the new one on was a bit trickier.  One side went over the rim easily but at about 75%  on I struck difficulties.  Lots of soapy water, hammering and levering was put in practice but it wasn't until Mark popped in and was able to loan me those extra arms that I don't have that I finally got the sod on.  Mark did agree that it was a little tricky...

With Mark there the wheel install also went fairly easily although I was a little worried about the clearance you see between the swingarm and the washer in the below picture but it is apparently sweet as - I should have taken a before picture...

So, that's that done and I reckon for the last time in my shed...although I do have a set of PR4's laying around that need to find a home...

Whoops....

Bought this by mistake...

It even works...

Yes, my back lawn is wet - even traction control can't help much...