A Frosty Forgotten Highway

The Connie seems to have been neglected a little lately and I've been dying to get her out for a decent bit of exercise.  Today was the day and after a decent overnight frost the day didn't look too bad as I geared up (plenty of warm layers) and made my way out of town.

It was still not even 7:30 when I left so as I rode over towards Wanganui it was nice to have the sun climbing higher in the sky out off to my right - it helped me think warm thoughts as I upped the temperature on my heated grips.  Yep, it was reasonably chilly.

Riding through Bulls the big road information sign informed me that the Desert Road was closed and while this wasn't a concern for me it did make me wonder about my planned route and the times I was going to hit other roads - I didn't want to find another road closed by snow if I hit it later in the day.  I carried on anyway and mulled over a few potential changes to my route.

Nearing Wanganui the roads were damper rather than frosty so my concerns about ice in the shaded spots decreased and I just got on with enjoying the ride.  Carrying on up SH3 it was pretty much more of the same and even though it was chilly, the day was starting to shape up quite nicely.  There was a bit of breeze coming off the sea which was giving me a left leg that felt colder than the right but I'm darned if I know why my right foot was colder than the left...

Just out of Kakakaramea I decided that I probably wasn't going to get a better photo of the mountain than what I could see before me so I pulled over to snap a pic or two.

My Fuji's stunt double

While I was standing around getting cold I decided to call Neil and see how things were over his side of the hill.  I was intending to cruise past there on my way home but wanted to make sure that the road was gonna be ok.  He informed me that it was a barmy 1 degree in National Park and that I'd have no problems with the road.  While chatting though I did decide to alter my route so that I would be riding through National Park/Ohakune/Waiouru ete a lot earlier just to be on the safe side.  This did mean that the Connie was not going to get quite as much exercise but I wasn't too worried about that and was already thinking of the warm fire...

In Stratford I stopped to fuel up before taking my detour across the Forgotten Highway - I only put in 12 litres so possibly would have made it across but better to be safe than pushing a 280kg bike...

Getting into the FH the roads were fairly wet and slippery in places and heading over the tight windy saddles I definitely took it easy - especially in the shady and frosty corners.  I did have a couple of little squiggles in the wet so slow and smooth stayed the order of the day.

I told ya it was frosty!

Engine and more importantly hot grips running

The Whangamomona Saddle was fairly wet and there were a number of small slips on it along with plenty of evidence of previous slips - more slippery stuff to steer clear of.

I didn't end up stopping in the Republic of Whangamomona, instead continuing onwards thinking of a hot meal further down the road.  The roads actually got a bit better with some decent dry stretches and not too much rubbish across the road.  Occasionally though there was stock on the road including two sheep who were waiting patiently outside a woolshed, perhaps waiting for a Saturday morning hair-cut...

It was nice on top of the Tahora Saddle too:

The gravel section of the road is normally in really good condition and easily ridden on a 1,400cc adventure bike and while this was mostly the case today, there was the odd corner were it was a bit wet and mushy causing the bike to slide into wheel tracks and give me something to concentrate on.  Other parts were great and I even hit the speed limit a few times...

Eventually I started to run out of Forgotten Highway and found myself in Taumarunui just before lunchtime.  Rather than stop there I rode through a brief scud of rain and onto Owhango where it was time for a late brekky.

Lunch eaten I carried on South to National Park where I hit all the traffic that wasn't able to take the Desert Road and also some weather.  It got a bit damp for a while and there may even (if I use my imagination a little) have been a bit of sleet for a couple of minutes.  Luckily it wasn't that cold and the grips were still working.

Carrying onto Ohakune and Waiouru there was snow on the ground on the side of the road and it was down fairly low on the nearby hills but the weather remained ok all the way down to Taihape where I stopped to give the Connie another drink.  From there it was just another 30km before I could turn-off for a play on a dry Vinegar Hill and the final cruise home.  I got in around 3pm and even had time to mow the lawns before lighting that fire and sitting down with a warm cup of coffee.  Not quite the ride I had planned but a thoroughly enjoyable 590km all the same.

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More pics here.

BRR Akitio Adventure - the videos

I didn't take any video on Sunday so we have to make do with Neil's efforts again.

Complete with interesting pronunciation of Porangahau...

BRR Akitio Adventure

Sunday was our monthly BRR ride (let's just forget that wee practice the weekend before) and Neil had managed to order in some fairly decent weather - it was quite cold but the rain pretty much stayed away the whole day.

The plan was to meet up with most of the group in Ashhurst before riding onto Dannevirke to fuel up and pick up some more Hawkes Bay based riders.  I was on the road just after 8 and with grips on I took a slightly different route to Ashhurst which offered up the first interesting event of the day.

Riding along Ashhurst road I was forced to stop at an accident site that the fire brigade were still cleaning up (hosing the road off).  No sign of an ambulance so I hope there weren't any nasty injuries - although I did see one very second hand looking Ford Lazer that definitely had driven it's last mile.

I wasn't the first into Ashhurst but pretty close to it and soon we were all assembled awaiting our leader - all 24 of us!

I have a sneaking feeling that the cafe owner may have wished he'd opened earlier as he was only opening up as we were getting ready to set off...

From Ashhurst Neil led us through the gorge before taking us on the scenic route through Jacksons to Oringi and finally up the main road to Dannevirke.  There we gassed up, met the other guys (taking our numbers to 28!) and had our ride briefing.

Our first bit of gravel was on Maunga Road and this spread the group out a bit as faster guys snuck away from the more sensible ones.

Onboard shot of the day

Along here I also witnessed my next bit of excitement when a DR pilot who shall remain nameless (hint: starts with R and rhymes with Boss) decided to run wide into a left hander.  He then ran a little bit wider and then a bit more until he finally ran out of wideness to use up and bailed off as his bike took a little trip over the bank, flipped over and landed with it's wheels facing uphill and the bars downhill.

Luckily it was a slow speed mishap and DR's are made fairly tough.  We soon had the bike up the right way and back up the bank - glad it was a lightweight 400 and not a thou...

We met up with rest of the crew at the end of Maunga Road for a bit of a regroup and it must be said - just a wee laugh...

An example of a DR parked in the more traditional manner

Next up was Te Uri Road which alternated between seal and gravel to Mangaorapa and finally onto Porangahau for our lunch stop.

We did get the odd little spit through here and some of the sealed roads were a bit slippery (I had a good step out on one turn-off).  Some of the gravel sections also had the odd slippery spot and quite a few guys mentioned that it was a little tricky to tell what was slippery and what wasn't - all adds to the fun though eh?

In Porangahau our horde totally swamped the pub and it probably took them twenty minutes just to take our orders!  I'm pretty sure they weren't really expecting a big bunch like us all turning up at once and expecting a feed!

After a lengthy lunch stop (but we all got fed!) we were off again and headed South on Route 52 to Wimbledon.

West of Wimbledon we turned off onto Esdaile Road.  I'd done this only once before (and in the opposite direction) but really like it as it's fairly open and quick.  This time around though there were roadworks and the road had recently had more metal put on it and been graded so there was little bit of surfing to be done in places.

Unfortunately we somehow lost our TEC and a few others somewhere on Route 52 and the first I knew of this was when I was waiting at the corner of Coast Road in Akitio.  I waited for a long time and was eventually joined by another of the corner-men who had also waited for a long time and even gone back to look for them to no avail.

We carried on up Coast Road and caught the rest of the guys waiting for us where Neil told us to carry on and doubled back to finally hook up with the lost sheep who had missed the Esdaile Road corner and gone the long way around to Akitio.

Apparently while the others were waiting on Coast Road they also had some excitement of their own when a car drove into the ditch near them (it was avoiding a ute coming the other way).  The crew soon had the car out of the ditch on it's way though.

Coast Road was fabulous as usual even if it too had possibly had a grader over it recently - more fast, fun gravel.  We then turned off onto Marainanga Road and then Spur Road.  On Spur Road we had some more excitement with two horses out on the Road.  One of them had a bit of sense and got well out of the way of us but the other one must have liked a race as it ran ahead of us for quite a while until we hit the next turn-off at Huia Road.

Huia Road and then Waihoki Valley Road's were more great gravel that eventually got us back out onto Route 52 again.  We then stopped at the Tiraumea Hall for a another regroup and to farewell some riders who needed to skedaddle for home.  The rest of us (probably still about 20) then made for the highlight of the day Puketoi Road.

Puketoi Road is a paper road and can sometimes be in decidedly dodgy condition.  The very first time I rode it, it was a slippery mud hole filled road that claimed several bikes and was a real adventure to get through.

This time around it wasn't too bad although there was still the odd greasy patch and yes, it caught out a few of us - luckily I pottered through ok and kept things upright.  None of the other incidents were serious at all but a couple of the bikes (and some riders' gear) looked like they'd got their adventure.

Puketoi Road dumped us onto Pori Road which we took to Pahiatua-Pongaroa Road and back onto the seal for the rest of the ride into Pahiatua.  In Pahiatua we refuelled and then everyone took off in various directions for the ride home.  Neil tucked in behind me and we had a little play on the Pahiatua Track before he then went one way and I the other at the bottom.  One more great BRR ride in the bag!

More pics here.

Friday afternoon pootle

This afternoon it was the Connie's turn for a bit of an outing - all be it, not much of a leg stretch for her.

The weather was pretty good with little wind and a fairly mild temperature and I geared up and rode over to Feilding to see if I could encourage a BMW rider to join me.  No dice, so I carried on without him and started off out of Feilding.

Naturally I had the GoPro with me and naturally it decided to play up on me - I had intended to snap pics throughout the ride but only ended up with four shots from the very start of the ride.  So here you go, a little piece of Fielding:

I hope you liked it, that's it for the rest of the post...

My little jaunt took me on out to Kimbolton where I then turned off to make for Apiti.  The road was in pretty good condition considering that we are in the middle of winter.  Usually there is crap all over the road in places and sometimes there is even grit laid on the road where ice can be a problem.  I only had to avoid the odd patch where farmers' tractors had flung mud off their tyres onto the road and some minor road works where slips had occurred.

The weather also stayed pretty nice and I got some nice views (but no pics) of the snow on the ranges.  As I was getting closer to Ashhurst I did end up in a small, light shower but it was pretty much over before it came to anything significant.  The road however was fairly wet all the way into Ashhurst so I must have just missed quite a dumping.

I arrived back in Palmy right on school finishing time so there was traffic all over the place and some really bad driving too.  I had one one pull out of a park and have a good go at me.  Luckily I was awake and managed to avoid her while giving her plenty of abuse via my Stebel...

After this little bit of excitement I managed to get home without getting in anymore scrapes and put my baby to bed.  Not the most exciting ride but it killed an hour and a half or so and brought up 106,000km on the odo.  And yep, I'm still looking forward to the next 100,000km!

Dang, having to resort to stealing pics off the net...

Searching for snow

It really sucks having the week off.  So far I've spent far too much money - some on stuff I need and some on stuff I could have done without.  Today's purchase was new Adventure jacket and pants.  For a while I've made do with old road riding gear but it's getting a bit past it and definitely not keeping me as warm and dry as I'd like.

With the gear bought it seemed only right that I give it a decent test.  The weather was pretty average so I thought what better way to find out if it's any good?  I also had in the back of my mind that I'd like to go get some pictures of the V-strom in the snow and with the Napier-Taihape road closed due to snow then I figured that might be a good place to start looking for the white stuff.

I didn't get away from home until about 12:30 so I knew before I left that I couldn't muck around and was probably going to get home pretty late.  Leaving home I made my way over to Fielding where I fuelled the bike and then made for Vinegar Hill.  The road over the hill was a bit damp but there was little traffic and I had a nice little ride through to SH1.

When I hit Mangaweka the gear testing began in earnest as I caught up with the weather and was soon sloshing around in fairly wet conditions.  The old heated grips went up another notch too.  I turned off the main road and rode through towards Gravity Canyon but at Taoroa Junction I turned left to start to make my way North again.

At the next intersection I was pretty sure that I wanted to go right and did so but almost immediately wondered if I had got it right.  This was only the second time I'd ridden Pukeokahu Road in this direction (the first being quite some time ago) and I thought I recognised some areas but not others...

The gravel wasn't too bad going although the rain made visibility a bit of an issue so I didn't push it.  As I climbed higher up into the valley I started seeing my first signs of snow and ice on the side of the road and in paddocks so at least one part of mission was looking good.

Eventually I popped out exactly where I wanted to be on Pukeokahu so I had managed to navigate myself to where I wanted to be after all.  Riding up past the school I saw my first sign saying that the Napier-Taihape road was closed.  Naturally I carried on and was soon onto the gravel again.

By now I was on Matawhero Road and heading into the Rangitikei Valley.  This is the area where Neil and I had so much fun on the "Taming the Tiger" ride.  Today was a little different as visibility wasn't the best with rain on both sides of the visor and some foggy patches too.  It was still a lot of fun and soon I was in areas where there was quite a bit of snow which made for a nice view.

The rest of the ride up to the Taihape road was just as good and when the rain stopped it was even better.  The closer I got to the top of the hill the more snow there was but the roads were still fine and I was still nice and warm so all was good in the world.

Google+ auto awesome at work...

Photos taken it was time to turn around and retrace my steps - I decided to stick to the gravel rather than riding back on the sealed Napier-Taihape just in case the road was icy.  I also had a lot of fun coming back and it didn't seem to take me too long to get back to Pukeokahu.

By now it was getting on a bit and my gloves were pretty wet so I decided to take the sealed route back into Taihape - no issues with ice on this bit as it was raining again...

Rather than stop in Taihape for a hot drink like a normal person would, I decided to put the peddle to the metal and hot foot it for home.  It was fairly wet all the way through to Ohingaiti where it finally cleared up.  Once again Vinegar Hill was damp but fun and a flashing fuel warning had me duck into the same Feilding petrol station again before the final 20km home.

I got in just after 5pm which wasn't too bad considering a decent ride of about 300km including a lot if gravel - in fact the GPS reckons I averaged 70km/h so I'm very happy with that!  It was nice to get out of my gear and get the fire going though...