KoroJ's Blog

I didn't think I'd get any riding in this weekend, but today cleared enough to have a start and we ended up with 23 bikes departing from the Plimmerton Weigh Station and picked up Buzz in Waikanae....so, with that many turning out, it was obviously the first half-pie decent day for quite awhile!!

The forecast looked pretty miserable during the week, but in the end it wasn't too bad, proving drizzly on Saturday and quite clear this morning, so last night, I ensured my gear was at hand in the event the ride was on, then this morning it was an easy job to pack the bike, check the tyre pressures and hit the road at 0912, fill at Z Mana, making it to the departure point at 0943.

For the first time in a long time I wasn't required for Lead or TEC so it was quite nice not to have any responsibilities and just cruise along in the field. I departed from Plimmerton at No.2, positioned myself at the lights in Paraparaumu, in case the group got split, which didn't happen, then did the same at Waikanae where four did get split. I had paused until the lights changed and we soon made our way back to the group, then I filtered back up near the front.

We had a coffee stop in Shannon, where I took the time to put my wets on and fit the Go Pro to the bike. From there, I got some footage but I had to stop to check it at Aokautere because the Wi-Fi connection with the remote ceased functioning and I couldn't get it right ...so that was that.

I trailed the rest into 'Beyond the Bridge Cafe' by Balance at 1219 and only two of the Hawkes Bay crew were there, having made it through the weather. We enjoyed lunch, had a draw for a $50 fuel card and chewed the fat unto 1340.

Steve and I departed together and I figured it looked very gloomy to the south, so we headed to the Track to make a decision at that point whether to stay in the Wai'rapa or head back to the dryer west, but with Steve living in Brown Owl, I guess there was only ever going to be one choice. So even though it looked awful, we continued through to Mangamaire, onto Eketahuna, past Mt Bruce where we did encounter a little drizzle, then down through Masterton and home.

As it turned out, the roads were generally wet so I was rather tentative as the rear is getting down to its' last couple of thousand Km, but we were fine. Steve needed to gas in Featherston but I kept going and finally got home at 1552, having done 341Km for the day at a moving average of 82kph....and I need a lot more Km's because the butt was starting to get a little tender!


Quality's not great but here's the vid:


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