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A Mayday Ride

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Cagers!! …It is so easy for us motorcyclists to use this (generally derogatory) term for the other motorists with whom we share the roads.

I’ve tended not to use the term (or at least tried not to use it) ever since reading the book Mind Over Motorcycle by Kevin Williams, because as he put it, “Such use of language as a metaphor is more than a turn of speech, it really does affect our conceptual systems and thought processes, influencing how we perceive others, and in some cases, determining our behaviour.” And this is so true.

It used to be so easy to get grumpy at all the pricks hogging the road and not using the slow traffic bays on the Rimutaka Hill, especially around the time when the double yellows went in, because you were lucky if one in twenty motorists of the caged variety would ease over to let the bikers slide through. As a consequence, many of the bikers would just overtake them anyway, sometimes being reminded that they shouldn’t do so by the irate ‘cager’ leaning on their horn for the 30 seconds it took for the biker to disappear from site around the next corner or slide past another five cars in the queue!! ….or so I’ve heard??

Anyway, getting to the point. I went for a pleasant wee pootle through the Wai’rapa with seven other Ulyssians the other day and bugger-me, what a treat it was to ride over the hill and experience the majority of motorists easing over to let me pass! I would say probably 80% were motorists and only 20% were cag…!!... muppets! I must say that that applied both ways and I have noticed that this situation is definitely the trend.

A bouquet to Wellington Drivers I say!

That and the balmy 16-17° May-Day made for a most pleasant pootle as we scooted over to Martinborough, up through Middle road (Ponatahi Rd) to Gladstone, then around the water towers to Wainuioru. From there we did something different and instead of turning left to head to Masterton, we went right and out towards Ngaumu. Not for far though, just to the end of the seal where the Deep Gorge Bridge is, or perhaps more correctly, Upokongaruru, …or if you want to be really pedantic, the Ngaumu Road Bridge over the Upokongaruru Stream.

It’s quite a nice wee photo op where you have a new bridge and an old disused bridge over a 44mtr wide by 40mtr deep gorge.

From there we extended our ride back to the Wild Oats Café in Carterton, by diverting out through Te Ore Ore, onto Route 52, then back in via Dreyers Rock and Mauriceville to ensure we arrived at the café at pretty much right on midday.

A pleasant snack and chat was had there before the scoot home, where I opted to go it alone and after leaving Carterton with an ETA of 1406, what do you know but I got home at 1406. Damn those GPS things are smart sometimes and I just don’t know how it could have known that I would strike 80% of motoristists on the hill and only 20% of muppets?

A bloody marvelous 320km day if you ask me.
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