Forgotten Highway

**sarahtvet** · 23rd July 2009, 22:51

Well I can't believe that the Blue Beast hasn't enjoyed the gravel and scenery of one of my favourite North island roads but that will be rectified this weekend

I hope the narrow tyres on the Gixxer and SK1py have not lulled me into a false sense of ability

Following the very successful President's overnighter I was keen to sign up for the forgotten highway weekend and I am sure the route will be full of twisties and not as slow as the economy run, damn I would have been able to keep up.

Staying at Phonga hotel and hopefully the presence of Horse, the Sheep and a few riders occasionally described as animals doesn't indicate a working weekend. Bring your own hangover cures I have huge needles

Any info on the road conditions would be of interest, especially following the slightly blustery few days we have had

Harley not planning to travel the route by truck this time

**The Baron** · 24th July 2009, 06:50

That is a fantastic road .. but at this time of year you may have to be a little bit well behaved. Don't forget to stop for photo's to post on Monday.

Have a great ride and stay safe.
Looking forward to your ride report. ha ha.

**ynot slow** · 24th July 2009, 11:12

Just keep a sharp eye out for debri on the road this time of year,and after the latest weather.Also keep an eye out for the slippery markings and surfaces which are slick etc,and feed out wagons dropping silage which gets nice and wet on the road,the nose will tell you if silage is about.The odd stray beast,traffic(camper vans),tourist on wrong side of road,and the signs saying 30km bends need to be observed.

Wet weather.Power cut at pub meaning no cold drinks,or meals,hope generator works,if power cut lol.

And heaps of bloody cops from here to Stratford,last Wednesday.Subway Stratford is yummy.

**nadroj** · 24th July 2009, 11:39

Originally Posted by sarahtvet

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Well I can't believe that the Blue Beast hasn't enjoyed the gravel and scenery of one of my favourite North island roads but that will be rectified this weekend

I hope the narrow tyres on the Gixxer and SK1py have not lulled me into a false sense of ability

Following the very successful President's overnighter I was keen to sign up for the forgotten highway weekend and I am sure the route will be full of twisties and not as slow as the economy run, damn I would have been able to keep up.

Staying at Phonga hotel and hopefully the presence of Horse, the Sheep and a few riders occasionally described as animals doesn't indicate a working weekend. Bring your own hangover cures I have huge needles

Any info on the road conditions would be of interest, especially following the slightly blustery few days we have had

Harley not planning to travel the route by truck this time

Phunga Hotel - Hotels in Phang Nga - Thailand ?

**ynot slow** · 24th July 2009, 21:46

Watch the rain run off from side of the hills as well,a few texts sent today to me were pretty wet areas between Douglas and Pohokura.

**sarahtvet** · 25th July 2009, 08:10

Well the menagerie are fed and despite it being a fresh start up here on the hill the views out west are clear and bright

New boots worn in and really comfy

:

I think tonights hotel is in NZ not Thailand although a bike trip to a south east asian region is on the cards for Xmas hopefully

May be a bit of a long ride today.

Last sundays 300k ride was a good warm up and to be fair the wind had actually swept many of the roads rather than littered them. I won't be leading so will just have to keep an eye on the green machine and the triumph and make sure I am wary if I am catching them up.

Unless of course they bring the 'economical bikes'

Haven't been that way this time of year so another 'adventure' which is always good.

Off for some fun

Thanks for advice and will regale you with antics and pics upon our return

Have fun if you ride this weekend.

**Nasty** · 25th July 2009, 08:11

Have a great ride ... its a truely beautiful area ... one of the more stunning we have (methinks)!!

**ynot slow** · 26th July 2009, 17:08

Hope a lot of pics is forthcoming,feel homesick with the thought of the mountain looking primo from the saddles,great views of all the peaks on a fine day.And a great day supplied of course,except when we go back and stay lol.

**Horse** · 26th July 2009, 18:49

It was a great ride. Mountains looked good from the saddles yesterday on the ride from Stratford to Whangamomona (count the syllables...

). Today - not so much, bit hard to see more than 150m. But riding up & down through all that fog was a lot of fun.

**sarahtvet** · 26th July 2009, 19:08

Originally Posted by Nasty

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Have a great ride ... its a truely beautiful area ... one of the more stunning we have (methinks)!!

Totally agree, gorgeous scenery and riding and many special memories.

Thanks, was a great weekend.

Short version good

, good roads, good food, good company and good rum

:

longer version to follow.

**sarahtvet** · 26th July 2009, 20:36

Originally Posted by Horse

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It was a great ride. Mountains looked good from the saddles yesterday on the ride from Stratford to Whangamomona ....

I am embarassed to admit that due to Tera going for her own adventure, with a friends dog, as I was about to leave I was late (my excuse and I am sticking to it

)

Luckily the group were only just leaving as I arrived at BP metro and Andy and Horse escorted me to catch up at the second pick up point in Shannon.
15 bikes and 18 people were eager for the off

Sports bikes, adventure bikes and cruisers made for a varied crew but the cheesy grins were on everyones faces due to sunshine, dry roads and fun to be had

I was amazed at how fast the adventure bikes can go around bends on the road. To be fair they were ridden by some very experienced riders so I am not going to try that any time soon.

We took the main route to Stratford with a haute cuisine McD's for lunch in Hawera. Offered to take the president to see SK1PY as he seems enamoured with a bike with such a name (no surprise

). He declined but I know he wanted to go really!!!

If you have ridden the FH on a dry bright day you really know what an awesome road it is. It just flowed and flowed and I really enjoyed being in that riding zone we all love. In a group with the two Fazers for much of the run and enjoyed leading and following them through the twisites.

About 8k from Whanga where it gets really tight I got distracted by the scenery and memories and missed a gear change so poor Black Sheep and Mrs ended up crawling around the bend with me ( don't be tempted to quote that!!).

Allan sensibly overtook and so I decided to take the opportunity to meander slowly along the last stretch and enjoy the stunning views.

Rum in the sun was the way to start the apres ride

:

The adventure crew headed off to ride the 60k whanga loop. I must admit to feeling a little envious and when Jason offered to take the Daytona if I could ride his bike I was tempted. Based on pics of their excursion we would have both dropped the bikes pretty darn quick I reckon. Lum made it back but lost gears on the trip so that made the rest of his weekend a little more challenging.

A few rums later we strolled around the hamlet including the railway settlement ( 1 house and a caravan with a chimney!!) . Richard and I decided to do the bridge walk in daylight rather than at midnight. We could see the drop and the rotten boards but at least we could walk on the sleepers rather than the planks that bent too much for either of us to feel secure.

Dinner was lovely and plentiful for all. There was some minor tension over Celine Dion and The President was nearly in the dog house

Sharing showers and 'fruit tea' got the evening well lubricated.Stories around the fire have totally put me off Feta and sausages and were a timely warning to never fall asleep in an accessible place on a CD ride. Goat was lucky that Lindy wasn't going for the pink punk looK

Lurvvving

your bike ,especially when it has a fur covered seat is apparently wrong so I am really in trouble. Horse couldn't be seperated from his 'anorak' no matter how hard Lindy tried so sure he will get some 'more' stick for that.

Jason and Donna seem to like 'telephone talking' with Jason being watched by an audience and I hear there is photographic evidence.

I understand the midnight bridge walk was rather exposed for a few folk

Good job I was snuggled up by then.

The first day was fun all round and I couldn' wait for the morning

**ynot slow** · 27th July 2009, 08:51

Not to self,go opposite way round if doing this,less distance to travel hungover.

Hope they enjoyed the Whanga Rd excursion to bridge to somewhere,bloody great scenery there,well it is when you've walked in from the other end (Makahu)for a couple of hours.

The idea of sitting outside the pub with a cold beer or the hill area by the corner is bliss,so peacefull and on a fine afternoon can't beat it.

**sarahtvet** · 28th July 2009, 20:41

Day 2!!!
Sorry for the delay busy last night and having a few celebratory drinks earlier must have been the good influence exerted on me at the weekend.

I have to apologise for the lack of pics, left camera at home

Horse and Blacksheep will hopefully oblige sometime sooon

We woke up to a freezing fog and a huge cooked brekkie, even Trumpy was up

but to be fair he kept having nana naps when we were having rum and 'fruit tea' in the bar. It was good to have a few drinks with a fun group and no hangover (thank you liver!!!)

The bikes were covered in a hoar frost

intially the towel we used to wipe them off was sticking to the tanks rather than doing anything to sort the issue. I was very glad to have my wooly seat cover all warm and ready to go

An hour or so of wiping bikes, discussing the cold and generally talking bike stuff ensued so I interspersed it with another couple of cuppas

:
It was with some trepidation I returned the 'white' towel we had used to the hotel (think I got the short straw there).

By then the bikes had thawed and Steve kindly got the beast safely off the icy grass (all technique, why couldn't one of the 'big' boys have done it then I could have written if off as brute force).

As we left the hotel the valley was shrouded in the morning mist and it was a beautiful sight to see bikes ahead disappearing into the gloom. The muted sounds of the engines imparted an ethereal sense to the occasion.

The gravel was easy with a couple of patches of mud that concentrated the mind on looking ahead but otherwise was fun and as always surrounded by gorgeous temperate rainforest scenery.

We stopped just north of the tunnel and mummy Lindy came and wiped all our visors for us, nice to be looked after so well.

We got onto the seal twisties and the pace quickened slightly as the sun burnt off the mist. We climbed out of and dropped into the low clouds many times and I became an expert at whiping the sunnies on and off and cornering single handed (mental note to get tinted visor.)

I was really pleased with how the Shoei anti-fog pinlock worked and would have been able to have the visor shut the whole time if the sun could have made up it's mind and my sunnies behave.

Great time following Steve and I got into the groove following his lines. Never get close to him on dry roads so it was an added bonus to the day.

Fuel in Tauramanui and a sprint to Raetahi in the sunshine for a scrumptious shared lunch. Lucky the cop didn't have his radar on, certainly made us all sit up a little

The paraparas were in good condition for the most, a couple of slips and a couple of small bits of gravel but other than that a spirited run. I remembered the bad corner but not quite which one it was. Luckily I kept the beast upright on the gravel and gave the Fazers something to josh me about.

A motorhome pulled out and cut a corner as Allan and I went to overtake it but fortunately we were ok apart from being a tad miffed. Got it 20m up the road so all good.

Brief stop at Avoca where a few stopped for refereshments and a relax in the sun

Kwaka, Trumpy, Horse and I headed on back to Palmy and a post ride peppermint T.

The roads, riding and company was great and looking forward to the next event. Found somebody who loves riding through the Akatoura valley too so I am stoked

Did somebody mention Australia? I think they did so all please join in hassling the president to work on that asap.

I did try for an extra trackday too but he was pretty 'happy' at the time so not sure he got that. Feel free to add to the encouragement.

The FH is a great road in summer but don't write off the fun of riding it now too. We had plenty of opportunity to warm the tyres and enjoy the ambience

Mustn't leave it so long until next time. If I wasn't busy this weekend I could almost be tempted to do it all again.

**ynot slow** · 29th July 2009, 09:34

Camera,camera,remember it,shit how many times do I forget it too.

Any sign of the pub being sold,$960,000 going concern,lotto win and it's mine.

Only thing this time of year is the local farmers with calving/lambing and feeding out,they don't think to look coming onto the road.Next time take a detour to Makahu,turn at Strathmore turn off which takes you to the walkway to Wanganui river,worth the trip if staying at the pub.

**sarahtvet** · 29th July 2009, 09:48

Originally Posted by ynot slow

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Camera,camera,remember it,shit how many times do I forget it too.

Any sign of the pub being sold,$960,000 going concern,lotto win and it's mine.

Only thing this time of year is the local farmers with calving/lambing and feeding out,they don't think to look coming onto the road.Next time take a detour to Makahu,turn at Strathmore turn off which takes you to the walkway to Wanganui river,worth the trip if staying at the pub.

Up for sale but not sold, the roads were fine, no silage and one casual sheep on the paras who wouldn't move even when Horse gave him a blast as he went past, cool dude of a sheep.

Thanks for suggestion, plenty of time to explore, plan to be back there soon.

Won't be going anyway without a camera and a dictaphone from now on, ideal way to record all those first thoughts and pics

Grey cells and grey hairs ruin recollection of the oldies sometimes