Dusty Butt 1,000km adventure ride

[cooneyr]

There was some talk of people being keen on having ago at a 1000km in 24 hr adventure ride a little while ago. It would most likely be as much good gravel road as possible and sealed road to make up the difference. It has been suggested that we should do a 1000 miler but I suspect that 1000km in a day would be a good start?

The route discussion focused around the Rainbow and Molesworth with some other bits around Malbrough and Tasman districts. There is potential for about 500-600kms of gravel. I reckon there would also be fuel about every 150-200kms.

I think if we are going to do this, it should be before daylight savings ends on the 18th of March. I also think it would be nicer in early March cause the weather would be cooler i.e. 4th/5th or 11th/12th.

Are people still interested in having ago? What dates suit best? Any ideas on a route?

Cheers
R

[PLUG]

Are people still interested in having ago? What dates suit best? Any ideas on a route?

Cheers
R

I'm keen, either weekend would suit. (3-4 or 10-11 of March)

A route ??? ... Nelson (dawn start ???) - Maungatapu - Queen Charlotte - (Picton/Port Underwood/Rarangi may be) or stright to Blenheim after Queen Charlotte & Taylors Pass.

Molesworth - Hanmer - Rainbow - St Arnard - Porika Track - Breaburn - Murchison - Matakitaki - Maruia Saddle - may be Springs Junction or hang a ueee after Maruia saddle & reverse track back to St Arnard & black top to Nelson.

That should be around the 1000K mark & there is gas at regular intervals.

Thats my 10 cents worth to the idea ... so far

[cooneyr]

Right you are with the dates. Lets make it Saturday the 10th unless some "major conflict" with other event as March Hare on the 3/4th.

I've refined Plugs route a little. Doesn't appear to be quite long enough measuring from topomap. Attached is an image of the route and and my calcs of distances (including fuel intervals) and times. I've allowed a 10 min break about every 100km.

Few points about the route
1 - Uses the Matakitaki West Bank road from Murcheson
2 - Uses the West Bank Road between Maruia and Springs Junction
3 - Uses the Tadmore Glenhope Dry weather road and Sherry River Road on way to Tapawera.
4 - Uses the Motueka River West Bank Road between Tapawera and Mt Arthur/Riwaka.
5 - Goes up to Mt Arthur carpark as should be good views at that time of day and should be interesting ride.
6 - Uses the Waiwhero Road and Thorpe Orinco Road between Motueka and Thorpe.
7 - Uses the Wakefield Woodstock Road between Thorpe and Wakefield.

All up I recon around 15 hour trip, leave at 6 back at 9 and daylight is roughly 7 to 8 at that time of year so first hour and last hour in dark. About 550km of gravel/dirt in route. Generally interval between fuel about 200km.

Cheers R

[XP@]

Hmmm... I was thinking about thinking about riding it, next year perhaps but I'm out of gravel practice at the moment. Would be an awsome hardcore ride!

What ever the case, From the Rusty Nuts 1000 milers,
a 19 hour run will see you total average of about 85km/h (including short stops)
or 95km/h moving average with 2 hours stopped (6 mins stopped per hour).

Whilst it is possible to go faster on an adventure bike this kind of pace is not easy to keep up. In reality it translates to riding at a minimum of speedlimit +10kmph through busy areas and "keeping the pressure on" for the rest.

450km of sealed roads @ 83kph = 5.5 hours
550km of gravel roads @ 60kph = 9.5 hours

I'm a tad out of practice on gravel, so I think 60km/h average would be a tad optimistic for me.

[Ruralman]

I think you've got a great idea here and you should keep developing it. As you will be aware a group of us are doing the Sth Island Passes trip in early Feb which will cover about 2500km with much of this on gravel backroads - but we are taking 5 days and we reckon that will still require pushing on to achieve. That does mean I won't be a starter this year but definitely interested if you/we can make it an annual event.
Strikes me it could be the sort of thing best done by a club? (as per Chatto Creek club and the 1000 miler) so that you have a team helping and can organise badges etc. Is there an existing bike club up there that might be interested?
Anyway good luck with your first ride.

[cooneyr]

450km of sealed roads @ 83kph = 5.5 hours
550km of gravel roads @ 60kph = 9.5 hours

This is a useful and interesting way of looking at it. There are not a whole heap of townships along the sealed sections and from riding some of the knarlier bits already I think the 83kph average on seal should be "doable" but open to advise. As for the 60kph average on gravel that is hard to day one way or the other. The Rainbow and Molesworth road have long sections where 100kph is not a problem. The likes of the Porika track is a first gear (30-40kph) steep climb for about 1/4 of it. All up I have no idea if 60kph is achievable or not.

Either way I don't think it is really a problem as we still have 9 hours out of 24 so even if really slow in the dark ???? Guess one way to find out!

That does mean I won't be a starter this year but definitely interested if you/we can make it an annual event.
Strikes me it could be the sort of thing best done by a club? (as per Chatto Creek club and the 1000 miler) so that you have a team helping and can organise badges etc. Is there an existing bike club up there that might be interested?
Anyway good luck with your first ride.

I'm personally keen just to have ago first time round. If there is enough interest then maybe we could get a club to pick up and organise annually. I dont need a badge to say I'm a stupid bugger for trying to do this type of ride! LOL

Cheers R

[warewolf]

An official club run is a neat addition but can't think of any club that would be interested.

3rd-4th no good for me, 10th-11th is my only free weekend for about 2 months!

If you are worried about time and the focus is gravel, then I would go Pelorus to Blenheim on SH6, forget about Queen Charlotte Drive; it will kill your average speed. Plus, you have to go to Picton which is the long way round. Instead take the partly gravel road on the north side of the Wairau that cuts across to Tuamarina.

If dead-ends are acceptable (looks like it) then you can add a lot more gravel. For example, from Owen River there is the East Bank Road; from Tuamarina (using the route I suggested above) you could scoot up the coast on the gravel as far as the seal which starts when the road leaves the coast to go over the hill to Waikawa (pretty crappy bit of road, IIRC); rather than go in to Murch, head south on the Matakitaki(?) Road (would be great to join that to the Mariua Saddle road).

Watch your estimates on the Rainbow & Molesworth roads. There's actually not that much that you can do at 100km/h (i.e. out of 160km, there's a helluva lot more that is slow). With a pillion I was doing 60km/h for about half the Rainbow due to surface conditions, and there's only a few shortish bits on the Molesworth where you could really wind it up. Speeds solo are much better, but given the wide range of abilities of the group I wouldn't plan for much above 50-60km/h average (thus allowing for stops). Molesworth closes 7pm to 7am so allow that in the plan.

Getting behind schedule is more stressful than getting ahead.

I'm all for it!!

[Transalper]

I'm in while it's a trip between friends... if it was a club affair then i'd be less inclined to go.
Any date suits, i'd do this over the March Hare or such events anyday.
Avoiding Queen Charlotte would be good, as for me it be a long slowish ride on a tight SEALED road that i do not enjoy if rushed. On a scenic ride the road is nice, but this ain't going to be a look at the trees and things ride.

[Zukin]

I am probably a starter
If I finish my trip around NZ in Feb, and if I have any funds left
I would need to do a bit of a rebuild though.

I will do it on a 250, so theres the challenge lads

Like the others have said I would prefer it not to be run by club.
Could it start in Belnheim?
Just means less travelling for me?
I wont have any more leave left to take any more time off work


Cheers

[Ghost Lemur]

Unfortunately I doubt the CRM will be back together by then, so I'm not going to be a show this year. Hope it works well, I'll certainly be following this thread to see how it goes. I'll be in next year.

[Zukin]

I forgot to add to my earlier post

That...

I am not sure about dead end roads??
Knowing there would be other mad riders on the road, would it be a recipe for disaster.....??

Just a thought

[cooneyr]

Seems we are generally not inclined to involve a club so I think that is out. Also seems that 10th/11th is preferred at this stage.

Re Grove Track - I hear the comments about not being a nice road for this type of trip. I would tend to say the same about the Port underwood road (I assume this is what you are referring to WW?). It is so tight that you would spend most of the time looking out for vehicles coming the other way. Therefore I'll revise the route to be Havelock to Blenhiem using SH6 and the the Tuamarina Road.

I'd agree with the Rainbow Road at 60kph with a pillion but I was managing about 80kph+++ in mid Jan from the Lake Sedgemere huts to Jack pass solo although there was the odd "bump". I might be a little optimistic with the speeds through the Molesworth and Rainbow so I'll revise tomorrow and see what it does to total time.

Starting in NN means that the hour that we go through the Molesworth and Rainbow is fine (see the bold times in the right hand column). The other benefit of starting in NN is there are beds for the Friday and Sat nights and more convenient for most I think than Blenhiem.

Plug and I check out the a bit of the link between the Tutaki and Matakitaki rivers during out 3 day Buller Ride. It is defiantly "doable" according to the cocky but we didnt manage to complete it due to being naffed and the depth and speed of the Matakitaki river. I think best leave that alone for the Dust Butt.

Zukin has a good point about dead end roads. Maybe we should leave them alone too. I think that takes out the Mt Arthur leg and maybe we should revise the route so it runs back up SH6 from Springs. I dont really like the Springs leg as it feels like a km grabbing trip rather than part of the route. Will have to think more about that.

I wouldnt worry about the 250 Zukin. I bet by the time you have done the round NZ thing you'll be cranking.

Will look more and the route and post again later. Thanks all for the helpful comments.

Cheers R

[miSTa]

Sounds a very interesting ride, put me down for a maybe (I need to get get the seat on the GS sorted, it quite literally is a pain in the arse...and the hamstring, and the knee..for any long distance riding). If so it could be two up.

[warewolf]

I'm in while it's a trip between friends... if it was a club affair then i'd be less inclined to go.

Makes absolutely no difference to me, why does it to you? (I'm curious)

Avoiding Queen Charlotte would be good as for me it be a long slowish ride on a tight SEALED road that i do not enjoy if rushed. On a scenic ride the road is nice, but this ain't going to be a look at the trees and things ride.

Eh? Of course it is. You shouldn't be rushed: it is an endurance event, not a sprint...you have to ride at a sustainable pace, which means time to look around. These rides are about FUN which is why we ride in the first place.

The trick is to minimise the time off the bike and maximise the rests (i.e. frequent shorter stops) to keep your average up...not pushing it. If you are going hard enough not to enjoy the ride, you're in crash territory, either now or at km 999 when you've run out of energy or concentration.

I would need to do a bit of a rebuild though.

Why, how many tens of thousands of kays are you going to rack up around NZ in a short space of time? The DR-Z will do 40-60,000km before it needs anything other than routine servicing.

I will do it on a 250, so theres the challenge lads

Good on you! Doing the 1000 miler on mine was something I really wished that I'd done.

I am not sure about dead end roads??
Knowing there would be other mad riders on the road, would it be a recipe for disaster.....??

Shouldn't be, it will not be a closed course, you will at all times have to be prepared for an errant 4wd violating your right of way, as you normally do. Rusty Nuts regularly use return sections (one year was almost all returns, out and back from Turangi 5 times, that really mind-fucked a few people into withdrawing), it's never a problem.

Re Grove Track - I hear the comments about not being a nice road for this type of trip. I would tend to say the same about the Port underwood road (I assume this is what you are referring to WW?). It is so tight that you would spend most of the time looking out for vehicles coming the other way.

The Port Underwood road is fine from Waikawa up and over the hill to the coast, as it is all sealed and apart from a couple of slips is two vehicles wide. The gravel along the coast to Tuamarino is snotty, bumpy, rocky, corrugated, tight and slow... which is fine by me but I wouldn't be upset if we didn't do it.

One of the things Lee always says at the Grand Challenge: ride to the conditions! There is plenty of time. If you don't like riding at night, or your bike's light is pathetic, or it's wet and you don't like riding in the rain, then SLOW DOWN! Take lots of rests at those times. Make up the time when conditions improve...you have LOTS of time.

Oh yeah, another thought: don't head mostly west at sunset!

Just trying to keep it real!

[warewolf]

Just looking at some of the numbers on your fabbie chart, Ryan - nice work! Some refinements:

Nelson-Maungatapu-Pelorus is sub-60 mintues, 45-50 springs to mind.

Havelock-Picton as mentioned previously is 30 minutes. Speed 100, time 18 minutes, hello Slighty can I have your autograph?

Rainbow Skifield to SH63 (17km) is not 100km/h, more likely 75.

St Arnaud-Howard Valley-Porika-Braeburn-Longford-Murchison, better than 50km/h. Lots of good seal or good gravel in there. The slowest bit is the Porika and much of that is 50km/h or so. The worst of it is only short distances, just up and over the range into Rotoroa.

But I guess there's no point changing your data for less than 10-15 minutes change.