Roads south of Raglan

[chasio]

Hi

I'm planning on riding the roads south of Raglan later this week to get to New Plymouth; basically heading down SH1 to Drury for SH22 then Raglan - Kawhia - Te Anga - Moeatoa - Awakino then SH3 to NP.

I'm after some road knowledge and any tips. I see Chris's route went this way recently so if you read this Chris, I'd be keen to hear from you!

Is the gravel down that way fairly friendly? I'm fairly new to gravel and on a Freewind with a 19" E-07 on the front and 17" Tourance on the back, plus my right knee won't take a lot of standing on the pegs. So if it's a bit like hard work I may stay inland and do the Forgotten Highway instead, as I hear the short stretch of gravel that way is pretty benign.

I've only got three days away and my return route is not set but the Forgotten Highway needs to happen at some stage.

All thoughts gratefully received.

Cheers - Chasio

[igor]

u could do it on a goldwing

[chasio]

Haha that made me chuckle - thanks :)

[tri boy]

From Te Mata, go Te Papatapu-Old Raglan Rd-Operau servo for fuel,-Harbour Rd-Hauturu -Waipuna-left onto Ngapaenga-down Pomarangai(wicked cool)-left onto Manganui, ends just before Awakino pub, and fuel is close too.
No worries on the free wind, but Waipuna usually has quite deep gravel due to logging trucks using it as access to forrests.
Take a camera.

[Motu]

I went down to Te Anga last week,I was intending to go to Awakino and back in a loop,but had to cut it short.Resceduled for next fine weekend.You'll see stuff like this down there.As you can see,easily done on a road bike.

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af212/bmwr65/P1020328.jpg

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af212/bmwr65/P1020329.jpg

http://i1009.photobucket.com/albums/af212/bmwr65/P1020323.jpg

[chasio]

Thanks guys - there's nothing like local knowledge. The pics have really whetted my appetite as well... looking forward to it.

Chasio

PS That is one Beemer I will admit to liking. A lot.

[GPS MAN]

Sounds like a good time!

Think I'll give that a whirl!

[Eddieb]

If you have Google Earth download the GPS tracks in my signature, they can then be loaded into Google Earth. Kawhia to Raglan and Raglan to Port Waikato via the coastal gravel roads are in there. Doesn't work in Google Maps though.

And they can all be ridden on a road bike sitting down.

[chasio]

A GPS is top of my shopping list. Next time, I will download them, thanks!

Got back yesterday from about 1200kms down to New Plymouth, over to Tauranga then up to the Coroglen - Tapu road and back via Kaiaua. I went wrong just a few times in the first two days :) This included missing out on a recommendation from Phreaky Phil (thanks) for a detour around Whangamomona. My memory is not as good as it used to be and back blocks road signage could be ever so slightly better, perhaps?

Second on my shopping list is improved gravel skills. Where can I buy those? Ah bugger, that's right - I'll have to earn them instead. I'm sure the bike would have gone a lot faster than I was willing to go, in the right hands.

Cheers - Chasio

[Gizzit]

A GPS is top of my shopping list. Next time, I will download them, thanks!

Got back yesterday from about 1200kms down to New Plymouth, over to Tauranga then up to the Coroglen - Tapu road and back via Kaiaua. I went wrong just a few times in the first two days :) This included missing out on a recommendation from Phreaky Phil (thanks) for a detour around Whangamomona. My memory is not as good as it used to be and back blocks road signage could be ever so slightly better, perhaps?

Second on my shopping list is improved gravel skills. Where can I buy those? Ah bugger, that's right - I'll have to earn them instead. I'm sure the bike would have gone a lot faster than I was willing to go, in the right hands.

Cheers - Chasio

Sounds like you covered some good territory. I've got the Forgotten Highway on my to do list on a bike. I've been into the Whangamomona, but drove it in a car last Easter. It's quite a road !!
a GPS is brilliant to have. I use one, a Garmin Zummo 550. I use it as my speedo as well. It's a great piece of kit. I can thoroughly recommend them.

Gravel road riding does take experience to manage well. Some guys can rip along on gravel. I can't, but haven't had much experience on gravel, on a bike. Still, those roads often have great scenery, and are often worth pursuing, especially on your XF650. :niceone: