Gremlin
6th September 2010, 02:26
Another weekend, another ride. Thinking of a route during the week, I didn't know what to choose. Reading the wandering comrades threads about his new bike, I thought doing some of that might appeal, but couldn't be bothered going to Wellington. I did think him suffering through snow, hail, rain etc was typical of him, but then, the weather wasn't that surprising.
Reading MSTRS thread late on Friday night gave me the hatchings of a better plan, and an excuse to pop over the Napier and back to sort out a KB'ers issues. Of course, if I headed direct to Napier, it would be as boring as hell, Auckland SH1 > Taupo > SH5 > Napier. No way. Instead, I decided to run SH22 again, but going south, then head through Te Kuiti, Taumarunui, across to Turangi, then north to Taupo and finally hop over to Napier. Private message sent, offering assistance and to bed.
More work Saturday morning and MSTRS was happy for the assistance, so only left at 1430. Leaving it a bit late, but as long as I got to Napier at a reasonable time to assist, no problem. Heading back at night wasn't an issue, I would actually carry the clear visor this time and I needed some night riding.
So, courtesy of Google, this is how the route added up: http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=East+Tamaki,+Auckland&daddr=mercer+to:Naike,+Waikato+to:Te+Uku,+Waikato+ to:Te+Pahu+Rd,+Waikato+to:Pirongia,+Waikato+to:Te+ Kuiti,+Waikato+to:Taumarunui,+Manawatu-wanganui+to:Turangi,+Waikato+to:Taupo,+Waikato+to: Napier,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Tokoroa,+Waikato+to:Hamilton ,+Waikato+to:east+tamaki+auckland&hl=en&geocode=FfwWzP0dZpxsCil7-TsLi0wNbTHE67vNOSwDDw%3BFfoqx_0dMQNvCim1HdKz2FZtbT HLlKnsWThD6Q%3BFZWOw_0d_5JtCinFqjqxYLUSbTGAeV9rjkX 5NA%3BFSPGvv0djaBtCikxArcc4iptbTFDrYz6EcT2sA%3BFbo Qvv0de3xwCikVxRx9YidtbTElbMnkJf77ag%3BFUk6vP0dr2px CikrGILKetxsbTF-_mHFq0X4iw%3BFUgSt_0dNMxwCikf2zYcbrtsbTF7f5OWmnLD2 g%3BFSexrv0dnExyCinROdvNakBrbTEgREJHTjGoYA%3BFcQRr f0dNaR6CikHYzxsYLxrbTGeifeuOsAGnQ%3BFX6wsf0dPpx-CikxOUtpufBrbTE5id56c48ubQ%3BFWtnpf0dOYeLCimBOcZE0 ExobTF1GA9aiEwzOQ%3BFWjWuP0d3pJ7CinZgYCIsUFsbTGId2 GA5MUPtg%3BFZllv_0dq55yCim5T2kgsBhtbTHxP2zWfMKMWQ% 3BFfwWzP0dZpxsCil7-TsLi0wNbTHE67vNOSwDDw&mra=ls&sll=-38.08269,176.401978&sspn=3.307617,8.453979&ie=UTF8&ll=-38.225235,175.891113&spn=3.301163,8.453979&z=8
My wandering comrade was out of this ride as well, as he had just completed his own running in of his new bike overnight which is documented here (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/128180-Pootling-on-a-Predator-as-a-proud-new-owner!)
Back down SH1 to Mercer, as I couldn't be bothered negotiating Pukekohe and wanted to get to the better roads faster. At Mercer, the rain started, annoying, as Metvuw said it would be great after the storm had passed during the night. Guess not. On with the rain jacket, now I didn't need to stop to don it later. Down SH22 and now in the daylight I could see what it was like. Probably better for the heart that I couldn't see it. Spent my time weaving to the parts with grip, but despite my efforts the rear slid out of one corner. Can't find the grippy parts when its all smooth. Ducked off SH22 and headed down to Te Uku, great little road and was even mostly sealed now, but still roadworks. I had found some new back roads I hadn't done before, so down those, exiting onto SH39 north of Pirongia.
A stop in Te Kuiti for gas, clean head and tail light and indicators (servo clean) and onwards to Taumarunui. Weather had mostly cleared and a nice clean pace was set picking nice lines. East at Taumarunui and through a road travelled several times to Turangi (used a bit in the Grand Challenge the last couple of years), and when I go north/south often too. No need to stop and up to Taupo, with plenty of traffic crawling along comfortably below the speed limit.
Got into Taupo around 1920, and had missed a couple of calls and texts so caught up with them. Text sent to Napier confirming they wanted, nay, needed me and asking for address. Spent a bit of time in the servo devouring a pie and drink, before punching the address into the GPS and setting off for Napier at 1950. Saw my first active cop on the trip on SH5 (is anyone surprised on that road) but the radar detector had seen him well in advance and my speed was only a couple of kph over. Easily fixed. The rain was all gone, replaced with a cloudless night, usually excellent. Except deep in the country on desolate roads, a cloudless night means its cold, sometimes very cold. Noticed the bike read out a new record low ambient temperature of -2.4 degrees (previously hit -0.1 around Auckland, so knew the bike could read negative)
Rolled up to MSTRS house around 2120, ready to put my IT hat back on and fix a wireless issue. Bed was offered several times over but unnecessary and once I explained why I was riding like that, they understood. Well, when I say understood, they still thought I was clearly mad, but was happy to leave me to it. :weird: The usual bike chat was entered into, solution for the problem found and once a 24hr gas station was located, I was under way back to Auckland shortly before midnight, with a side goal of setting a new record ambient temp. Sure enough, before hitting Taupo I saw the readout reach -4.2 at one point, and was hovering in the -3 degree range frequently. Could have got lower, don't know, but factoring in wind chill, I was riding in temperatures around -17 degrees celsius. :cold:
I didn't need gas in Taupo, and all was quiet after 0100. A boring road north, but at least I could stick to the speed limit without cars getting in my way and 10km away from Tokoroa my reserve light came on. Arriving at 0200 ish, the plan was to refuel and go through Old Taupo Rd north as it was more interesting, and any other roads I found, but the general idea being to miss SH1. I've found in the past I can do 600+ km a day, day after day of great riding roads, but stick me on SH1 between Wellington and Taihape, and I'm tired and bored stiff before I reach Taihape. Dangerous combination, so I enjoy finding the back roads.
This plan was absolutely scuppered in Tokoroa after checking on my tyres. They had plenty of tread before the ride, but they were coming to the end of their life, and I didn't expect to be able to do another longer ride, but perhaps a shorter one. Well, I was worried I couldn't make Auckland on the rear tyre, with cracks throughout and almost bald in the centre. Seems I had found a road that liked tyres in the North Island (the South Island has plenty due to the coarse chip used). I haven't put my puncture repair kit into the bike yet (I know I know, travelling those distance, but the tyres have a great rep for holding up, even with a large nail in it). If anything happened on the back roads, it could be morning before I found anything or raised help. Picture is attached of the tyre upon my return to Auckland. I'll have the shop put the next set on before the weekend (I currently have two spare sets).
The answer was obvious but painful. Straight up SH1, little as possible throttle movements and keep the bike going at a smooth pace. I looked at it has a chance to exercise mental fitness and body fitness, since I would be in virtually the same position for 2 hours, with almost no corners in my way.
A very boring 2 hours later, I was back home around 0415, didn't even see many cops, but I did flash my high beam at a car in the distance who wasn't dipping their lights, who then turned out to be a cop. hehehe, oh well, rules of the road, and sometimes, with very little traffic, you forget you're on high beam. Went through the SH1 route through Hamilton for the first time in ages, as I'm usually using the bypass or other back roads. A pie and sausage roll were grabbed on the hop shortly before home, as I was suddenly extremely hungry. 1 pie for dinner obviously wasn't enough.
1013km, home to home, cold temperatures, and out and about for 14 hours. Not a bad way to help someone fix their wireless issues. :)
Reading MSTRS thread late on Friday night gave me the hatchings of a better plan, and an excuse to pop over the Napier and back to sort out a KB'ers issues. Of course, if I headed direct to Napier, it would be as boring as hell, Auckland SH1 > Taupo > SH5 > Napier. No way. Instead, I decided to run SH22 again, but going south, then head through Te Kuiti, Taumarunui, across to Turangi, then north to Taupo and finally hop over to Napier. Private message sent, offering assistance and to bed.
More work Saturday morning and MSTRS was happy for the assistance, so only left at 1430. Leaving it a bit late, but as long as I got to Napier at a reasonable time to assist, no problem. Heading back at night wasn't an issue, I would actually carry the clear visor this time and I needed some night riding.
So, courtesy of Google, this is how the route added up: http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=East+Tamaki,+Auckland&daddr=mercer+to:Naike,+Waikato+to:Te+Uku,+Waikato+ to:Te+Pahu+Rd,+Waikato+to:Pirongia,+Waikato+to:Te+ Kuiti,+Waikato+to:Taumarunui,+Manawatu-wanganui+to:Turangi,+Waikato+to:Taupo,+Waikato+to: Napier,+Hawkes+Bay+to:Tokoroa,+Waikato+to:Hamilton ,+Waikato+to:east+tamaki+auckland&hl=en&geocode=FfwWzP0dZpxsCil7-TsLi0wNbTHE67vNOSwDDw%3BFfoqx_0dMQNvCim1HdKz2FZtbT HLlKnsWThD6Q%3BFZWOw_0d_5JtCinFqjqxYLUSbTGAeV9rjkX 5NA%3BFSPGvv0djaBtCikxArcc4iptbTFDrYz6EcT2sA%3BFbo Qvv0de3xwCikVxRx9YidtbTElbMnkJf77ag%3BFUk6vP0dr2px CikrGILKetxsbTF-_mHFq0X4iw%3BFUgSt_0dNMxwCikf2zYcbrtsbTF7f5OWmnLD2 g%3BFSexrv0dnExyCinROdvNakBrbTEgREJHTjGoYA%3BFcQRr f0dNaR6CikHYzxsYLxrbTGeifeuOsAGnQ%3BFX6wsf0dPpx-CikxOUtpufBrbTE5id56c48ubQ%3BFWtnpf0dOYeLCimBOcZE0 ExobTF1GA9aiEwzOQ%3BFWjWuP0d3pJ7CinZgYCIsUFsbTGId2 GA5MUPtg%3BFZllv_0dq55yCim5T2kgsBhtbTHxP2zWfMKMWQ% 3BFfwWzP0dZpxsCil7-TsLi0wNbTHE67vNOSwDDw&mra=ls&sll=-38.08269,176.401978&sspn=3.307617,8.453979&ie=UTF8&ll=-38.225235,175.891113&spn=3.301163,8.453979&z=8
My wandering comrade was out of this ride as well, as he had just completed his own running in of his new bike overnight which is documented here (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php/128180-Pootling-on-a-Predator-as-a-proud-new-owner!)
Back down SH1 to Mercer, as I couldn't be bothered negotiating Pukekohe and wanted to get to the better roads faster. At Mercer, the rain started, annoying, as Metvuw said it would be great after the storm had passed during the night. Guess not. On with the rain jacket, now I didn't need to stop to don it later. Down SH22 and now in the daylight I could see what it was like. Probably better for the heart that I couldn't see it. Spent my time weaving to the parts with grip, but despite my efforts the rear slid out of one corner. Can't find the grippy parts when its all smooth. Ducked off SH22 and headed down to Te Uku, great little road and was even mostly sealed now, but still roadworks. I had found some new back roads I hadn't done before, so down those, exiting onto SH39 north of Pirongia.
A stop in Te Kuiti for gas, clean head and tail light and indicators (servo clean) and onwards to Taumarunui. Weather had mostly cleared and a nice clean pace was set picking nice lines. East at Taumarunui and through a road travelled several times to Turangi (used a bit in the Grand Challenge the last couple of years), and when I go north/south often too. No need to stop and up to Taupo, with plenty of traffic crawling along comfortably below the speed limit.
Got into Taupo around 1920, and had missed a couple of calls and texts so caught up with them. Text sent to Napier confirming they wanted, nay, needed me and asking for address. Spent a bit of time in the servo devouring a pie and drink, before punching the address into the GPS and setting off for Napier at 1950. Saw my first active cop on the trip on SH5 (is anyone surprised on that road) but the radar detector had seen him well in advance and my speed was only a couple of kph over. Easily fixed. The rain was all gone, replaced with a cloudless night, usually excellent. Except deep in the country on desolate roads, a cloudless night means its cold, sometimes very cold. Noticed the bike read out a new record low ambient temperature of -2.4 degrees (previously hit -0.1 around Auckland, so knew the bike could read negative)
Rolled up to MSTRS house around 2120, ready to put my IT hat back on and fix a wireless issue. Bed was offered several times over but unnecessary and once I explained why I was riding like that, they understood. Well, when I say understood, they still thought I was clearly mad, but was happy to leave me to it. :weird: The usual bike chat was entered into, solution for the problem found and once a 24hr gas station was located, I was under way back to Auckland shortly before midnight, with a side goal of setting a new record ambient temp. Sure enough, before hitting Taupo I saw the readout reach -4.2 at one point, and was hovering in the -3 degree range frequently. Could have got lower, don't know, but factoring in wind chill, I was riding in temperatures around -17 degrees celsius. :cold:
I didn't need gas in Taupo, and all was quiet after 0100. A boring road north, but at least I could stick to the speed limit without cars getting in my way and 10km away from Tokoroa my reserve light came on. Arriving at 0200 ish, the plan was to refuel and go through Old Taupo Rd north as it was more interesting, and any other roads I found, but the general idea being to miss SH1. I've found in the past I can do 600+ km a day, day after day of great riding roads, but stick me on SH1 between Wellington and Taihape, and I'm tired and bored stiff before I reach Taihape. Dangerous combination, so I enjoy finding the back roads.
This plan was absolutely scuppered in Tokoroa after checking on my tyres. They had plenty of tread before the ride, but they were coming to the end of their life, and I didn't expect to be able to do another longer ride, but perhaps a shorter one. Well, I was worried I couldn't make Auckland on the rear tyre, with cracks throughout and almost bald in the centre. Seems I had found a road that liked tyres in the North Island (the South Island has plenty due to the coarse chip used). I haven't put my puncture repair kit into the bike yet (I know I know, travelling those distance, but the tyres have a great rep for holding up, even with a large nail in it). If anything happened on the back roads, it could be morning before I found anything or raised help. Picture is attached of the tyre upon my return to Auckland. I'll have the shop put the next set on before the weekend (I currently have two spare sets).
The answer was obvious but painful. Straight up SH1, little as possible throttle movements and keep the bike going at a smooth pace. I looked at it has a chance to exercise mental fitness and body fitness, since I would be in virtually the same position for 2 hours, with almost no corners in my way.
A very boring 2 hours later, I was back home around 0415, didn't even see many cops, but I did flash my high beam at a car in the distance who wasn't dipping their lights, who then turned out to be a cop. hehehe, oh well, rules of the road, and sometimes, with very little traffic, you forget you're on high beam. Went through the SH1 route through Hamilton for the first time in ages, as I'm usually using the bypass or other back roads. A pie and sausage roll were grabbed on the hop shortly before home, as I was suddenly extremely hungry. 1 pie for dinner obviously wasn't enough.
1013km, home to home, cold temperatures, and out and about for 14 hours. Not a bad way to help someone fix their wireless issues. :)