Picton to Bluff and back [Archive]

superjackal

18th June 2013, 11:16

unstuck

18th June 2013, 11:26

Only one way to find out.:2thumbsup

Gremlin

18th June 2013, 12:43

superjackal

18th June 2013, 13:34

Depends if you travel those distances frequently or not. If not... well, you're going to be in for a surprise.

Also depends if you just want to cover distance, or sightsee along the way, stop when you like, take it cruisy as such. If so, I'd recommend 3-400km a day, if it's all new to you. Sure, it can be punched out in 4-5 hours, but you probably won't ride like that (and it also means it's not too daunting if you're behind time), and stops can consume a surprising amount of time. If you're not experienced, the unfamiliar roads could present their own challenges.

Roads like Picton-Christchurch are easy and main highway, and travel time is 3.5-4 hours. Roads like the Catlins would take longer.

I do a 20km commute each way each day, 200kms a week. But that's nicely broken up. I did 6 hours on a GN250 once and that was quite sore even though it had a really soft seat. That's what makes me wonder about really long distance. I would sight-see but not too much. I imagine I'd take about 8 hrs per leg with stops....

unstuck

18th June 2013, 15:03

Roads like the Catlins would take longer.

Only because it is so much fun, you have to turn around and do it again .:2thumbsup

Maha

18th June 2013, 15:54

I do a 20km commute each way each day, 200kms a week. But that's nicely broken up. I did 6 hours on a GN250 once and that was quite sore even though it had a really soft seat. That's what makes me wonder about really long distance. I would sight-see but not too much. I imagine I'd take about 8 hrs per leg with stops....

Piece of piss, all you need to do is get off the bike for 5-10 minutes every 100-120kms or so. Give the legs/arse area a stretch. On a trip such as that, where you are not that bike fit, your worst enemy is fatigue.
Eat and drink also. Start out with a good breakfast then a chocolate bar here and there, bottle of V? ...sorted. You're in the South island!! take time to see the country.

Drew

18th June 2013, 17:34

I imagine I'd take about 8 hrs per leg with stops....Dude, there's sight seeing schedual times, and then there's pushing the bike.

Eight hours per 400 odd K leg, that's some serious fucking around.

Gremlin

18th June 2013, 17:35

I do a 20km commute each way each day, 200kms a week. But that's nicely broken up. I did 6 hours on a GN250 once and that was quite sore even though it had a really soft seat.
20km commute is nothing, and certainly not going to assist you in doing 500km in a day. You'll be sitting on the seat longer, being buffeted by wind for longer periods etc. Soft seats aren't necessarily a good thing, usually not supporting you enough (and you can possibly feel the frame underneath). It sounds odd, but you actually want a firmer seat (not hard, but not soft either) to properly support your weight for longer periods.

Piece of piss, all you need to do is get off the bike for 5-10 minutes every 100-120kms or so. Give the legs/arse area a stretch. On a trip such as that, where you are not that bike fit, your worst enemy is fatigue.
Eat and drink also. Start out with a good breakfast then a chocolate bar here and there, bottle of V? ...sorted. You're in the South island!! take time to see the country.
As Maha said, fatigue will be an issue. I disagree with the recommendation of V, or other energy drinks, actually any drinks containing caffeine. It's a diuretic, meaning it can dehydrate you, and also the sugar hit in energy drinks picks you up, but only temporarily, and when the high ends, it will drop you lower than you were before.

Maha

18th June 2013, 17:39

As Maha said, fatigue will be an issue. I disagree with the recommendation of V, or other energy drinks, actually any drinks containing caffeine. It's a diuretic, meaning it can dehydrate you, and also the sugar hit in energy drinks picks you up, but only temporarily, and when the high ends, it will drop you lower than you were before.

Yeah sorry, I meant to say Elks piss, but did not know if there were any Elk in the South island. :confused:

paturoa

18th June 2013, 17:42

4-500 ks per day is not a long ride. I'd call that medium to well done.

Maha

18th June 2013, 17:47

4-500 ks per day is not a long ride. I'd call that medium to well done.

To be fair though, the distances in the first post for someone who has done no real distance riding previously, and to be doing 4-500kms over 5 consecutive days, is a top effort.

Gremlin

18th June 2013, 17:51

4-500 ks per day is not a long ride. I'd call that medium to well done.
Yep, as Maha says, you need to bear in mind his experience. Some are knackered after 200km in a day. Don't want to be riding tired, and it's not enjoyable either, plus you miss all the nice stuff.

duckonin

18th June 2013, 18:31

Don't do your self in. Ride in one day what you are comfortable with. U get sore stop and rest. Call it a day when riding is no longer enjoyable.

DrunkenMistake

18th June 2013, 18:42

I done Dunedin to Blenheim on a CBR250 a few years back, we stopped in Christchurch after the first day then the second went the rest of the way,
Was a much nicer ride, I dont Blenheim to Dunedin back in one day and I dont think I would ever try again, I didn't find myself enjoying the ride in the 4th quarter of the trip, was more of a rush to get home and nap.

Erelyes

18th June 2013, 19:15

tigertim20

18th June 2013, 20:08

Hi

Deciding whether or not to take my ER-5 on a long trip this summer. Would depart

Picton on Sunday, ride to Christchurch, stay a night (337kms).
Christchurch to Queenstown, stay a night (483kms).
Queenstown to Bluff via Te Anau, stay a night (385kms)
then Invercargill to Christchurch (566kms)
Christchurch to Picton (337kms)

Roughly 2100kms... 5 days.

I absolutely love long distance travelling but never done it on a bike. I like to travel light but wonder how sore my backside is going to get and whether it's too much...?

GNJ

hmm. I say do it, but with some variation. heading south, go via kaikoura, queenstown etc, but once you reach invercargill, take a tiki tour through the caitlins, then shoot from balclutha across to queenstown (Balclutha - inland just before milton, through roxburgh etc) and back to queenstown. fron there the crown range to wanaka, then through hawea, and follow the west coast all the way to westport. from there if you are low on time, head back to Blenheim then picton. If you have time, go from westport to nelson, nelson to havelock, then go through queen charlotte drive to Picton

nzspokes

18th June 2013, 20:28

Pick a day off and go a ride for 400ks. That will tell you lots.

High sugar foods and drink or high caffeine will work against you. Water is your friend.

Ocean1

18th June 2013, 20:30

Nigga you crazy.

Missing out SH94 (Milford Sound) and the West Coast completely? Come on....

Make it a round trip and give it another couple days. Also, stay in a couple lil' towns as well, that you don't know the name of offhand (such as Glenorchy) - stuff staying in ChCh twice, imho.

/2c

hmm. I say do it, but with some variation. heading south, go via kaikoura, queenstown etc, but once you reach invercargill, take a tiki tour through the caitlins, then shoot from balclutha across to queenstown (Balclutha - inland just before milton, through roxburgh etc) and back to queenstown. fron there the crown range to wanaka, then through hawea, and follow the west coast all the way to westport. from there if you are low on time, head back to Blenheim then picton. If you have time, go from westport to nelson, nelson to havelock, then go through queen charlotte drive to Picton

These. I do that trip once a year, with lots of variations. Get on your bike early and snack every couple of hrs. Easy.

insomnia01

18th June 2013, 21:41

no west coast riding but that's the best part :bye: start early & you have all day weather permitting ENJOY I'm hoping to be back in the sth isld Feb/March 2014

superjackal

19th June 2013, 09:52

Nigga you crazy.

Missing out SH94 (Milford Sound) and the West Coast completely? Come on....

Make it a round trip and give it another couple days. Also, stay in a couple lil' towns as well, that you don't know the name of offhand (such as Glenorchy) - stuff staying in ChCh twice, imho.

/2c

I've already done those. This trip is about ticking off the (easily accessible) places in NZ I've not visited yet- which is actually only Bluff and Invercargill. Intrigued about the Catlins - will have to look that up. I'm down South for a wedding on the Friday and don't want to stay at the inlaws for a week... I figure three days blasting around will be fun. I did the whole of Wales a few years back in an old 911 in three days, that was FUN and before I was into Bikes.

I'll do Gisborne this summer too as that'll be the last place in NZ I haven't been to. I tried once from Whakatane (in an old Triumph TC2500) but got bored halfway and headed back. Was a bit younger then so hopefully will have the patience now...

God, I love road trips.

george formby

19th June 2013, 10:15

Sounds lubbly.
Definitely ride similar distances before your trip, get your butt & head prepared. You may also find you have to make changes to the bike so it fits better for decent rides. I have had to put higher bars on my bike to prevent my shoulders seizing up. Wear comfortable under kecks...
Discomfort on the bike usually comes from being immobile while your riding so stop, eat, drink, pee & wander about to get your circulation going.
Get up with the larks & have a big brekkie, you can knock off half your days travel well before lunch in my experience. Check your bike at the end of the day, chain, tires, fluids, bulbs etc & again quickly in the morning in case you missed something when you were tired. Nothing worse than a late start then messing around with the bike, getting fuel, planning your route etc & ending up chasing the sunset.
Remember to go "weeeeeeeeeee" through the twisties.

swarfie

19th June 2013, 10:26

I've already done those. This trip is about ticking off the (easily accessible) places in NZ I've not visited yet- which is actually only Bluff and Invercargill. Intrigued about the Catlins - will have to look that up. I'm down South for a wedding on the Friday and don't want to stay at the inlaws for a week... I figure three days blasting around will be fun. I did the whole of Wales a few years back in an old 911 in three days, that was FUN and before I was into Bikes.

I'll do Gisborne this summer too as that'll be the last place in NZ I haven't been to. I tried once from Whakatane (in an old Triumph TC2500) but got bored halfway and headed back. Was a bit younger then so hopefully will have the patience now...

God, I love road trips.

I did Picton to Dunners via the inland scenic route about four years ago in one hit...just under 700k in one day on my Gilera Saturno Bialbero. Won't be wanting to do that distance on a single board seat again! (although I did have an Airhawk to soften the blow a bit, they're well recommended if you can dig in the pocket deep enough:brick:) The Catlins IMHO is a definite MUST, awesome bit of road:2thumbsup

Gremlin

19th June 2013, 11:39

Intrigued about the Catlins - will have to look that up.

I'll do Gisborne this summer too as that'll be the last place in NZ I haven't been to.
Uh... something tells me that Gisborne isn't the last place you haven't been. Quite the bold statement to make, when I've spent several hundred thousand km going to most places in the country, but there is still plenty more to see.

superjackal

19th June 2013, 12:03

Uh... something tells me that Gisborne isn't the last place you haven't been. Quite the bold statement to make, when I've spent several hundred thousand km going to most places in the country, but there is still plenty more to see.

Ex national sales rep. Pretty much gone everywhere! I used to have so much time up my sleeve I took all the backroads too.

chrisso

20th June 2013, 20:03

If your doing this in summer well Queenstown to Milford is easy.. and awesome. Just don't by fuel at Milford. And watch the sandflies... Some of them land at the airstrip and take on 200 litres of Avgas. ( The foreign tourists believe it...) I reckon the West Coast route thru the Buller would be better but whatever. Dunno about cheap accomodation at MIlford. Last time I was there I lost all my $$ playing pool and slept in the bus shelter at the Hollyford Vly tunroff.. Those damn sandflies ... Mate sounds good however you do it.

BadSarah

21st June 2013, 16:20

I just did a trip to Cape Reinga, take a break every now and then, have a coffee or lunch, look at the views, take some pictures- whatever, just get off the seat and stretch your legs regularly. It helped ease my butt, having said that, after the first couple of days it gets easier

GFP

22nd June 2013, 14:44

As everyone else has pretty much stated just work up to it and the k's will roll off easy, I have done several trips to Phillip Island for the MotoGP from Sydney on various bikes I've owned including a Ducati 749, a KTM640 Adventure and lastly on a DRZ400SM, taking the most direct route its 1020km but that is highway riding, the way we go is closer to 1200km taking in as many twisty out of police presence roads as possible (you get fined for 3km over in Victoria), usually we'll try and split the trip in half so it's 600km per day but sometimes it's nicer to knock off say 800 the first day so you have an easy 400 to do on the last day.

Subike

22nd June 2013, 14:56

As a person who enjoys the long rides of any distance in any weather most times of the year.
I have found that a 10 min break every 100 - 150k is good for me.
I have found that on cooler days, that a boul of soup, not a coffee at a break is far better.
Doing long ride in warm to hot weather, ensure that you have drinking water with you.
If you dont feel like a piss every two hours, then your dehydrated and in danger.
But like most here I also believe that you need to get distance fit before attempting huge distances, and a daily commute ride of under 50ks a day is not enough to prepare you for this.

jellywrestler

22nd June 2013, 15:04

although I did have an Airhawk to soften the blow a bit, they're well recommended if you can dig in the pocket deep enough:brick:) a bit of bubble wraps heaps cheaper...

pete-blen

22nd June 2013, 22:30

Go to the ADV forum... we do 300plus k rides on dirt bikes all the time..
and think nothing of it.... little narrow seats / sitting up right wind on yer chest ..
The dusty butt is around 500k per day , can be 10/12hours on the bike each day
then getting there & back home...

Harden up sport.. it's all just part of the fun..

Jantar

22nd June 2013, 22:42

Uh... something tells me that Gisborne isn't the last place you haven't been. Quite the bold statement to make, when I've spent several hundred thousand km going to most places in the country, but there is still plenty more to see.

I keep thinking I've seen the whole country, but then almost every trip I take I find some roads I haven't been on before. Then a couple of times watching country calendar on TV I see more new places to visit. I know that my next trip to the north island I have to allow at least one extra day to visit somewhere new. (Oh, and another day to do the 1000 miler pre ride on my way home).

scumdog

22nd June 2013, 22:44

Pick a day off and go a ride for 400ks. That will tell you lots.

High sugar foods and drink or high caffeine will work against you. Water is your friend.

Did Nelson to the Riviera of the South (via Springs Junction) in one hit a couple of months or so ago.

Had a minimum brekky, stopped only when I needed to gas up (about every 400+km) eventually had a filled roll while gassing up at Ashburton as my first 'meal' - had nothing to drink for the trip after I headed out

Got home just over 9 hours later.

It was a shitty ride in rain when I got to the east coast but not too daunting a ride, could have gone further if I'd had to.

Drew

23rd June 2013, 09:14

Picton to Alexandra, via Lindes(sp) pass is a good way to fuck a day.

pritch

29th June 2013, 13:11

Missing out SH94 (Milford Sound) and the West Coast completely? Come on....

You beat me to it.

The east coast roads, with the exception of Picton - Christchurch, which has a certain texture, are generally more suited to trucks than bikes. It'd be more interesting to go through Fairlie, Twizel and the Lindis Pass than hug the coast.

If you do a big figure 8 you can go through all the passes.

I thought my daily milages might be a bit poofy; ride for a couple of hours, stop for lunch, ride for another hour or two. When I went around on the VFR a few years ago the Ducati Owners Club were doing it at the same time. I kept seeing them almost every day so they were doing travelling similar distances to me.

A couple of years ago I went with the Honda Riders Club and they were even more gentle. With the exception of an optional leg, Kaikoura to Geraldine via the Lewis Pass, Lake Brunner, and Arthur's Pass. That leg was some 650k(?).

The usual suggestion when planning things like this is don't back up a big day with another big day. If you must do a big day follow it up with an easy day.

Most people I know spend two nights in the same place about half way around. That's a laundry day so you can get away with carrying half as many clothes as otherwise.

You've got plenty time to work it all out between now and when the weather warms up, don't spoil it for the want of an extra day - or two.

10bikekid

30th June 2013, 08:32

Planing a return trip from Auckland to Queenstown next Feb

Will do the Auckland to Picton's same day (635ish road ks) and then settle into about 333kms per day stop a lot and take pics etc but am not really site seeing as such but tend to go into brain mush if do much more ks than this a day, I'm sure its different for everyone and youngys may be able to handle a bit more and still enjoy the journey

Might also invest in an Airhawk for some backside sanity :confused:

russd7

2nd July 2013, 21:28

Did Nelson to the Riviera of the South (via Springs Junction) in one hit a couple of months or so ago.

Had a minimum brekky, stopped only when I needed to gas up (about every 400+km) eventually had a filled roll while gassing up at Ashburton as my first 'meal' - had nothing to drink for the trip after I headed out

Got home just over 9 hours later.

It was a shitty ride in rain when I got to the east coast but not too daunting a ride, could have gone further if I'd had to.
ummm are we alowed to work out the average speed needed to get to the riviera and the back into otago in 9 hrs scummy :bleh:
a trip i do twice a year in the cage, well we dont go back to otago though, surprisingly it is quicker to go via west coast from nelson, googled it once and thats what it told me an i said rubbish, then tried it and what ya know, google maps was correct