AVOID East Cape Roads - stuffed!

[MD]

Heads up everybody- DON'T RIDE EAST CAPE THIS DECADE.

So just done four days riding. Some amazing bike roads covered and some shite wrecked roads. Maybe I should have posted this in the Adventure/off road forum.

Day 1. Kapiti to Pongoroa-Weber Road to Dannevirke- Napier. 7/10 for fun roads and reasonable condition.
Napier to Gisborne- Holy shit batman, best built roads around 9/10. Cambered like a racetrack. Three of us on cruisers were lovin the extra lean provided. Felt like I was back on a sportsbike. Closed the next day by a rockfall.

Then the shit hit the fan from Tologa Bay to Hicks Bay and further around towards Opotiki. Those roads will be ruined for years I'd say. No sign of any repair crews anywhere on the Cape. Slips, rockfalls, slumps, fallen trees, flooding, sink holes for hours of riding was no fun. Our spines took a bashing. The feeble attempt to repair some of the worse was throw some rough gravel over it and walk away.

Some of the sudden drop-offs into slumps would shatter a bike/car chassis if taken at anything halfway to the posted speed.

But hey smiles returned big time from Whakatane south over Matahina Dam-Galatea-HW38 Kaingaroa Forest towards Taupo 8/10 and beaut scenery. Then headed West along Poihipi Road- up to Whakamaru dam- Bennydale and eventually popped out on HW3 and made for New Plymouth- HW3 had annoying roadworks for miles with stop/goes and heavy/slow traffic but I gave it a bonus point for nice scenery bringing it to 5/10

[R650R]

North of Gisborne... all way to east cape those slumps have been there for 20 years. I first discovered them fully cranked over on GSXR when the road vanished under my front wheel.
Very quickly I discovered I wasn’t Schwantz doing a fourth gear wheelie it of a corner....
There’s about another whole twelve months of major works planned Nap to Gis, passing lanes and other stuff...
Yep those central roads, basically back way from Taupō to te awamutu are a dream, Actually policed now due to population growth so take care.
It has been unseasonably wet up here this year though so expect slips till nature find some it’s balance again.
Also MAJOR hazard the rain has messed with roadside mowing and accelerated grass growth so lots places for stray livestock and wild goats to lurk

[pete376403]

All part of Waka Kotahis road-to-zero plan. If the roads are shit you cant go fast. As far as they are concerned, fast = dead. Sorted.

[Gremlin]

When you find "Uneven Surface" signs on the East Cape, they really mean it! :sunny:

[1/32 man]

I have ridden Napier to Wairoa a few times....you get the Devils elbow thrown in for good measure.

There used to be a sign, " Beware Goats".....I was surprised to learn that goats can read.

[F5 Dave]

Just did that ride , back Wednesday last week, and a bit beyond.

Had to be careful but we scooted around ok. The 765 had more sporty suspension than some of the others but as long as you kept an eye out for the steps and loose stuff was ok. But yeah could be better.

Still I'd do it again tomorrow if I could get my clone to catch up on work while I was away.

High point, Lotin Point motel. Fantastic grounds beautiful view, at least on the grass sitting at picnic table scarfing wedges and beer in the fading sun.
Food was simple but good.

Could be better beer mind.

[Navy Boy]

I managed to ride from Wellington up to AKL for a work-related trip this last week. On the way up I took the SH4 option from Whanganui to SH3 before heading to Otorohanga and then up SH39 to where it intersects SH1.

There were lots of roadworks on SH4 but it's still a cracking road and mid-morning was a joy to ride. I also got to ride the 110Km/hr limit section of SH1 for the first time which was nice ;)

I'll be very glad when the SH1 bit near Otaki is finished though...

Despite receiving an absolute hosing on the way up I still enjoyed it and it reminded me that long bike journeys are good for the soul too :2thumbsup

[SaferRides]

SH35 between Gizzy and Hicks Bay wasn't in good shape 3 years ago when I last rode it, and there has been some really bad weather since then.

It is unfortunately becoming a common story in the north of the country, and not entirely Waka Kotahi's fault. The increase in truck weight limits about 10 years ago combined with summer droughts and heavy rain events has damaged many roads that were never built well in the first place.

There are still some good rides - most of the Coromandel Loop is maintained well. Tuakau to Raglan is mostly good except along the ridges, and still 100 the whole way after Pukekawa.

But i am looking seriously at adventure bikes...



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[Frodo]

Currently in Te Araroa, riding from Katikati today. Once past Whakatane, the roads got better and the traffic lighter and felt like I was on tour rather than commuting. I thought that 99% of the road from Waihau Bay to Te Araroa were fantastic. Its just the 1%, including slumps, gravel, potholes and scalloped seal, required the speed to be moderated. Aiming for Tolaga Bay tomorrow. Although the distance is quite short, the roads really suffered from the cyclone last week. Will report on the conditions. Then a 550km slog home to Kapiti before the next dose of heavy rain.

[Frodo]

The road from Te Araroa to Tokomaru Bay was better than I expected. A slip had been cleared not far from Te Araroa, leaving a thin layer of greasy mustone. A good reminder about can lie around the next corner.
That said, there were some good sections of road on this stretch.

However, the road between Tokomaru Bay and Tolaga Bay was pretty dire in many places. An adventure would be ideal, but my Aprilia Shiver on new tyres was fine.

MetService warned of heavy rain the next day. I didn't want to ride greasy roads or lose the enjoyment of what I knew were great roads ahead, so I decided to steam on home. This made for a 670km day from Te Araroa.

The road to Gisborne was largely great, but quite a few road repairs and stop-go's. One stop-go about 20km north of Gisborne had collected a very long queue of traffic, including truck/trailer units, logging trucks, etc. I managed to get much of the way past the stationary vehicles, but there were few passing opportunities so it was probably about 5km before I cleared the traffic and had a great road to myself.

As noted by others the road to Napier is mostly great and I was surprised by how few major road repairs there were.

I was surprised how I enjoyed the road from Napier to the Pahiatua Track, probably helped by the glorious evening light.

So in summary, I would repeat this trip in a heartbeat, but would prefer to take more time. Sure there are some pretty awful road conditions, partly due to the cyclone, but also roads that regularly suffer storms and are continually pounded by heavy trucks (the worst is how the seal is lifted in corrugations in what otherwise would be great corners). There were many road crews fixing damage - in one place the vegetation showed that the road itself had been 6 feet underwater - but this is clearly an ongoing battle.