Sunday 30 July - Where Did You Go Today

[Terminated]

Up through Whitemans Valley, Mangaroa, back down toward Wellington then over the Haywards Hill out to the coast back across and into Lower Hutt then back to Stokes Vegas. 110kms.

A good run and heaps of cyclists coming from Whitemans Valley down the windy bits as I was going up.

[merv]

Is the Straw Cafe still open for a break?

[R6_kid]

had a slow pootle across woodcocks road from warkworth end, then on down SH16, nothing special or overly fast - was feeling a bit under the weather and as i didnt think to stop for gas before i left i also had 'fuel economy' on my mind.

[MattRSK]

My Dad and I went for a ride this afternoon. Palmerston North - Aokautere - Feilding - Cheltenham - Vinegar Hill - Hunterville - Wanganui - Bulls - Palmerston North.

Awesome ride, checked out all the flood damage. Had a look at the bridge that had been washed away. Learnt a thing or two about riding on gravel. Had a few almost whoopsies. Noticed a big improvement in my riding. All in all had an awesome afternoon. 300kms.

[The Pastor]

I went to work 20ks round trip.

[eliot-ness]

Had a late start, 9.30am so had a quick run up through Mangawhai, Waipu cove, on to sh1 and back home. Disappointingly few bikes out. Saw 3 at the cafe in Welsford, 2 at the Mangawhai pub and two Harleys on the road. Great riding conditions. Mild, overcast, no wind, dry roads, and only one cop heading north at high speed. Couldn't have been better. Where were you all??

[Terminated]

Is the Straw Cafe still open for a break?
Sorry Merv, where is Straw Cafe is that at Pauatanhanui bottom of Haywards/Paremata road - near the Caltex, stopped there for a coffee today.

[MattRSK]

Hey BuckBuckNo1
What do you think about the haywards hill. That has got to be one of my favourite pieces of road.

-Matt

[Terminated]

Hey BuckBuckNo1
What do you think about the haywards hill. That has got to be one of my favourite pieces of road.

-Matt

Been in the region here for 20 years, and though a total and utter newbie on a bike, I do enjoy the Haywards and will feel more comfortable when I am off the L-plate and onto Restricted.

For cages though I personally feel that all drivers think they're in Formula One on that stretch of road. The road certainly is inviting for speed in a car, on a bike however I reckon the journey itself is great irrespective of the speed one does or does not do.

Heads Up and Enjoy

[merv]

Straw Cafe is in Whitemans Valley. Once you come up Blue Mountains Road and over the top and along the flat a bit the main route hangs it to the left. The cafe is on the dead end road straight ahead over the one lane bridge.

Its got a reasonable amount of parking as you can see in these pics - we like doing that loop so stop there at times - as we did a couple of times in April but haven't had a chance to go over since hence my qustion about if it is open still knowing that cafes come and go.

Here's a map with Cafe marked on it for next time you go around there.

[Terminated]

Straw Cafe is in Whitemans Valley. Once you come up Blue Mountains Road and over the top and along the flat a bit the main route hangs it to the left. The cafe is on the dead end road straight ahead over the one lane bridge.


Thanks Merv, next time I am over there will have a look for it, pretty sure where you're talking about.

BTW back over there in Pauatanhanui inlet, they serve a pretty good coffee too.

[TerminalAddict]

nowhere today :'(

but took friday off work, and did a western bay loop with she who rides on back.
hamilhole-->morrinsville-->te aroha-->paeroa-->waihi (did a divert through waitawheta (spelling?))-->bethlehem-->tauranga-->mount-->rotorua-->hamilhole

[Merwood]

went from the shore to new market half asleep in the morning, bought some biking stuff from techbooks then came back :scooter:

[The_Dover]

to a couple of pubs, with some homos.

i was slow, hard night.

not bad.

[marty]

no riding. went flying tonight though - 1.5 hours

[Hitcher]

Up the Valley to Caltex Rimutaka (tagged along with Maximus for a bit), then took the Akatarawa road through to Waikanae, then called in to have a squiz at Paul in NZ's build (way cool Triumph being bolted together) and then home via Grays Road, Haywards and the Valley the other way.

The FJR gets its 6,000km service tomorrow -- 1,800km since the 2nd of July. And what a spankingly great bike it is too!

[boomer]

to a couple of pubs, with some homos.

i was slow, hard night.

not bad.


true and true.. although i'm not sure what Rayza and Gremlin think of being called Homo's. A good day saw lots of pub stops on a coro run with 9 bikes and a good pace, good company and some decent weather;

highlights, seeing Rayza wheelie, spinning the rear up trying to wheelie, dover stopping every 5 minutes to piss, racing with Speedie through the twisties like we're in the GP and seeing Fish tear up the road

On a different note Dover.. Gremlin was slower.. or was that Stiffie :blip:

Mick... your boys can ride mate; Fish put on a show again today !!!


cher cher :first:

[Gremlin]

That was some excellent roads today speedie....

The only downside was that blasted over-rated motorised bicycle (I think boomer called it a cbr600rr??). That thing needed more pushes than a woman in labour. Dover kill switching at one stop was quite amusing though :rofl:

Other than that... sheesh... almost perfect. :2thumbsup As for boomer following me soooo close... well... I guess thats what happens when you don't buy a kwaka eh?? You want to pretend to be one :bleh:

And on another note, riding right behind dover, our 2 pipes made some awesome sound together... Don't know what it was, it just sounded brilliant!!

[ZeroIndex]

Although the day was cloudy, it wasn't too cold, and there wasn't water 'floating about'.. rode back from Maha_Man's BBQ (which was awesome), in Warkworth, followed the SH-1 down to the BP Autobarn just after the Bombays for a coffee, and then continued down until Meremere dragstrip (was signposted that drags were on), so went in to inspect.. met Crazy_Steve, and 2 other bikes (ZX-14 + Busa).. after about 20 minutes, continued on my way down to Huntly, where I jumped off SH-1, and onto Riverview Rd (i think that's the one: other side of the bridge), and then down to Ngaruawahia, put some petrol in at the BP there, and then took the '39' back to Hamilton (Whatawhata), I declare 'that' (the 39) my new playground, as it is closer than the 22 (petrol wise), and has lots of 'fun' corners to play on.. Was a really good weekend, and hope I have many more like that on the Ninja (Sunday km's: around 200..)

PS.. after Orewa, SH-1 has a minor detour: SH-1A, was chasing a silver Lamborgini Murchialago at 160km/h for about 2 minutes - my thought: If there's a cop, he'll get the Lambo: more bragging rights :D, he then slowed down, as did I (no speeding ticket buffer in front of me anymore)

[dawnrazor]

foodtown :gob:

[F5 Dave]

Similar but different to Hitcher

Up the Valley to Caltex Rimutaka, then took the Akatarawa road --- but hung a left & parked the van & unloaded. The with 5 other bikes we did the loop Through the main track & down the Devils staircase & up the rockgarden & back to the park again.

Had some amusing times negotiating the bogs then one chap went bush trying to avoid one & by the time we found him he was half way up a tree & swearing like a sailor.

[petesmeats]

went for a quick ride up the hills through to littleton and then back through the tunnel... Planning on heading out to akaroa next weekend... looking forward to it.

[Hitcher]

FJRs don't have 6,000km services. Mr Yamaha says every 10,000km will suffice.

[James Deuce]

Up to Paul in NZ's place via the Hayward's and Paekak hill. Hardly any traffic too. Fitted my packrack and helped lift the engine into the Triumph. Hit it with a hammer. Paul said I could. Rode back via Paekak hill and round the Whitby side of the inlet. Bit windy through there. The wind was blowing too. Headed along the motorway and went off at the bottom of Nauranga Gorge and then back up the Gorge so I could "do" the Newlands Flyover a couple of times.

[Paul in NZ]

Up to Paul in NZ's place via the Hayward's and Paekak hill. Hardly any traffic too. Fitted my packrack and helped lift the engine into the Triumph. Hit it with a hammer. Paul said I could.

I went to A&E after Jim hit me with the hammer...