DougieNZ
20th October 2007, 14:25
Question: It’s 3 in the morning, torrential rain and you are somewhere north of Auckland on an unfamiliar road. What do you do?
Answer: Keep going - it’s the Grand Challenge!
After some years of thinking I decided to head north to Turangi this year for my first ‘Grand Challenge” This is a yearly event in its 21st year that is run by the Rusty Nuts Motorcycle Club. The idea is to run 1000 Miles (1610km) in 24 hours – starting and finishing in Turangi.
Preparation
The bike you are going to do this run on has to be well prepared. Full working wet weather gear is a must, and I packed a few other items that I don’t normally carry. A First Aid Kit, Tow Rope and Tie Downs, Torch and Maps of various scales. The ST1300 was given a good check over before departure. Others do practice rides leading up to the event, but I didn’t do any. In fact the last time I had ridden a decent distance was in April on the Southern Cross Rally. I had done a lot of reading on the do’s and don’t’
s - and it seemed nearly everyone I spoke to had a different strategy!
I left Wellington with John (KoroJ – another ST rider and fellow Ulyssian) at 1030 on Friday 12th. We had a leisurely trip north via the Wairarapa, Manawatu Gorge and Vinegar Hill arriving in Turangi at about 3.00pm. Then it was straight in to scrutineering. Brian “Rusty” gave the bike a thorough check over. And I do mean thorough. The theory is (and rightly so) that the bike should be capable of doing the run again when it finishes 1000 Miles. Therefore tyres, brakes etc have to have 3200km worth of wear left on them; all electrical equipment is checked and must be working. There is even a turntable to accurately check steering head bearings. I nervously waited while he looked over/around/under the bike and eventually gave me the thumbs up.
The map showing the route goes up at 7.00pm on the Friday night. Then it is out with the maps for a careful tracing of the route and calculating of fuel stops. Missed turns and wrong routes can cost you a lot of time and extra km on this event. That done it was time for a quiet beer or two and a catch up with some riders that had been on the Southern Cross. Sleep that night was very broken – the anticipation was huge..
A nice cooked breakfast Saturday morning started the day off. Then it was back to the map for final confirmation and fuel calculations. I managed to have a break away from the camp for a couple of hours. When I returned just after midday, the mood at the camp had changed. People were milling around in hushed conversation, gear was being checked and rechecked, and final route knowledge preparations were being made. The tension in the air in the last hour was electric. A quick photo with the fellow Ulyssians on the ride at 2:15, and then the riders briefing was at 2:30pm. It covered important things like timings and road works. Also mentioned was the extension for this year’s trip. To qualify, you had to complete the 1000 miles by 9:30am. That was 18hrs 23mins after my start time. I took a mental note that I would see how I was going at Kaitaia. I couldn’t do the extension, as this was my 1st Grand Challenge, but I thought it might be fun to see if I could qualify anyway. John was booked in for the extension, so I thought I could do him a favour by pushing him along a bit too.
3.00pm came and the first riders were away. I had decided to start the trip in my full wet weather gear, as I had studied the weather carefully and rain was anticipated. Final adjustments to gear and I was away bang on time at 3.07. The first leg took us around the west of Lake Taupo towards Tokoroa and then on to one of many rural side roads to the first time check at Puketurua. 144km travelled. I had caught up with John by now, and we managed to stick with a group of 7 odd bikes through to the first checkpoint at Paeroa via Te Araroa Road. 250 km run.
This is where the ST’s had a distinct advantage. We were nowhere near needing fuel at 250km run, so it was a quick clip of the check in ticket and carry on. I lost John on the next Section (SH2 & SH1 to Auckland) so I carried on riding by myself for quite a while. In fact this was the last time I rode with another bike until Auckland on my way back! I stopped for fuel at the motorway services just north of Auckland. At each fuel stop it was a banana and a bite sized Moro bar. I was very glad of a 2 litre ‘camel back’ water system tucked in to the back of my jacket, so I could have some water any time I wanted it. This saved me a hell of a lot of time at and between stops. By this time the weather has really turned nasty. The rain was torrential, and it was just getting dark. From here it was pretty much wet/greasy road all the way to the finish. The road north to Dargaville was challenging. By now the traffic was very scarce, so I was able to open up the ST a little on the straights bearing in mind the wet roads, rain and by now the wind was also starting to pick up. Once again, I just got the ticket clipped at Checkpoint 2 at Dargaville and just carried on – 556km run
Answer: Keep going - it’s the Grand Challenge!
After some years of thinking I decided to head north to Turangi this year for my first ‘Grand Challenge” This is a yearly event in its 21st year that is run by the Rusty Nuts Motorcycle Club. The idea is to run 1000 Miles (1610km) in 24 hours – starting and finishing in Turangi.
Preparation
The bike you are going to do this run on has to be well prepared. Full working wet weather gear is a must, and I packed a few other items that I don’t normally carry. A First Aid Kit, Tow Rope and Tie Downs, Torch and Maps of various scales. The ST1300 was given a good check over before departure. Others do practice rides leading up to the event, but I didn’t do any. In fact the last time I had ridden a decent distance was in April on the Southern Cross Rally. I had done a lot of reading on the do’s and don’t’
s - and it seemed nearly everyone I spoke to had a different strategy!
I left Wellington with John (KoroJ – another ST rider and fellow Ulyssian) at 1030 on Friday 12th. We had a leisurely trip north via the Wairarapa, Manawatu Gorge and Vinegar Hill arriving in Turangi at about 3.00pm. Then it was straight in to scrutineering. Brian “Rusty” gave the bike a thorough check over. And I do mean thorough. The theory is (and rightly so) that the bike should be capable of doing the run again when it finishes 1000 Miles. Therefore tyres, brakes etc have to have 3200km worth of wear left on them; all electrical equipment is checked and must be working. There is even a turntable to accurately check steering head bearings. I nervously waited while he looked over/around/under the bike and eventually gave me the thumbs up.
The map showing the route goes up at 7.00pm on the Friday night. Then it is out with the maps for a careful tracing of the route and calculating of fuel stops. Missed turns and wrong routes can cost you a lot of time and extra km on this event. That done it was time for a quiet beer or two and a catch up with some riders that had been on the Southern Cross. Sleep that night was very broken – the anticipation was huge..
A nice cooked breakfast Saturday morning started the day off. Then it was back to the map for final confirmation and fuel calculations. I managed to have a break away from the camp for a couple of hours. When I returned just after midday, the mood at the camp had changed. People were milling around in hushed conversation, gear was being checked and rechecked, and final route knowledge preparations were being made. The tension in the air in the last hour was electric. A quick photo with the fellow Ulyssians on the ride at 2:15, and then the riders briefing was at 2:30pm. It covered important things like timings and road works. Also mentioned was the extension for this year’s trip. To qualify, you had to complete the 1000 miles by 9:30am. That was 18hrs 23mins after my start time. I took a mental note that I would see how I was going at Kaitaia. I couldn’t do the extension, as this was my 1st Grand Challenge, but I thought it might be fun to see if I could qualify anyway. John was booked in for the extension, so I thought I could do him a favour by pushing him along a bit too.
3.00pm came and the first riders were away. I had decided to start the trip in my full wet weather gear, as I had studied the weather carefully and rain was anticipated. Final adjustments to gear and I was away bang on time at 3.07. The first leg took us around the west of Lake Taupo towards Tokoroa and then on to one of many rural side roads to the first time check at Puketurua. 144km travelled. I had caught up with John by now, and we managed to stick with a group of 7 odd bikes through to the first checkpoint at Paeroa via Te Araroa Road. 250 km run.
This is where the ST’s had a distinct advantage. We were nowhere near needing fuel at 250km run, so it was a quick clip of the check in ticket and carry on. I lost John on the next Section (SH2 & SH1 to Auckland) so I carried on riding by myself for quite a while. In fact this was the last time I rode with another bike until Auckland on my way back! I stopped for fuel at the motorway services just north of Auckland. At each fuel stop it was a banana and a bite sized Moro bar. I was very glad of a 2 litre ‘camel back’ water system tucked in to the back of my jacket, so I could have some water any time I wanted it. This saved me a hell of a lot of time at and between stops. By this time the weather has really turned nasty. The rain was torrential, and it was just getting dark. From here it was pretty much wet/greasy road all the way to the finish. The road north to Dargaville was challenging. By now the traffic was very scarce, so I was able to open up the ST a little on the straights bearing in mind the wet roads, rain and by now the wind was also starting to pick up. Once again, I just got the ticket clipped at Checkpoint 2 at Dargaville and just carried on – 556km run