Hitcher
19th October 2004, 21:48
On Friday 15 October 2004, Mrs H and myself were amongst 80-plus riders who would descend upon Turangi over the following day to ride in the 18th Rusty Nuts “Grand Challenge” (hereafter referred to as the GC, for the purposes of brevity).
And allsorts there were from all points of the compass, on a myriad of machines, clad in all manner of kit. Some were hardened veterans – identified by a multitude of proudly-worn GC patches. Others, like Mrs H and me, were GC virgins, unsure of what lay ahead but strangely excited by the prospect.
Friday afternoon in Turangi was lovely and sunny. So while the thorough scrutineering of bikes was underway, we took the opportunity to engage fellow riders in conversation, generally to get event insights, tips and tricks, that sort of thing.
What we quickly learned was the wide and often unbridgeable disparity of opinions, sometimes nearly leading to fisticuffs! The “Drink plenty of coffee or V drinks” brigade versus the “Stay away from coffee and sugary drinks” adherents. The “Go like hell” protagonists versus the “Steady rhythm, safe and sure” practitioners. Okay then…
At 7:00pm Friday night, Lee Rusty nailed the route to the galley wall, together with advice about where the 24-hour gas stations were and some finer details about the exact locations of checkpoints and the route in general.
So that’s what 1,600km looks like. Phew!
And the route of the 18th GC was:
- Start: Turangi (from 3:00pm Saturday)
- First checkpoint: The DC3 service station at Mangaweka
- Turn left towards Rangiwahia just before Ohingaiti
- Follow this route to Cheltenham
- Turn onto the Colyton-Ashhurst road just before Feilding
- Take the Saddle Road to Woodville
- Follow SH2 south past the Mangatainoka brewery and take the left turn to Pongaroa
- At Pongaroa, turn left to Weber
- From Weber proceed to the
- Second checkpoint: The BP station at Dannevirke
- Take SH2 north to Takapau
- Take Highway 50 through Tikokino to Napier
- Continue on SH2 through Wairoa, past Gisborne and onwards to
- Checkpoint 3: At the Caltex station at Opotiki
- Follow SH2 around the back of Whakatane
- Turning left onto Highway 34 through Te Teko
- Then onto Highway 33 and around the back of Rotorua
- Briefly onto SH5 before turning right onto Highway 30 to the Upper Atiamuri junction with SH1
- A short trip southwards on SH1 before turning right onto Highway 30
- Across the dam at Whakamaru, through Benneydale and on to
- Checkpoint 4: At the Shell Station at the north end of Te Kuiti
- From there, head south on SH3 to New Plymouth and then onwards to
- Checkpoint 5: At the Mobil station at Opunake.
- From there, retrace your tracks on SH3 to the Eight-mile Junction.
- Turn right down SH4 to Taumarunui
- Turn left onto Highway 41 and return to the campground at Turangi to finish.
We were up bright and early on Saturday morning to find that it was calm but raining gently. The forecast was ambiguous and I was hopeful that things may improve later in the day.
We walked into town to get some brunch with friend Darrel, who had arrived down from Auckland the night before to see what all the fuss was about. He hadn’t registered for the GC but thought he might tag along for a while.
We chatted to Steve (Harley Davidson) and Ian (STX1300) who were GC veterans and also with Mrs Ian, who planned to catch up with her reading in Turangi while Ian was out on the road.
The rain then set in more heavily, which it did up until the event start time.
And allsorts there were from all points of the compass, on a myriad of machines, clad in all manner of kit. Some were hardened veterans – identified by a multitude of proudly-worn GC patches. Others, like Mrs H and me, were GC virgins, unsure of what lay ahead but strangely excited by the prospect.
Friday afternoon in Turangi was lovely and sunny. So while the thorough scrutineering of bikes was underway, we took the opportunity to engage fellow riders in conversation, generally to get event insights, tips and tricks, that sort of thing.
What we quickly learned was the wide and often unbridgeable disparity of opinions, sometimes nearly leading to fisticuffs! The “Drink plenty of coffee or V drinks” brigade versus the “Stay away from coffee and sugary drinks” adherents. The “Go like hell” protagonists versus the “Steady rhythm, safe and sure” practitioners. Okay then…
At 7:00pm Friday night, Lee Rusty nailed the route to the galley wall, together with advice about where the 24-hour gas stations were and some finer details about the exact locations of checkpoints and the route in general.
So that’s what 1,600km looks like. Phew!
And the route of the 18th GC was:
- Start: Turangi (from 3:00pm Saturday)
- First checkpoint: The DC3 service station at Mangaweka
- Turn left towards Rangiwahia just before Ohingaiti
- Follow this route to Cheltenham
- Turn onto the Colyton-Ashhurst road just before Feilding
- Take the Saddle Road to Woodville
- Follow SH2 south past the Mangatainoka brewery and take the left turn to Pongaroa
- At Pongaroa, turn left to Weber
- From Weber proceed to the
- Second checkpoint: The BP station at Dannevirke
- Take SH2 north to Takapau
- Take Highway 50 through Tikokino to Napier
- Continue on SH2 through Wairoa, past Gisborne and onwards to
- Checkpoint 3: At the Caltex station at Opotiki
- Follow SH2 around the back of Whakatane
- Turning left onto Highway 34 through Te Teko
- Then onto Highway 33 and around the back of Rotorua
- Briefly onto SH5 before turning right onto Highway 30 to the Upper Atiamuri junction with SH1
- A short trip southwards on SH1 before turning right onto Highway 30
- Across the dam at Whakamaru, through Benneydale and on to
- Checkpoint 4: At the Shell Station at the north end of Te Kuiti
- From there, head south on SH3 to New Plymouth and then onwards to
- Checkpoint 5: At the Mobil station at Opunake.
- From there, retrace your tracks on SH3 to the Eight-mile Junction.
- Turn right down SH4 to Taumarunui
- Turn left onto Highway 41 and return to the campground at Turangi to finish.
We were up bright and early on Saturday morning to find that it was calm but raining gently. The forecast was ambiguous and I was hopeful that things may improve later in the day.
We walked into town to get some brunch with friend Darrel, who had arrived down from Auckland the night before to see what all the fuss was about. He hadn’t registered for the GC but thought he might tag along for a while.
We chatted to Steve (Harley Davidson) and Ian (STX1300) who were GC veterans and also with Mrs Ian, who planned to catch up with her reading in Turangi while Ian was out on the road.
The rain then set in more heavily, which it did up until the event start time.