Raetihi Ripper

[dafydd roberts]

Raetihi Ripper who's going and has anyone got any past experience?

[kezzafish]

get ready to follow the farm quad procession, fall off ridiculous cliffs (with no hazard markers before them), and have your bike knicked by some toothless locals.

The good points being: it's cheap (if you live below the great lake), theres about 160ks of track so you definately will get your fix, awesome views, some good hill climbs and sloppy shit, and the weather is always good in hillbilly aotearoa

Me and my down ass homie crew are gonna go, see ya there ya 2 wheeling cheater

[Jimmy]

Yeah. I'll be there for the first time. Have heard really good things about this event and the only criticism being a humungus uphill somewhere where dudes were having to wait 90 minutes while those in front were assisted, rescued, or buried. Could be exaggeration of course. Sound like its worth checking out for yourself, and the other upside is it's a weekend away from the war department.

[kezzafish]

Yeah. I'll be there for the first time. Have heard really good things about this event and the only criticism being a humungus uphill somewhere where dudes were having to wait 90 minutes while those in front were assisted, rescued, or buried. Could be exaggeration of course. Sound like its worth checking out for yourself, and the other upside is it's a weekend away from the war department.

have a look at my pics in "post your dirt pics" thread (it's on thread page 2 and page 3 of the thread). there is some photos of the hill in question. it wasn't hard just surrounded by muppets

[Jimmy]

Thanks man. No sweat. Five sleeps to go. Me plus three from Welly. Now to focus on the weather forecast....

[kezzafish]

coool, i'm getting a bit excited about it now too. Are you gonna camp there Jimmy? we should meet up and get trollied. Daffyd... you still in? Me, Dave, my brother and Darryl are but i think secondfield is out due to cash flow?

[MXNUT]

Been last 4 years and never had any trouble getting around. Plenty of good steep hills and a good bonfire at night.Takeaways in Raetihi do a reasonable feed and only about 5 kms away.
The trick is on the Sunday morning to get away early with the front bunch and then you will not get held up for very long. Sunday loop is long with gas stop half way around, if you dont piss around you will get 2 loops in .

[secondfield]

Yeah, I don't think I can afford it this weekend ... bummed out because i've heard its the goods.

Was talking to some guy's marking out a hare scramble scheduled for here next weekend who reckon its one of the best value 'traditional (ie tough)' trail rides happening ... Two days and a great social event too...

[Jimmy]

coool, i'm getting a bit excited about it now too. Are you gonna camp there Jimmy? we should meet up and get trollied. Daffyd... you still in? Me, Dave, my brother and Darryl are but i think secondfield is out due to cash flow?

Staying with the creature comforts at Ohakune i.e. bars, restaurants and beds! Be good to catch up for a beer on-site though.

[tnarg]

Really wanted to do this but money tight. Got group of mates going. Sucks :weep:

[kezzafish]

Staying with the creature comforts at Ohakune i.e. bars, restaurants and beds! Be good to catch up for a beer on-site though.

Cool mate, but you're gonna miss out on the hoolaginism at camp, oh well. gis a bell when you're up there. 027 220 6030 alternatively look for us, huge square tent, red isuzu bighorn, white hiace, suzuki's yamahas and ktms. cheer

[Lucy]

get ready to follow the farm quad procession, fall off ridiculous cliffs (with no hazard markers before them), and have your bike knicked by some toothless locals.



I resemble that remark!!!!

But I don't knick stuff

:jerry:

[Jimmy]

This was a good two days of riding, great weather with not a drop of rain, which was just as well 'cos it would have been treacherous if wet, particularly that greasy as papa mud that was causing grief to plenty of guys who hit it too hard in any event. About 400 riders at a guess, shitloads of dust in parts (zero visibility), great views from the high ridges and plenty of good technical sections on day one. Two major bottlenecks on Saturday - one just a little slippery uphill that I fail to understand how it could catch people out and cause so much delay (about 30 minutes) and then further in we had a 60 minute queue waiting for every quad to get hauled out of a sharp angle down/up ditch that they were nose diving into and unable to drive out of. This was a real bitch and should have been recognised and corrected when the track was being laid out. Day two was premo - fast, open, good hill sections and a few nice challenges - on that papa stuff again. Seems that quite a few dudes got caught out on various sections, including some slippery grassy sections of track, and I heard of two broken collar bones, a broken leg, six busted ribs, popped AC joint, concussion and no doubt there were more. The ride was very well marshalled, good medic back-up, great food and overall an 8 out of 10 for me. Worth the trip no danger.

[cr125nz]

sounds like a mint weekend jimmy will have to book this in next year for sure did you get any pics of the weekend?

[Jimmy]

sounds like a mint weekend jimmy will have to book this in next year for sure did you get any pics of the weekend?
Yeah - will upload some snaps later in the week. FYI, the loop on Saturday was 70 kms and on Sunday total distance was 120 kms, and we didn't have to open one gate - superb!!

[kezzafish]

Yeah - will upload some snaps later in the week. FYI, the loop on Saturday was 70 kms and on Sunday total distance was 120 kms, and we didn't have to open one gate - superb!!

mate, how knakkered are ya? that was awesome, what a test of endurance! 120 is the longest loop i've ever done and man was i stoked at the end!

i'll add a bruised knee to the injury list as well as avgas burn on my leg. My mate broke his thumb and KO'd 10ks into the 120! he didn't get as much enjoyment out of the 110ks of agony but wasn't going too badly.

did you try to get around that second queue by going straight up the bank and then down into the queue?

What'd ya think of the hill climb at the end of day 1? twas a monster. All up i'm stoked with the weekends ride and even happier i didn't fall off any of the deadly drops!

[pete.ktm]

did the ripper on sunday (went to the dirt guide ride on saturday - bit too much forest for me) and yeah it was an awesome ride. definitley go again next year.


What'd ya think of the hill climb at the end of day 1? twas a monster.

did you do that small detour up that mother of a hill right at the start of the sunday ride? that was a HILL.

[kezzafish]

did the ripper on sunday (went to the dirt guide ride on saturday - bit too much forest for me) and yeah it was an awesome ride. definitley go again next year.



did you do that small detour up that mother of a hill right at the start of the sunday ride? that was a HILL.

nah i missed that, my mate told me about it at our first stop, said it was awesome

[Assasin]

nah i missed that, my mate told me about it at our first stop, said it was awesome

Sounds like a good ride will have to book that for next year. :done:

[Jimmy]

Finally - here are a few snaps from the Ripper 2008.

[Jimmy]

and a couple more.

[Jimmy]

Here's one of that papa clay challenge!

[flyingcr250]

Finally - here are a few snaps from the Ripper 2008.

whats with the traffic jams??

[Drogen Omen]

A WARNING to everyone to stay clear of this ride in future....

I have never come across anything so badly organised...
I did it in 2007 and ended up going off a 2 meter clif cause there was no wrning of a sharp turn... i waited for 5 hours before a toothlwess famer on a quad who said he was the only sweeper and that the ride was over. 2 hours later after laying my bike down on the back of his quad i was dropped off at the finish... no sign out required... no one even knew i was MIA...

Stick to the excellent rides like the ones from www.epicevents.co.nz best organised rides ever...

[secondfield]

Hey Jimmy ..

Is that a picture of you wearing your underpants on the outside of your riding gear?

:sweatdrop

[theblacksmith]

A WARNING to everyone to stay clear of this ride in future....

I have never come across anything so badly organised...
I did it in 2007 and ended up going off a 2 meter clif cause there was no wrning of a sharp turn... i waited for 5 hours before a toothlwess famer on a quad who said he was the only sweeper and that the ride was over. 2 hours later after laying my bike down on the back of his quad i was dropped off at the finish... no sign out required... no one even knew i was MIA...

Stick to the excellent rides like the ones from www.epicevents.co.nz best organised rides ever...

Thats a shame - this is what they fundraised from the 07 event -
Fundraising figures 2007

Raetihi School $12000

Nancy Winter Early Childhood Centre $8000

Mangaeturoa School Committee $3000

Square Trust Rescue Helicopter $500

St John Ambulance $250.

Maybe you should contact the organizers rather than try and shy people away from it?
PS - motorcycling can be dangerous - ride to the conditions and within your capability. I would also suggest that you dont ride alone.

[clmintie]

Finally - here are a few snaps from the Ripper 2008.

Neat pix mate. Thanx, brings it all to life.....

[kezzafish]

whats with the traffic jams??
the first one was about 30 mins to an hours waiting depending on when you turned up to it. was a simple little clay hill with two ruts. a lot of farmers and youngins come out to this ride but i still cannot explain what the fuck the holdup was for??? i posted photos of this same queue in the same place from the previous year earlier in this thread. Makes you wonder why the organisers didn't make an alternative route around it and mark it as an "A" loop.

On the bright side: there is only two places with major queues and both have been photographed above and both were on the first day. If you had some nuts you could get around the second queue by blasting straight up a bank and then dropping off an edge and back into the queue (but much further up it) i manged to trip up and fall off the bank and in the same motion i kicked the fuel cap off my bike (KTM bayonet style cap) i landed first then bike... on me. it soaked me in av gas and i still have the burn scar on my leg to show for it. (any KBer see this??? twas quite embarrasing whilst being hilariousely funny) This queue was caused by quads. But again it comes down to retarded riders because i watched a raptor blast up it without a problem and then a 4wd aggie fuck it up


A WARNING to everyone to stay clear of this ride in future....

I have never come across anything so badly organised...
I did it in 2007 and ended up going off a 2 meter clif cause there was no wrning of a sharp turn... i waited for 5 hours before a toothlwess famer on a quad who said he was the only sweeper and that the ride was over. 2 hours later after laying my bike down on the back of his quad i was dropped off at the finish... no sign out required... no one even knew i was MIA...

Stick to the excellent rides like the ones from www.epicevents.co.nz best organised rides ever...

yeah mate you're right in a way but also very wrong. It IS poorly marked out and when you do it for the first time this comes as a shock... especially when you've been riding Epic events stuff cos they make their rides "retard proof" But if it was your second time doing it you should have known that it was up to you to make the call on how to approach that corner. Riding by yourself sucks too, let alone unsafe.

How about value for money?? 180ks of track over two days with 2 fuel dumps, free lunch and drink halfway around the second day (120k loop) (this was so good i almost started to believe there is a god). Free camping with a massive bonfire and entertainment. FOR 55 dollars!!!! how you can complain about that i don't know

[Jimmy]

Hey Jimmy ..

Is that a picture of you wearing your underpants on the outside of your riding gear?

:sweatdrop

Not me matey. Just a shot of a random, very happy rider to illustrate how most people found this event, especially the ones that don't work for Epic Events like Drogen Omen must do eh!!

[secondfield]

Yeah mate' couldnt be any more subtle about that one eh ... hehe.

[secondfield]

Its got me thinking now .. does epic events donate to any worthy causes?

There is no doubting they make a SHITLOAD of cash from their rides ...

+$100,000 for desert storm alone at a conservative estimate...