mbazza's Blog

21 riders on a first ride.

Great weather, bikes, company and riding. The first of many?

201.4km for a fuel cost of $20.11, not too bad (98).

See the write up here. . . .
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...03#post1608503

Also on ride: normajean, Daffyd & XKNUTS turned up.

Cheers . . . . .

After work today I had to make a quick trip to Dunedin 165km return in the golden hour before dark. Because of the need to carry much we took my wife's vehicle. Temperature 12 degrees C, no wind. So still that eflections on lake Waihola (no time to stop to collect a photo) were eye catching.
That's not what I hate! It's the 23 lucky riders of all sorts enjoying an excellent evening ride!
All sorts of bikes, in the dusk light and the dark. Solos, groups of two and three and bowling ...

The Big River Bikers were to have their first road run today. I didn't even make the start!
I was away at dawn to capture some of the snow scenes which had accumulated in the southerly over night.
I wasn't keen on the lunch ride from Balclutha to Port Chalmers from the time Metservice sent me an e-mail on the subject of weather warnings yesterday afternoon which warned me about gales here on the east coast to the tune of 120 kph. We got that, well a few gusts of that speed.
...

I missed the blokes from Balclutha and set off along, no mates . . . story of my life. The first bikes I saw were an hour later at Fruitlands and I just passed on by as I was carrying some speed. It wasn't till later I realised that I'd passed Alan & Deter! The blokes I'd missed in Clutha.


http://picasaweb.google.com/munro.barry

My favourite approach from Alexandra is to Chatto Creek Pub where I had a quick bite of lunch and was the only bike there for 15 minutes ...

Like hundreds of others in homes, pubs, motels and tents here in the bottom of N.Z. I am ready for the 'Brass Monkey'.
I got held up at work this evening and didn't get home in time to think about heading off. Instead I checked tyres, slung the dry bag over the back seat, popped a couple of things in the top box, charged the camera and Ipod batteries, lamented the fact that I wouldn't have the GPS plumbed in until Monday and 'hey presto'. The wee-strom and I are ready for a quick ...

Visited one of the local auto electricians after work to pick up the bits and pieces to plumb the GPS onto the bike.
Had a chat about how I was going to do it and Malcolm the A.E. suggested he solder the battery connections onto the low impedence wire. He did this in about 4 minutes with good humour and a chat about whether I needed an in line fuse. He picked out some suitable snap on connectors and made sure I was aware of how to mount the female accessory plug which has a rubber ...

Daily grind made more pleasant this morning as I took the long way round ( all 8.6km ) to get to work in almost spring like conditions. Light was breaking in the eastern sky and my hands were warm in winter weight gloves. Switching off at work with a smile on my face sure helps the day run around until knock off time. Ride to widen the smile. Cheers.

Still, clear and frost like at dusk. An hour or two in we can here the Lion Foundation BK 117 rescue chopper about. I know they are very useful to a downed biker, but I just don't like the sound of blades chopping the very clear air. Kind of creepy, yet strangely re-assuring should I ever need their services. Ride carefully and enjoy the cold! Cheers.