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400km there and back, have been told its one way to Wanganui 400km, so watch out next year...

Great ride, but I wish the bike would go faster lol... managed to go for a paddle, when we hit the Mt, nice friends with a apartment close by.

Best experience, passing all the SLOW holiday traffic, and getting home within a reasonable time.

PS Boman kinda got bored, frustrated lol... time for a new bike me thinks!!!!

By Jingo, that one went quick! In fact, the year has disappeared so quickly I only managed to squeeze in 22,250Kms….but there were some good’uns.

The TT2000 jumps to mind and not only for 2010 rides, as this years event would have to rate on my all time top 5 rides list. Steve and I only opted to do Bronze (2340Kms over 2 days), which took any pressure off us with regard to achieving targets, so we were able to enjoy a relaxed ride, (sometimes at a frenetic pace) over roads that provided ...

Christmas this year, as it turned out, was a time to ride…and what a great way to finish the year!

The Maori Tennis tournament is held in Hamilton between Christmas and New Year and last year I didn’t go because I needed to paint the house, but this year I needed to do my duty and support Ann by taking her to this event….not because I love Tennis, but, it is in the Waikato.

After a cruisy Christmas morning, we took the opportunity to visit her parents in Moumahaki, ...

What a rush Taupo Road racing Spectacular was this year. Managed to inprove from my 24th finish last year to 17th. Reduced my lap times (in the dry) from 1 min 44 sec laps to 1.33 laps on the first day. The second day was wet so it was wets for those who had them, which for a lot of us was the first time we had raced on them. My second day times went from plus 2 min to 1.49, much to my delight. And what battles were had with the field breaking into groups of 4-6 bikes fighting it out. I'm also starting ...

The slowest NZ traverse ever. [3]

Cape day dawned fine and warm - we headed in to Awanui and fuelled up for the final leg north. Northland was looking more prosperous than our collective memories of 15-20 years ago, and the road improved the closer we got to Cape Reinga. There was about 15km of gravel but it was formed-ready-for-seal gravel and the new-ish top end of SHW1 sweeps over hills and around bends as if designed by a biker. The Cape itself has been truly DoC-imated: large ...

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The slowest NZ traverse ever. [5]

Returning to the correct route without further mishap, we headed up the amazingly wide gravel of Styx-Patearoa road. I wondered ruefully if the heavy rain that drenched this country the day before would have made much of Dunstan Trail II as nastily greasy as 'our' puddle... It turned out OK, I was probably more cautious but rain held off (though we did have a hail shower) and I was pleased to see the Clark valley woolshed and gravel under our wheels ...

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The slowest NZ traverse ever. [4]

On Sunday 12th December we left Westport and rode south, via the coast road, Moana and Arthur's Pass. Our destination was Timaru so Ruth could catch up with a museum exhibition she had assisted with over winter. We cut through Lake Lyndon Road popping out right at Rakaia Gorge Bridge where we had a spell; nearby tourists expressed amazement we had ridden over gravel, I accepted the implied complement to my great skill... In fact the loaded DL was ...

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The slowest NZ traverse ever. [1]

In January, pillion partner Ruth and I set off on the Wee-Strom to get to Cape Reinga, somewhere I had never been which made it a suitable goal for our first decent motorcycle trip. Yesterday we returned from Bluff, completing a New Zealand traverse of sorts. Here are some memories of that ride.

Between Westport and Nelson we encountered what proved to be the wettest weather of the whole northern trip, made more intense being stuck behind ...

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