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Dedicated to the memory of our Mentor, Uncle B.

I think the selections speak for themselves this week. Good write-ups and insight to how we as individuals approach our riding.

Thanks to carbacca and cynos for participating this week and your selections.

Chanceyy you are in the chair again for another week, with your riding and doing the selections you are certainly getting plenty of time for review and insight.

And Zukin thanks for the heads up last Sunday about the Rimutaka Hill, as Nasty has reported in the Sunday Ride thread we left Rimutex and headed out to Wainui Coast. Look forward to your selection next week.

Originally Posted by carbacca

my pick for the blog, a nice read (while i am slacking off at work too i might add). at least you had better weather than me in auckland grrrrr.

Originally Posted by chanceyy

Outstanding weekend

Well I can honestly say that after attending the ride right ride safe course, my cornering has also improved, also being able to figure out why I was not handling the right hand corners as well as the left helped too.

After finishing work on sat late afternoon (& being a hectic week glad we trailered the bikes to Turangi – thanks to 86 for driving my tired ass up there) after an equally late nite chatting to everyone it was time to hit the hay for some much needed rest before the Sunday ride.

Sunday & the weather came out a pearler crisp clear morning, 10 am meet for a riders brief (can tell the quicks have done this a time or 50) Thinking I was going to be the slowest rider there, & also the most inexperienced I did not want to become TEC, thanks to 86 GSXR & Koroj for assuming that role.

Well destination set … off we went towards Taumaranui headed off & of course the speedy riders shot off into the distance, kinda figured that everyone would pass me .. which is totally ok but I was surprised as I passed my first bike on a nice wide sweeper corner (having no speedo certainly helps) & had a couple of other riders join me for a few ks before they took off into the distance, by this time we had ridden into some major fog & being on a road that I did not know I took it relatively easy. I starting thinking about each corner where I needed to be to navigate it, could I see through the corner or was it blind (could I see through my visor .. so rode with it open) .. was there any road markings telling me of a speed I should be doing (not that I would know how fast that was)
I must say knowing that there were still a bunch of riders behind me totally gave me the confidence to relax & work on what I needed to concentrate on which was corners.

Once we reached our first petrol stop a decision was made to stop for coffee & give the fog time to clear, this was a great idea, cause it certainly was not warm. Approx a hour later we left & headed towards Ongarue this sweepy road was a ton of fun & I had Betsy cruising through at approx 8.5 thou revs .. what ever speed that is , but once we turned off .. thought crap the road was very wet covered in leaves & could see nice green moss .. hmmmmm I vaguely remembering in another thread the danger of these three hazards so decided to take it quiet

Since the two riders in front were caught behind a car I quietly caught up to qk chk & was able to follow her through corners & got some great lines to follow .. this was a more tighter road & with the hazards care was still needed. As qk kid had been the one to turn us in the right direction once the TEC came through he caught us up & spent a few mins behind me & watched as I was cornering .. at the next stop point he said I was not downshifting enough for the corners & explained why I needed to do this, so absorbing this wee insight & knowing how the corners felt stuck that bit of info to my brain as the next bit of road was fast wide sweepers & sure put a smile on ones face.

After lunch at Whakamaru 6 of us decided after the late nite that we would head back down the western access & this bit of road was fun, got a chance to practice qk kids advice on the corners & what a difference it surely made .. had more power coming out of the corners & since I ride with 86 GSXR a lot he can see the improvements, I am faster but more importantly more smoother, have way more lean on the bike & totally get into the zen feeling (still riding to my capabilities .. no one elses)

On the Monday 86 & I took a quick flick up national park road to Whakapapa ski field again took the opportunity to place myself on each corner & as this road was shiny & wet in places again backed off the speed & concentrated on how I was tackling each corner. Awesome stuff, the total weekend was a great learning experience being on strange roads with a number of conditions to deal with, & getting those wonderful zen moments that really just make you smile & leave you feeling very satisfied.

Originally Posted by Cynos

I'll choose this one, especially as winter's coming up.

Originally Posted by Zukin

Well I had a great weekend riding

On the new bike I decided that I needed to ride in the wet, something one must do to be mentally prepared for it, otherwise you will not be ready when the weather turns to custard.

So on Saturday afternoon I took off from Sunny Napier, I took the 650 along SH50, the road was dry but there was cow shit up the hill , so it always pay to watch the road.

Just before I turned right onto SH2, it rained and rained.
Heavy rain too, but I wanted this to A test out my new boots and B to test me on the new bike
I travelled with some caution until I really felt comfortable on the new bike; it behaves quite differently to the DRZ
I felt the front slip on the white paint (I rode over it on purpose) and felt it slip on the railway crossing just South of Dannevirke.
I have never felt the DRZ slip on these before, maybe it was because of the weight.

As I got through to Pahiatua the rain had stopped and I was able to push a little more Lots of bikes on the road too.

On Sunday it was overcast and cold from a still southerly breeze, so again I wanted to try the bike on a slippery twisty road.
So at 6.00am in the dark I headed to Wellington.
The Rimutakas were wet and slippery in places, and whilst I didn't notice any large oil/diesel spills there was the obvious oil spots all over the road.
I could feel the bike slip on some of these, and the concentration level was incredible.
When I reached Upper Hutt the roads were dry and the sun was peeking through.
I rode over the Haywards and along the coast at Whitby before heading back to Upper Hutt.
I caught up with a few of the locals (thanks for the intro Nasty) it was good to put some names to the faces

Monday
Rode back to Napier, I left Masterton at about 7.30am, it was a wicked frost and cold.
But I made sure I was warm before I left, as I knew it would be cold on the road, better to be prepared and warm rather than face hypothermia along the way and not realise until it is too late
I hit fog at Mount Bruce and it was thick too, I decided that I was pretty vulnerable out there, so I put my headlight on full just to be a little more visible.
It was nice to finally get some sunshine for the last part of my journey to Napier from about Dannevirke on


What did I learn?
That sometimes you have to get out and ride your bike in conditions that one day you will have to ride through, although I have ridden in most weather conditions, it is always good to hone your skills and be a little more prepared for what Mother Nature can throw at you
Especially on a new bike, or one that you are not familiar with.

Cheers Scott

Heads Up and Enjoy