gijoe1313's Blogs

Before we continue on with my errant stream of consciousness, some facts about my dear Cindi, or CB1000R Predator – they say that it was conceived on the drawing table at Honda, when there was a lapdancing good time girl jiggling her bits at the chief engineer or another apocryphal story goes that a CBR1000RR got it on with a 900F Hornet. But, we all just know it as the CB1000R Predator.

Now DONOR did post in his “Scrubbing in New Tyres” thread that I would be down at BK on Courtenay Drive around 12.30 – 1.30am. Oh such optimistic predictions! I actually got there around 2.30ish and parked up across the road from it (all the better to watch over my precioussss).

The ride down through the gorge, gave me ample reminder about the nickname “Windy Wellington” that’s windy as in the blowing concept, not windy as the twisties we all love so much!

I found myself heeling over to ensure that I wasn’t pushed over into any lane I hadn’t planned to be riding in. Ah, gotta love that!

One Late night feed later, I was sitting down, relaxing for a little bit and watching the passing pageantry of life, hooray! Drunk white girls for everyone! (to quote Blazing Saddles “where all dem white women at?”) With the calories now filling my personal fuel tank up, I made ready to leave the Capital and steeled myself for the return jaunt back to D’orkland!

So on the return leg up, I decide to go via the Rimutakas (why would you not do the twisties?), so through the Hutts I rode and of course being so late in the night I had the entire road to myself, my only companions were two Ministry of Works trucks checking the other side of the road for rocks or debris from the cliff. The trip up SH2 as most of you have done it is not especially prized for good riding, but nevertheless, it was good to have a chance to merely drink in the surroundings instead of actually drinking the surroundings as I had done in Ohakune/Waiouru recently.

In Masterton, I filled up Cindi again and away we rode into the night. Names of towns like Kaiparoro, Eketahuna, Pahiatua, Ngawapurua, Woodville are familiar places with some riders, not the most exciting of places… but they do lead to a very scenic and biker enthused locality. Namely the Manawatu gorge!

So with deft aplomb, Cindi and I twinkle toed our way through the delights of the gorge, now since the clock was getting towards the dawning of a new day, there were more vehicles as those people who get up with the cock’s crow were out and about doing their country rural thing. The only remarkable thing of comment out of ordinary was a flash ricer car parked in a layby at the beginning of the gorge near the Woodville end, with the suspensions doing that GTA thing. Was half tempted to coast on up and have a looky in!

Ah if only I did, hindsight is such a marvellous thing. Possibly things might have gone differently, but as well know the callous and cruel biker gods decided to come to play that day with me and Cindi …

Oh my! Such foreboding premonition! Dark clouds forming on the horizon for our intrepid journey? All shall be revealed in the next instalment, same thread, different time, the usual carnage and high falutin’ vocabulary!