suzieq

Originally Posted by suzieq

Bring On Those F800 beemers

Today we decided to head over to Rangitaiki and take in a few of the above roads before we also rode the Waikaremoana route also A lot of rain has once again passed thru these parts Of course this just made it even more FUN for the boys Deviating thru the now (MUD) forestry tracks due to the massive wash outs the boys had a great time with it alllll

We left early in the mng and decided to head off for a full days ride to firstly revisit the famous MMMMM route put together and now made famous by Clint and Rosie. With the amount of rain we have had recently and over the pst few months the wash outs have taken their toll on this very delicate environment. To access the road portion that takes u out and onto the Whirinaki forestry sections we do the deviation thru the forestry. We also encountered many 4 x 4 vehicles. They also use this deviation thru the trees, hence the tyre tracks in the mud. We also met up with many others riding thru this route also.
It was lovely at the stream crossings, very private. A small pumice track on completion after the boys had their fun with finding more tracks and more routes to explore also. Jess and I also had fun with the small XT and shared it round whilst both getting in some practise with many more small stream crossings. There was a nice downhill slalom roller coaster section which the boys also spent a while with. Not only going down but also back up and skidding it down again.
On exit from play on the 'coaster' and waterbeds we exited via a slight uphill pumice section and then out on the most lovely forestry trail. Wow what an awsome ride. Both Jess and I shared the XT round again. Jess new to adventure riding also and has in the past ridden the small CRF150 which was shared around betweeen the both of us, and funtimes were had a plenty at Rangitaiki pumice tracks.
Many forestry roads were ridden over and we met up with more riders also riding the same tracks. On exit of our forestry section we then turned and headed towards the Lake Waikaremoana. May as well ride that as it was right there. Busy busy indeed. On the start of the ride I met more riders from Whakatane on beemers. They were splattered in mud as they were busy telling us how muddy and wet it was on the Wairoa side of the Lake W. On this side it didn't look too bad so was left wondering how it could be so wet on the other side????
They took one look at the tyres on MY XT and quoted 'oh you will get thru ok' ???? The big F800's running TKC80's on the front and Anakee II on the back of Tim's bike and Jim trialling the brand new FULLBORE tyre from Cycletreads. Will be interesting to see how this tyre holds us. It has not been widely used on the big bikes before, but it is holding down well at this stage.
So the first half of the track just dry loose gravel and then progressing further it was becoming wet and mud like. But I actually enjoyed riding the wet stuff better than the dry matter. The little bike prefers the wetter surface. Arriving at the Lake W camp grounds, the place was fulll. From this point KEEPING left had to be taken into account as there wre many boaties now driving in from the other side and the lake was fullll of boats out and about.
Was a great ride, on exit we rode for a pit stop at Wairoa and then rode back to Taupo from there. A good 500 kms or so for the day, and the little XT managed it welll, all be it a hard ask on some of those big hills. But with the speed limit out in force this holidays it was perfectly fine. The XT really does welll on the pumice and mud sections. A great little skill busting bike, and light to handle in difficult conditions.
On the back way down Napier/Taup highway (of course those of us tht travel that stretch widely know of the many cops driving this piece) a sport biker was trailing me so i of course moved to the left for him to pass me - futher down the road we watched as we rode past him the cop issuing him a ticket????
An excellent ride was had and a total fun day.

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The mud now is quite rutted out and bogs everywhere - aka FUN times for the boys

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Guiding the big F800 thru it Tim makes light work of it

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Roller coaster ride down to the stream crossing

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Making it to the bottom - time for a drink stop

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Riding over the myriad of stream crossings

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Jim leads us all thru it

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Tim at play in the looooser stuffff Jess helping to push that back wheeel thru it

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Yes the road wash out is still there No sign of any road repairs since we were there a while ago???

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Jim GPS ing it Now which route to take from here Shall we head and do the left hand track or take the standard route out???

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Tim heading up one of the pumice banks Loving it

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This was the boys favourite section of the ride