71Trumpy's Blog

My first real road trip on a bike!
An excellent 34 hours was had!
Should have been longer, but another time will come.

Left Christchurch Saturday morning, around 10am in drizzle , gassed up at Yaldhurst, got comfy, and were on our way.
Shot up Old West Coast Rd, where a few other bikers decided it was the best route to take.
The further up we went the less drizzle there was, and the cloud became less and less.
Got into sunny Springfield to top up on the fuel and so were many others. Bikes galore!
A thought had run through my mind if Springfield would be able to cope with the onslaught of bikers wanting fuel , if there would be any left to top up on the way home! It seems word got out very quickly about the lack of fuel at Arthurs pass, as there were a few bikes carrying those little red plastic petrol cans. Great idea for the small tanks, but kind of looked out of place.
We spent about 10 minutes there admiring the bikes and partaking in a bit of small talk before we hit the road again.

My favorite part of the journey is the climb up Porters Pass, ringing the old girl out in 3rd and leaning right into those corners, farken brilliant! It was an awesome ride up to Arthurs Pass, as I had ridden the road before to that point.
Then I became a little apprehensive as I rode into the Pass itself. Some of the blind corners and rises that lead into blind corners got me worked up a wee bit, put pottered along at a comfortable pace, thanks to some old Wosleys and MGs making their way across as well. There is definitely a big difference between and driving.
We stopped at Arthurs Pass for a loo break and to fill my lungs with a noxious substance before we embarked on the next leg down the Otira Gorge, which I thought I handled quiet well. Sadly at the bottom, I had to stop as the old girl started to play up and eventually died. It turned out to be the fuse spring that sprung over the fuse and wasnt making contact. It was soon fixed and on our way again onto Jacksons.

There were heaps of bikes at Jacksons, would have been around 50 odd. Had a beer and a whitebait Sammy, so delish!!
Had a natter to a few people, and caught up with a friend we hadnt seen in ages. Then it was time to go again.
If you wanna see someone bunny hop on departure, just raise your hand and just ask me! Fark, talk about embarrassing!
I didnt realize it was 100kms through Jacksons. Learnt in a hurry thats for sure. I thought it was 70kms through there!
Anyway, embarrassed myself good and proper leaving as everyone watches as normal. The road was clear, I looked once, got comfy looked again, all clear and took off, bounce, bounce, and bounce. If you could see scarlet through a helmet, I was glowing!
I checked my mirror on departure, all fine and moseyed on towards the Moana turn off. Hubby was in front of me to the left, as he does when he wants me to go ahead of him, but unawares to me I had a milk tanker up me arse! And apparently did so soon after I took off! I checked my mirror after departure and before I entered the turning bay to Moana. It had to have been in my blind spot. I was told all this after we stopped at our destination in Runanga. That gave me the willeys for sure, especially after being told the drivers of milk tankers hold no respect for anything on the road on the coast.

Had an excellent night of drinking, and laughing and listening to the torrential rain through the night and woke up to a glorious Sunday - race day!

Got into Greymouth around 10.30 to hear the roaring thunder of racing around the circuit. Heaps of people lined the streets, more so out side of pubs as we slowly made our way around the track.
It certainly is a small world out there as I bumped into a friend I havent seen in 5 years! Haha, then it seemed I was back in Christchurch as I looked through the crowds and spotted several people I knew.
I think I spent most of my time smiling, nodding and waving excitedly to people.

The racing was simply awesome! Super Motards, Carts, Buckets, B.E.A.R.S and the royalty of them all the Formula 1s. They were all great, but the stand out classes for me were the Buckets and the B.E.A.R.S.
There was a spectacular crash in the first round of the B.E.A.R.S race where a yellow Ducati (211) came a real cropper on the very tight S bend at the end of the circuit. Caught it on camera!
Like any racing event, it had its dramas from broken man holes to fire hydrants leaking water, to dogs escaping their owners, but it was an excellent day out.

I have been to the Wanganui Street Race, and well to compare the two together?? Greymouth was the standout for me.
The people and atmosphere were great, very friendly. Everyone was there to enjoy themselves and the day.
Only one undesirable we saw was a lone Epataph rider, all masked up, casing all the parked bikes!

Reluctantly we headed back to Christchurch around 3pm. So did a few others. The roads were quiet so it was a relaxed trip home. So much more enjoyable than going over now that I had ridden the road.
It was very fresh coming through the eastern side, Arthurs - Porters area. Had heard reports of snow to low levels at the races, but it had gone by the time we headed back through. A good dusting up on the mountains though.
Had a couple of pit stops along the way, thirsty work is riding a bike!
Oh And only saw 3 Highway Patrols on the entire road trip.

God we live in a beautiful part of the country!
Hey did I mention that it was an awesome trip!!

Photos .... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/al...p?albumid=1019