KoroJ's Blog

After a busy week at work and sorting a few bits for the 1000Km Ride next week, we had the Training Day at Manfield to look forward to on Saturday. The weather forecast was quite variable all week and on Friday it looked like we might be in for a really crappy day, but a quick squiz at the rain radar at 0530 Saturday morning was reassuring that we should get through most of the day unscathed, however, coming home might be a different story.

With the prospect that the 'wets' could stay packed, we felt a lot better about getting up and heading off to Mana for gas and the Weigh Station at Plimmerton to meet up with the other riders and when we arrived at 0655, there were five others already there and Trevor arrived a minute or two later. We waited another few minutes then set out up SH1 at a sedate pace, arriving at Feilding at 0830, topped-up at the Mobil, then went into the track to get ready for the day's event.

There were supposed to be over 20 of us travelling up from Wellington, and we were surprized to see we were the first to arrive but the others soon started to roll in, although a couple had decided to 'pull the pin' thinking that the weather was going to be attrocious, but this wasn't to be the case and shortly after 0900 we were into it.

We had a briefing on the format for the day, followed by a session and demo on bike set-up etc and how that could affect the handling, then went out onto the track to discuss protocols, lines
and a few pointers on how to take some of the corners. With that done we split into two groups and geared up for our first session, which was just a warm up and familiarisation.

I went out with the first group then went down to the Dunlop corner to photograph the second group, after which we out again for a 'no brakes' session. This time I changed to the smaller second group and proceeded to overcook a few corners but all in all, I found this quite a good excersize as I had a few adrenalin moments, running close to edge coming out of corners a couple of times and pegged it on one occasion, going into 'Higgins'.

The next session was braking, which resulted in two minor offs and while that was on, some of us tried out the newer section of track which is quite tight and flat (with no banked corners), so that was interesting. When it came to our turn, the ST doesn't have any problems thanks to the ABS and linked brakes, so it was a good excersize, but I had no issues to deal with.

After that, we had a couple more general sessions and were getting phone reports of 160kph winds in Wellington and that the Rimutaka Hill was about to be closed. By this time, it was about 1500 and we had had a great day, so quite a few of the guys started to pack up and head home.

Ann and I decided that rather than brave the conditions, we would get a motel by the RSA in Palmy and head off for the finish of the 4 Points Rally. We had a most pleasant evening and Sunday dawned with blue skies, so that was a good call and gave us the opportunity to buy her some new gear from ANZA.

The ride home over the 'Track', a visit to mum in Masterton, then back over the 'hill' was pleasant but uneventful and a nice weekend was finished of with a spa and a nice wine. Life can be tough!