It was like waiting for Christmas, despite going to bed early on Friday night, excitement had me awake at 3.30am Saturday morning.
Today was to be the first outing for my new bike, a 750cc Honda Shadow. Lining up to register with hubby Lindsay I had to point out that I was a rider and not a pillion passenger, something about being a fat middle aged lady no doubt.
Lindsay and I took off as soon as possible because I ride like a nana, at slightly less or just legal speeds. Soon other bikes were zipping past us as we made our way to checkpoint two.
Because the ride was not a race there was little point in riding fast, and the well marked route took us through some of the Waikato and Coromandel districts nicest scenery. A spot of rain at Bombay was the only we were to see all weekend.
The checkpoint at Gordonton was at a cafe, time for a drink, a pit stop (Lindsays Woolworths bladder strikes again) and a slice of the most decadent white chocolate caramel slice to keep the blood sugar up.
I collected another card, a Queen card to join my first card, also a queen, so poker hand was off to a good start.
A short hop up the road to Tahuna to the local tavern, and a 10 of diamonds. We didn’t hang around long but made our way to Paeroa.
Time for a petrol fill up and then we rode around the corner to the Wild Food Fair — I mistook the entrance and had to back out, not an easy task aboard a 240kg cruiser. Unfortunately when I put my foot to the ground, it just wasn’t there. I’d managed to stop in the gutter with a big dip. I could feel the bike toppling over and despite my very best efforts I dropped my shiny new bike to the pavement.
The first aid kit that I always carry came to use as a bit of strapping tape was required to mend a cracked front indicator, my valiant efforts to keep the bike upright kept it from further harm with only my pride taking a dent - thanks to a group of young ‘gentlemen’ who clapped and cheered as I went to ground.
The checkpoint at the Paeroa Wild Food Festival yielded a jack. An area had been set aside for us to park with security enabling us to leave all our gear in safety so we could enjoy a bit of lunch. The weather had warmed up and I could feel the sweat starting to drip down inside my trousers — charming.
Too cool down my lunch consisted of a sausage followed by ice cream with wild damson sauce - delicious. Lindsay tucked in to some prawn kebabs followed by a huge whitebait fritter.
The ride to the next checkpoint was a test of my riding skills, some narrow country roads to Waihi Beach. Then the real test, onto Whangamata.
My nana riding speeds took a further dive and I rarely left second gear on the terrifying twisty roads. I took the lead so that Lindsay could concentrate on the road instead of checking up on me every two seconds in his mirrors.
Only gave him cause for a heart attack once when I misjudged my line and had to use a foot of road on the wrong side to complete the corner (to the accompliment of sparks from the foot peg). The nice man in the double cab ute coming the other way moved over, so I didn't hit him - no panic really!
It was however with relief and a huge sense of pride that we reached the Whangamata Club in good time. Lindsay was a tad bit pale but his coaching was such a BIG help. Ta darling.
I finished my poker hand with a pair of queens and a pair of tens — not good enough for a prize. Lindsay’s three aces yielded a prize of litre of Round-Up.
We stayed overnight in a friends batch before heading home today. Third gear thru the twistys - wahoo!
Approx 260 riders and $10,00 raised for St John.
My congratulations to the Drury Rotary Club on a well run event, looking forward to next year.
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it's just a shame there's so many of them. They seem to be there nearly every time something less than graceful occurs...
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