11 months to complete the 2010 Dusty Butt

[Racing Dave]

You may recall that my attempt to participate in this year's Small Bore Challenge on my NXR125 ended both in dismal failure and in a helicopter ride to Dunedin with a dislocated shoulder.

Yesterday I rode the full course, again on my wee Honda, leaving Fairlie at 2 am on Thursday morning, and returning just a few minutes under 24 hours.

The usual close calls with wildlife (8 wallabies, 5 possums, 2 hedgehogs, many cows, many many sheep, many many many rabbits) totaled just one small bird. With my maximum speed of 80 km/h, maybe they find me easy to avoid?

The first four hours was in either mist, drizzle, or fog, as was the last two hours, and I was down to the bottom of first gear over Mackenzie Pass, as there was no visibilty. However, once past Ranfurly and all the way to Omarama, the sun shone, and it was hot.

Only two fuel stops (Lawrence and Cromwell) but I had to tip in one spare bottle of fuel just before Clark's Junction, as my tank range is 390 km in adventure mode. Another brief stop to discuss the legality of my number plate with one who cares about those things, ended amicably.

I wanted to get to the Little Omarama Saddle in daylight, as I didn't fancy the risk of the ruts and possible hidden horrors in the streams in the dark, and made it with only minutes to spare - the sun had set, but it was still light on the south side, and fully dark by the time I descended. As it turns out, the fords are much smoother than the track! Likewise Black Forest, the road is in very rough condition.

All good fun, but I don't see me completing the 2011 event in one day, so I'll be moving to the two-day rider's list.

Thanks again to Ryan for putting in the effort, it looks like next month's ride will be a cracker.

Cheers,
Dave B

[mattsdakar]

You may recall that my attempt to participate in this year's Small Bore Challenge on my NXR125 ended both in dismal failure and in a helicopter ride to Dunedin with a dislocated shoulder.

Yesterday I rode the full course, again on my wee Honda, leaving Fairlie at 2 am on Thursday morning, and returning just a few minutes under 24 hours.

The usual close calls with wildlife (8 wallabies, 5 possums, 2 hedgehogs, many cows, many many sheep, many many many rabbits) totaled just one small bird. With my maximum speed of 80 km/h, maybe they find me easy to avoid?

The first four hours was in either mist, drizzle, or fog, as was the last two hours, and I was down to the bottom of first gear over Mackenzie Pass, as there was no visibilty. However, once past Ranfurly and all the way to Omarama, the sun shone, and it was hot.

Only two fuel stops (Lawrence and Cromwell) but I had to tip in one spare bottle of fuel just before Clark's Junction, as my tank range is 390 km in adventure mode. Another brief stop to discuss the legality of my number plate with one who cares about those things, ended amicably.

I wanted to get to the Little Omarama Saddle in daylight, as I didn't fancy the risk of the ruts and possible hidden horrors in the streams in the dark, and made it with only minutes to spare - the sun had set, but it was still light on the south side, and fully dark by the time I descended. As it turns out, the fords are much smoother than the track! Likewise Black Forest, the road is in very rough condition.

All good fun, but I don't see me completing the 2011 event in one day, so I'll be moving to the two-day rider's list.

Thanks again to Ryan for putting in the effort, it looks like next month's ride will be a cracker.

Cheers,
Dave B

Good on you Dave, bloody long way isn't it! You might be the lone small bore ranger on this coming years Dusty Butt

[ADVGD]

Yesterday I rode the full course, again on my wee Honda, leaving Fairlie at 2 am on Thursday morning, and returning just a few minutes under 24 hours.

Full credit, nice job mate

All good fun, but I don't see me completing the 2011 event in one day, so I'll be moving to the two-day rider's list.

I love the fast paced stuff every now and then but personally I recon the 2 day is a great option for this ride, there's just too much fantastic scenery worthy of a stop here and there to take it all in.

[Skinny_Birdman]

Well done Dave. As you said way back here, "Not that its a race"

[thepom]

Good on ya mate,glad you made it ok and look forward to you taking part in the next one....

[Waihou Thumper]

Nice one mate....Well done...
What was the average speed, 11 months? Could you walk it in that time?
hehe......

[cooneyr]

Well lets see 11/12*365*24=8030hrs, 1000kms/8030hrs=0.125km/hr. Yep could definitely have walked it a few times in that time. I'll get my coat . . . .

Well done completing it RD. Bet it was fun riding into Fairlie at around 0130 in the morning!

Cheers R

[Waihou Thumper]

Well lets see 11/12*365*24=8030hrs, 1000kms/8030hrs=0.125km/hr. Yep could definitely have walked it a few times in that time. I'll get my coat . . . .

Well done completing it RD. Bet it was fun riding into Fairlie at around 0130 in the morning!

Cheers R

Well, well done yourself mate...Only an engineer would have got out the calculator and given the accurate answer....BUT, imagine how boring it would be without the wheels?