This ride report of the TT2000 2011 is written from the perspective of Mr Triple and Emlyn.
The trip to Dunedin on Friday February 25th was pretty wet and cold, and we were hopeful not to have to do the entire weekend in weather like this. Em and I headed off at 9am having enjoyed the last sleep in we were likely to have for a few days. We took the inland route to keep things interesting, down to Fairlie, Cave and the Pariora Gorge. Aside from climbing in and out of the rain cloud it was a quiet trip, allowing time to contemplate the days ahead.
We have set Gold as our goal this year, having achieved Bronze last year. This means the number of Flyers we add to the Basic Route of 2000km increases, each Flyer has a point’s value and achieving higher points means earning a higher level of achievement. Being able to complete the TT2000 and the Flyers is not only about the kilometres covered, it is also about meeting the navigational challenge involved, and within the time limits.
Arriving in Dunedin we headed straight to McIver and Veitch to get our bearings and chatted with some fellow TT entrants who were equally keen to get on with the challenge. We decided a ride around the first Flyer, called George King Memorial Drive would be a good idea as we are not very familiar with the roads down this way. We were pleased we did as there was a fair amount of loose chip and new seal with some tight and twisty sections and we would be navigating this road in the dark come morning.
We had pre booked a Bed and Breakfast in a stunning old villa central to the city. The cracks in the ceiling and the steep gradient of the section was a little nerve-racking for us as ‘shaken Cantabs’, but a good feed and a re-cap of our plans for the following day soon sent us off to sleep.
DAY ONE FEBRUARY 26TH
We are off to the start line bright and early, McIver and Veitch was humming and an ‘orderly’ line was soon formed to enable all riders to hand over a signed disclaimer and receive a T-shirt, vital to the photo shoots as you can see from TT photos on YouTube, the T-shirt and the bike had to be in the picture to make it viable. We managed to time it right and got pretty close to the front of the line, allowing us to get away pretty soon after 6am, heading back towards the GKMD flyer that we had experimented with the previous day.
The dark adds a new dimension to unfamiliar roads and finding someone to follow was a bonus, until he went a different way to us. Thankfully we remembered the turn and having Jantar following us closely confirmed we had it right. Jantar and KoroJ passed us and we had someone to follow again, until a stop sign, we had to give way and didn’t catch them again for quite a while.
Once daylight broke we started to get into our rhythm and were able to pick up our pace a lot more. We had pretty clear written instructions for a photo stops but we didn’t note how far between roads and turns so we have learned that next year that will be something we work on.
Next Flyer was Clutha Ferry for us, then into the Catlins and to Niagara Falls, which was not quite what we expected. The Southland Towns flyer was getting into the day and by Wyndham we were ready to shed a few layers of bike gear and load up on water.
The photo stop for Winton on this flyer was a bit tricky, the cemetery that has Minnie Deans buried there is just out of town, in the open road area. We were about to turn back into Winton as we thought we must have missed it, but just spotted it, phew! We were on a pretty fine line time wise and couldn’t afford any such mistakes.
The rest of this Flyer passed without drama and we grabbed the compulsory picture at Riverton.
More new roads for us as we headed towards Te Anau via Tuatapere and we really enjoyed this part of the trip as the scenery was awesome and new to us. We took a quick Fuel stop at Te Anau before we headed into the Milford Sound for the next compulsory picture.
Having heard some real horror stories about the road into Milford we were unsure what to expect, and were pleasantly surprised. The road was awesome to ride and not nearly as tight and narrow as we had expected, with lots of other bikes, a few buses and the odd campervan, all in a day’s work. The Homer Tunnel was a big surprise, very dim lighting, steep and narrow and nothing like the Lyttelton Tunnel as we had expected. We went belting in, unaware of how dark it would become once inside. Rock walls with reflectors and little lights on the centre of the roof were not ideal, and yet again the Tiger headlight was not the best for the situation. Though we would like to have stayed for a look around, it was another quick photo and away we went, with promises of returning one day soon.
When we returned to Te Anau I gave the bike a general check over as I do at each fuel stop and found the rear tyre was getting very worn. I gulped and swore a little as it had only about 1ml of tread remaining despite starting in Dunedin with 5ml. This concerned me and I had to consider how we were going to handle this as we rode the next Flyer, Two Rivers, at a sedate pace, and headed to Frankton.
Sadly, at Frankton the tread had not ‘reqrown’ despite my wishes and we had maybe only enough to ride back to Christchurch at a very sedate pace. As luck would have it Jantar pulled in to fuel up and knew of a guy in Alexandra that may be able to help us. I had decided that we could not complete the next flyer, Isengard, worth 1150 points and vital to our ability to make it to Gold, so diverting to Alexandra was the next best option to ensure we could actually finish the TT at all. As we had so many points so far we could reach a Silver achievement, and still get the tyre changed.
A quick call to directory, then to TWO WHEELS UNLIMITED in Alexandra and we were off, getting there as quickly as we could. He stayed open until 9pm on a Saturday evening to take care of us, what an awesome guy, and thanks to Jantar for his advice.
We continued on our way, having had to pass by two of the flyers we had planned, heading to the next compulsory photo at Poolburn then to Patearoa which was the photo stop for the next flyer, and was also the place we had booked a bed for the night. Getting there earlier than expected was nice, though rearranging out Day 2 was sad, we had to resign ourselves to Silver and this was our chance to get used to the idea.
During the night we heard guys stopping in and getting the photo required to achieve this flyer, mainly Diamond level achievers, which required getting ALL the Flyer photos as well as the Basic Route, good on them.
DAY TWO FEBRUARY 27TH
Sunday morning meant we didn’t have to rush as we now only needed 1250 points. We had decided to keep three flyers, the first of which was Macraes. It was incredibly foggy (eliciting many swear words from the front seat) which really slowed down the early part of the day. It was great to have had been here before, during the Southern Rider Escapade 2009 this was part of the journey, so we had rather vague memories, but memories all the same.
We hooked on behind another Tiger rider from Palmerston through to Omarama, a nice chap from Leithfield Beach with a great taste in Motorbikes.
Having parked up by the Ram for a photo at Omarama we headed to Wanaka to grab the second Flyer for the day, Treble Cone. We had been down this way two weeks prior and ridden this flyer during one of our ‘practise’ rides. There was a bit more traffic this time but it still did not hinder a great ride to the gate way and back.
We had been very lucky with the weather so far, but now heading towards the West Coast we knew it was possible it would get a bit nasty, however we were pleasantly surprised again with lovely weather right through. We had no traffic disturbance and enjoyed a ripping ride with the big MT 01 hot on our tail. One of the folk we had chatted to at McIver and Veitch on our initial arrival in Dunedin last Friday.
Our third and final Flyer was the Craypot, which meant riding right by Em’s family as they took a lunch break from making bailage. They were expecting us so we tooted madly on the way down; they were ready and waving on our return, seemed funny being there and not being able to stop.
There was a bit of rain around Fox Glacier and through the 3 Fox Hills, a road we are very familiar with as we travel regularly to visit the family. We raised a comment from a fellow competitor on a Red VFR about perhaps burning a bit of rocket fuel, due to our speedy trip down the familiar roads; it is a big advantage having that familiarity to rely on, for sure.
Homeward bound for us with only a photo at Hokitika and at Yaldhurst left to get, meaning we had already earned our Silver. That was a great feeling, knowing all we had to do now was finish.
We pulled into Yaldhurst at 7.30pm after a very long and draining final leg along the old West Coast Road... it really feels like it goes forever at the best of times, let alone when you have just done 1200km for the day.
For the TT2000 we ended up with 2556km, with 3142 km for the entire 3 days. We spent 26 hours riding of the 40 hours available for the TT from 6am start Saturday until 10pm finish cut off on Sunday.
We got to chat to Mike Hyde for a bit, and thanked him again for a fantastic trip. We were able to get a new T-shirt, having lost one on the trip somewhere (just as well we had ordered one each!)
Well done to everyone who participated, at which ever level you choose. It was great to have had the chance to chat with some of you throughout the weekend. Bring on TT 2012!
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by KoroJ
Bookmarks