tt2000 (miles that is)

[Gixxer peter]

Will try to keep this fairly short, in fact it was all a bit of a blur really -- Came through from Blenheim, after offering my services at work to help out with power issues in ChCh after the quake (i had spent 2 weeks in Kiapoi in Sept already). It was decided neither me or Johan were required so it was all go.We stayed a Johan's place in Rolleston and got away pretty early to to Dunedin as i was booked in at McIver and Vietch for new tires, chain and sprockets.
Couple of quiets the nite before, half a subway and save the other half for breakfast and head down to sign up.
First photo done and it is already 06.08 , behind schedule already.
Then it was teething problems with the GPS a couple of wrong turns on the way to the next photo shoot , damn it.
We then really just settled into our "work", we had picked easy routes with as little gravel as possible (HAHA). We did try to stick to seal where we could and decided that we would make up any lost time with horsepower rather than off-road skills.
We over shot at Gabriell's gully, perhaps slow down to speed up??
Nugget point, oh how i dreaded the gravel early on but after slope point and Waipapa point we were getting the hang of it (how ever i still too have a stutter after the ride).We had a bit of a moment on the way to the hump ridge flier, i was leading and came over a rise to find very thick deep gravel, the busa's brakes are better than Johan's goldwing's, i had the back wheel off the ground as i came down the hill in to gravel and released the brake as i dropped in to it, that is when i remembered Johan behind me, he was surprised to come over the top at around 100kph to find me almost stopped only a few meters in front of him, he tried braking and quickly figured out that he was not going to pull up the 400 odd KGs that he was riding so he gave up and just "pushed"past me, i recon he was still doing about 90 kph when he flew past at what felt like shoulder height, he stopped a short distance up the road to see if i was okay, holy crap that was close!

[Gixxer peter]

Next run was on to Milford, should have seen the excited tourists when we" ignored" the red light in the tunnel and went against the flow of the traffic, it is really two lanes but no longer used as such, really.
We pushed on through to Glenorchky 21:35 , it is now dark as, but still met up with a few bikes along the way (read that as passed by a few) Coronet peak and met up with a few more, we refueled at Queenstown, again, and talked to Andrew who had to admit it had beaten him and he was heading for a reat, we did invite him to tack on the back of us and try and push through the pain, but he opted for a rest, perhaps he had more sense than us.
We keep going through the night, flier after flier, gravel roads and all, special thanks to the blue goldwing rider who pointed us in the right direction after both GPSs tricking us away from a flier in the back of Ranfurly, at 3:00am the road is pretty lonely when you are not really sure where you are and low on fuel and stopped to top up from the last reserves you are carrying. The honest truth is we thought we had lost a lot of time in there lost but the spider (internet tracking system) , when review later, showed we only lost 12 minutes in there. On to McCrays flat and i almost rode off without a photo (needed a toilet stop as well and jumped on to go and then remember why we were really there)
We made it to our preset pitstop at Palmerton at one of our depots there and refueled with the 60 litres that we had dropped off the day before , or was it the day before that, completely confused at this point. The next flier was 5 photos, this was hard work and seemed to take for ever , and now we seem to be the only ones still moving, are we behind, have we lost that much time??
Met up with a few bikes as the sun came up, does this mean we are catching up?? We got a bit of a boost when one of the rider asked what time we pulled the pin for the night, we just laughed ( a little too hysterically) and rode off in to the sunrise.
We dropped our empty containers at a prearranged spot for later retrieval. Just after this Johan had another moment around the back of the benmore dam as a camper came around the corner in the middle of the road and panicked when he saw Johan and pulled over to our side of the road to get äway"from him, Johan ended up passing him on wrong side to clear him, he's got pretty good reflexes i thought as i slid to a stop ( we have been riding for 26 hours now).

[Gixxer peter]

Loved the ride through the Lindis, i must say we did üse"a few people to help us get through some of these bits, i find you can ïnspire"people to lift their pace if you "monster"them with the busa, they normally respond by picking their pace up and showing you the way through, thanks guys.
The run through to Haast was hard work and i think this one may have broken a few hearts, as the last thing you feel like doing at Haast is turning back and heading away from the finish line for another flier, but this road is a racetrack and very "West Coast" with trees lining the road forming a tunnel over the top, fricken awesome, we came out of that flier feeling invigorated if anything.
We talked at Haast on the way out, Andrew was there and looking much more chipper than when we saw him at Queenstown. Johan and i did some math and realized that we were behind schedule and needed to lift the pace a little, we have been riding for 32 hours and only have 8 hours left (only , oh crap) We again encouraged a few other riders to help pace us through the tricky bits ahead, thanks guys.
We did the sandflier, dubbed the "i can't believe we are doing this one" flier.Mike even admitted that he couldn't believe that it was being done.
Johan pulled me over just up the road and asked the question, "what now , it doesn't look like we will make it, do we cruise to an easy gold or do we push for a diamond". We took a vote and it was unanimous, we would come home with our heads held high, it was to be a diamond or a "did not finish", lets go.
The last couple of fliers really hurt, the body was a cross between sore and numb, 38 hours under our belt now, we talked again at the Brunner memorial, some math again and 225km with just over 210 minutes to go, Johan posed the question, are we giving up and cruizing from here or going to attempt "the impossible"( do it fresh and it's not that hard, but do it after this run in the dark??) I was keen to give it a crack so i led out from there and set a good pace, Johan was a wee way back but throwing around the "wing"like a little sports bike, around halfway there is a sign showing 98 to go, we had closed the gap and if we could maintain the pace, we would make it with minutes to spare. I think i had done all i could at the front as i was dropping off the pace, Johan mercifully passed me and lifted the pace, now we can do it.
The run down the old west coast Road was surreal, i didnt have my feet on the footrests as i could no longer hold them up there without cramping, they were just flying out the back behind me (jack i'm flying!!) the mind is start to play tricks on me, i am seeing phantoms on the side of the road, a pretty yellow light has popped up on the dash and i am having trouble lining it up with all the other reflective yellow lights on the road side ( it did seem important at the time to try to ), yet i am in my lane, i am changing gear and braking and giving way where required, instinct has taken over. We pull into the carpark with 4 minutes up our sleeve, no problem.
DIAMOND>>> what a feeling . I shook Johans hand, we did it.
As it turned out the yellow light was low feul, Johan also was on fumes but his mind was clear enough to have sorted the fuel stop out if required, open the cap, up end the 10 litre container in the general direction of the tank (no funnel) and hope enough falls in to get to the finish and then drop the container and run.
Thanks to Mike for this event, thanks for him and lots of others "tracking"us on spider tracks and the text of encouragement was a boost.
Thanks to all the other riders who had a big grins on there faces , what an adventure. And well done to all that took up the challenge and congratulations to all that achieved their goals no mater what they were. ( i cant believe that 4 got diamond ) 3258 kM in 39 hours and 56 minutes.
Thanks to my wife too for this adventure, it would have been cheaper for both of us to go to Aussie.

[STJim]

I just couldn't do this. I managed bronze

[Gremlin]

and i am having trouble lining it up with all the other reflective yellow lights on the road side ( it did seem important at the time to try to ), yet i am in my lane, i am changing gear and braking and giving way where required, instinct has taken over.

It's interesting how the mind plays tricks eh? I've found tho, the more you experience it, the easier it gets. A few years ago, I would be all jumpy (what was THAT in the bushes), now its just, ah, seeing things.

Very well done, top effort!! Out of interest, with only 4 minutes to spare, how many times did you stop, how long did you stop for etc? Not counting my last two stops (that I never reached) I was roughly 4 hours ahead of the deadline... so interested to compare the difference, as my GPS would never have shown some crazy top speed of 2xx

I left McIver at 0612, Queenstown at 10pm (having finished Glenorchy and Coronet)

[Gixxer peter]

We only stopped for photos, fuel or to get unlost, we thought we were quick with our stops but we ended up stopped for over 5 and a half hours, see pic below, ignore the "stopped time" on the GPS as it kept on recording after the end of the ride, but the riding time is correct.
Also ignore the topspeed as that cant possible be correct, now can it?

[JMemonic]

Also ignore the topspeed as that cant possible be correct, now can it?

I had something similar with mine, it lost coverage then suddenly it reappeared with a magic top speed, all while it was sitting on the desk at work next to me, magic how those things happen hey

[Gremlin]

We only stopped for photos, fuel or to get unlost, we thought we were quick with our stops but we ended up stopped for over 5 and a half hours, see pic below, ignore the "stopped time" on the GPS as it kept on recording after the end of the ride, but the riding time is correct.
Also ignore the topspeed as that cant possible be correct, now can it?

interesting... how long would you estimate each stop was, when stopping for fuel. When you stopped for photos, was it camera, shirt, photo, gone, or more time spent stopping?

I would have required less stops than you... I was going to have 6 stops, taking on fuel, food, drink at each one, only other stops were photos, at less than a minute per stop. The stops took 15-30min each, for me.

[KoroJ]

Hard men!! Crazy Hard Men!!

Well done.

[Emlyn]

Hard men!! Crazy Hard Men!!

Well done.

I second that KoroJ, hard and crazy...!
Great write up GixxerPete. A good read, and totally agree with you about the smiles on the faces, and the goals achieved... totally awesome to step up to the challange, what ever it is that challenges you

[LBD]

Obviously you did not know about the rear number plate red light camera at both ends of the milford tunnel then.....

Tried to catch up in Blenheim but mobile would not answer and did not try during the work day.

TT was a good ride, looking forward to finding out what they have planned for next year.

[KoroJ]

Obviously you did not know about the rear number plate red light camera at both ends of the milford tunnel then.....

TT was a good ride, looking forward to finding out what they have planned for next year.

I would guess that the time saved versus the 4 minutes spare....they'll say thanks for the ticket, it was worth it!

[tuska]

thats real planing and dedication which ever way you look at it...well done