Dusty Butt 2015: 14-15 February

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We were in tents and herd some yelling about midnight there. We left about 2.45-3am also. That drizzly rain dust was a barstard. Some people are bloody inconsiderate. Hope you enjoyed yourself

Yes we heard you leave and we thought we're not getting any sleep either so we packed up and left. We had a great time mostly.

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Oh yeah i almost forgot about the wallaby that ran out of the dark and straight into Scotts leg, i was following and saw the whole thing. Bloody dangerous being attacked by wildlife. The omarama saddle challenge was not to bad this year, river levels a little lower this year, but those rocks were just as slippery as ever. The WR had a wee lie down ( must have been tired ) but not me. Oturehua next stop. Newspaper in boots (dried out a bit) fresh socks and finally food. Toasted sandwiches for me. Serpentine challenge was easy as it was so dry. The lammamores were easy and fast because of the dry, into Lawrence next and make our way to Alexandra via some more gravel roads. Day one finished yay.....

[pete376403]

Pete - I've been part of a large group ride with you - round the Coast from the Wainuiomata Road end to the Wairarapa and i realise that like myself you're a 'senior' - possibly at least a decade younger than me - in my 60's and closer to 70 than 60.
Cheers Oaters

"only" 62 but yeah heading to the downward curve of my rainbow. And of course, the older I get, the better I was. Not ready to trade the bike on a Zimmer frame yet, though!!

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Day 2 ride to Clyde, over the bridge, Bannockburn which was great, hard to see at times from the dust and rising sun, on to Cromwell for fuel and refreshments, over the Cromwell bridge , up the road and over a saddle (sorry can't remember name) into omakau, many bikes fueling up so we shot over to Ranfurly for fuel. We then had this great idea to go to Naseby and up mount buster which joins the Awakino ranges, that was great all the way to the hut, then it turned real hard for me and my limited ability ( doing Awakino backwards is harder i think) Once off the Awakino things got way better and the pace picked up, some more gravel roads and farm tracks and it was all over. A great weekend and bloody tiring.
A special thanks to TA for loading the map's into my Garman Montana 650 and setting it up. Scott had never even seen one and never put a foot wrong all weekend. He said it was so easy to use and read even at speed.
Thanks heaps TA