SCC - Ride 4/4/2004 - Kind of a club. Pt1

**James Deuce** · 19th April 2004, 07:03

Well I'm the kind of person who likes to go on group rides, because I like other people's company (it helps drown out the voices in my head, but that's another story), and since getting a bike a couple of years ago, some of my old riding buddies can be a little difficult to entice out for a ride.

I'd bumped into various people who had all bought bikes in the last couple of years, but hadn't really established a group or found many other people of a similar age who they were comfortable riding with. This gave me an idea, so I "organised" them into a ride. Our first ride was booked for Sunday 4/4/2004, and we formed up at the "usual" Wellington formation point, Caltex Rimutaka. Now the people at that Caltex station are a bit slow if you ask me. There's a giant vacant lot next door, and they get a couple of hundred riders meeting at their gas station - Ace Cafe anyone??

Excuse the digression! After the normal complaints about people who ruin other people's Sunday lie in and then turn up late we discussed the route, and I discovered that these folk had never seen any of the roads we were going on. The three guys I met up with are all older than 34, and have nice bikes. Malcolm has a 996, Eric, and GS1200ss, and Paul has a CBR600F3. I wanted to get an idea of how they rode so I set 3 stops in the first hour. The roadworks at Te Marua/Kaitoke can be a bit of a challenge, and the 2 or 3 inch high sharp rocks protruding from the road bed made me expect an early stop to proceedings due to slashed tyres. Didn't happen thank goodness.

Our first stop was set for the top of the Rimutakas and to cut a long story short I had had a challenging week to say the least. I was really looking forward to the ride, but I was carrying a much higher level of aggression than usual. I probably shouldn't have been riding if I had been sensible, but bugger "sensible" for a game of soldiers. Suffice to say I got to the top of the Rimutaka hill, and had time to remove helmet, get camera out and take pictures of everyone arriving. That sort of set the tone for the day.

I whistled down the other side of the hill, doing stuff that I'd always scowled at in other riders - overtaking 5 cars into 25km/hr corners, pulling gentle wheelies past annoyingly slow and blind cars and trucks (there's heaps of passing bays on the way down, and 6 ft deviation off line would make it easy for the average bike to pass - what is wrong with these people!!?) and generally being "anti-social". I stopped at the bottom in Featherston, and waited, and waited, ahhh there's Malcolm, and waited, and waited, ahhh Paul and Eric. I started up my bike which had cooled off so much it needed a bit of choke.

More to follow....

**riffer** · 19th April 2004, 08:22

Hey Jim - isn't Eric an old Comm Arts boy? I'm sure I recognise him...

**James Deuce** · 19th April 2004, 08:33

Originally Posted by celticno6

Hey Jim - isn't Eric an old Comm Arts boy? I'm sure I recognise him...

Yup

- Stay posted.

**DeanOh** · 19th April 2004, 16:13

Originally Posted by Jim2

I whistled down the other side of the hill, doing stuff that I'd always scowled at in other riders - overtaking 5 cars into 25km/hr corners, pulling gentle wheelies past annoyingly slow and blind cars and trucks (there's heaps of passing bays on the way down, and 6 ft deviation off line would make it easy for the average bike to pass - what is wrong with these people!!?) and generally being "anti-social". I stopped at the bottom in Featherston, and waited, and waited, ahhh there's Malcolm, and waited, and waited, ahhh Paul and Eric. I started up my bike which had cooled off so much it needed a bit of choke.More to follow....

HOOLIGAN!!!!

Ive been meaning to get out on one of these Sunday rides, but getting up in the middle of the night doesnt appeal.

When theres one at a decent hour, Ill come.

defbringa · 19th April 2004, 18:18

Correction time!!!!!
Not all riders were over 35!!!!!!

**James Deuce** · 19th April 2004, 18:52

Originally Posted by defbringa

Correction time!!!!!
Not all riders were over 35!!!!!!

Oi! You!! Noobie!

Read the flippin' text and the edit underneath it eh?

Jim

defbringa · 19th April 2004, 20:30

Originally Posted by Jim2

Oi! You!! Noobie!

Read the flippin' text and the edit underneath it eh?

Jim

OK, OK, just new at this, might need some help.

**James Deuce** · 19th April 2004, 21:33

The next leg was a quick hop to Martinborough. We did the coffee thing at the Flying Fish, which is a favourite Wellington motorcyclist's water hole. I tried to describe the next leg, but no one had any idea about the places we were going. It makes you wonder how much of NZ we miss out on by staying on the main roads.

This section is on my "required riding" list for anyone that comes to visit. It's alternately fast, tight, narrow, sweeping, and rolling, and the vistas that unwind before you are very special. Now as a group leader I made some unpardonable errors here. I lead a bunch of guys, a couple of them very new to large capacity sport bikes, into some very confusing roads at warp velocity. Thank goodness they had a couple brain cells to rub together and rode at their own pace. I just waited at the 1st intersection you need to take a turn at and Malcolm stayed with me through the next section until the "Water Tower" road. Those of you who know this road, will also know that this is where a round of the National hillclimb championship is held. The fast guys average 180kph up this section, and it includes a 30km/hr signposted corner and a couple of 60km/hr corners too.

Malcolm and I stopped at the bottom of this hill and waited for the other two to turn up. Of course Paul needed to fulfill his nicotine craving so we stopped and had a chat about stuff and I took some pictures of the scenery. Magical stuff, especially with the soft Autumn light. Once Paul had stopped shaking we bolted our hats back on and I gave a wee briefing about the road. I got caught out at the 30km/hr corner though. Whistled up on the brakes on a nice line, staying on my side of the road and what was right in the braking zone leading up to the apex? A BFH - Big Freaking (the other, stronger word came to the fore immediately) Hole. OK so the sign said "Road Works" - right when you arrived at them. 50m down the road where I'd come from would have been a better place for the sign on a blind decreasing radius corner, I think.

Drama over, the rest of the hill was magic. It's very quick once you get past the bottom few corners, with subtle changes in elevation and corner radii that require constant adjustments of line, and need your mind to be quite a bit further up the road than immediately in front of you. I screamed down to the next turn off, parked up and listened to the bike pinking and ticking as it cooled. I got a couple of camera shots off as Malcolm and then Paul and Eric arrived.

The next stretch through Wainuioru and on to Masterton, is a place of pure evil for those with a speed addiction. There are a couple of straights that open up off tight corners, and it takes a strong mind betwixt hand and throttle reflex to avoid becoming a NZ War Criminal. My mind was weak. Very, very weak. Soft and flabby, and cowardly weak. Dribbling, wobbly at the knees, and a disturbing bowel sensation weak. Limiters really spoil your fun you know. But then so do combine harvesters, 1.5 tonne Angus bulls, and dump trucks, so perhaps there is something to be said for them.

The view down the hill on the other side of Wainuioru has to be seen to be believed. The central Wairarapa opens up in front of you with the craggy Tararuas in the distance, and its difficult to keep your eyes on the road, let alone ride quickly.

**James Deuce** · 19th April 2004, 21:37

Now I know you're all wondering, "what the heck does SCC mean?"

I received a couple of distressed phone calls after emailing the photos out to the guys, and one angry visitor.

Check the writing out on the building behind the 'bikes, when we stopped at Wild Oats in Carterton for a final coffee. I'm sure you'll agree it is a worthy club appellation for such a "distinguished" group of riders. I wonder if the blue sign means you have to be over 60 to park there?

**Ms Piggy** · 19th April 2004, 21:37

Originally Posted by defbringa

Correction time!!!!!
Not all riders were over 35!!!!!!

Me thinks someone a little sensitive about their age

Great write up Jim

**pete376403** · 19th April 2004, 23:17

What a nice line up of red zimmer frames outside the SCC

LB · 20th April 2004, 06:01

Great write-up J2. Lovely roads, we do them a lot. Did them myself on Sunday after going down the Western side of Lake Wairarapa first. The autumn colours are just lovely at the moment. And it's neat seeing all the leaves swirl round when you (or the person in front) rides through them.