Last two weekends I've been getting out on the bike and getting lots of practise. I'm not so nervous now, and gear changes, starting off etc are becoming more automatic, leaving more brain space available to concentrate on the road and trying to ride nice and smoothly.
Here is the full report of the adventures of Rosie...
Last weekend Clint came up to Rotorua on the KTM, it was threatening to rain on Saturday, so we went mountain biking up a steep hill in the morning, and it took until 5.30 before we had the energy to stop reading the paper and go for a ride. We just went around lake Rotorua, it looked like it had been raining on the far side of the lake. The wet road made me a bit nervous, but I did ok, getting into a groove on the corners going up the Haumurana hill.
Next morning we met some friends for breakfast at the Okere falls store. After our pancakes and coffee we continued towards Tauranga. I'm still not quite travelling at normal road speeds, but we didn't get passed by too much. We turned onto a little wiggly road that goes to Welcome bay. We continued on to the Tauranga direct road, and headed home. Lots of resealing going on on Tauranga direct, the loose gravel made me a bit nervous, but I was ok. And managed to catch up to some cars going up a steep-ish twisty section of road. Curves are a lot easier going uphill for some reason.
This weekend I decided to venture a little further afield. Friends were having a bit of a do in Taupo Saturday night, so I rode to Taupo on Saturday afternoon, with Clint following me in the landcruiser, providing some degree of moral support.
It was windy, and the bike was wriggling around a bit. It was still handling ok, but I found the wind a bit disconcerting, and was having to concentrate more. Getting closer to Taupo the headwind became a crosswind, willing the bike into the path of oncoming traffic. In general it was pretty steady so you got used to it, but a couple of strong gusts had me a bit nervous. We read the paper at Clint's for a while, then got suited up into some nice warm clothes to go for a bit of a spin around some Taupo backroads. We went past Aratiatia, crossed over SH5, took in a few more back roads and ended up on Poihipi road coming back into Taupo. Back in Taupo we took advantage of the copious bike parking on the lakefront to stop and have a meal.
Late Sunday morning we headed off on our next adventure - Poihipi road to SH 32, and back via Whangamata road and Kinloch. Cruising along Poihipi road with 160 kms on the trip meter I thought that maybe I should have got some fuel in Taupo. But with the KTMs 20 litre tank I may as well have had a petrol tanker following me, so I wasn't too worried.
At 180kms the bike became weak from hunger, so I pulled over (still can't locate the fuel tap on demand), and switched to reserve. I was just about to start again when Clint said "oh look, you have a fuel leak" I looked down and saw that the bike was in fact dribbling its precious reserve fuel onto the road. I switched the fuel off and considered the prospect of going home on the back of the pillion-peg-less KTM. But Clint knew better than that. He started the bike, revved it for a bit, and the fuel leak was fixed. Continuing on we stopped in Kinloch for some lunch, and so we had a small bottle on board in case I needed to refuel from the mothership. 220 k's on the tripmeter and I was slowly grinding to a halt again. A few sips of fuel later and I'm mobile again. Coming to turn right onto SH1 near Taupo the bike was suspiciously quiet by the time I had stopped in line. It didn't want to start again, even with the people behind me honking their horns in encouragement. So I hurriedly pushed the bike off the road, and looked to Clint for guidance. He tipped the bike from side to side to slosh the fuel around a bit, and restarted it. Got back to Taupo ok, with the bike stopping and refusing to restart as I was pulling into the petrol station. At least I now know that I can get about 200k's out of a tank if need be. The weather forecast wasn't looking so good, and it was starting to spit on and off in Taupo, and I still needed to get home. I hadn't been out in the rain before, and I was a bit nervous. So Clint lent me his waterproof trousers and promised to come and rescue me if it all became too much. He assured me that I wasn't going to be losing traction on the wet road at the speed I ride at, which made me feel better. Well, kind of. It didn't start raining until I was halfway home, and it didn't rain very hard. So it wasn't as stressful as I had imagined.
Next weekend: A girly shopping trip to Moto GB in Mt Maunganui
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doing good girl... be an expert in no time 
yank tank at Glenorchy 2006 rally
Originally Posted by Rosie
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