Dusty Butt 1,000km adventure ride

[MyGSXF:Me]

If it was a yellow DR650 then yep may have been us, got away from Nelson near 3pm. Not sure what pub that be.

Yep. The pub on corner where ya turn off to go down the Motueka Valley.. you should remember that road!! You must be shattered.. go to bed!

[NordieBoy]

That kinda sucks as an average speed, guess that what happens with flat tyres and all the other down time included. I wonder what the actual average speed was once stops are subtracted from the time taken.

My GPS has got 38.6kph Overall Avg Speed and 56.2 Moving Avg Speed over the 600km total I did.

[RedKLR650]

My GPS has got 38.6kph Overall Avg Speed and 56.2 Moving Avg Speed over the 600km total I did.

Now you guys have a good grasp of the principals of moving average speed, ponder this...... During the infamous Helen Clarke speeding fiasco from Waimate ( Down past here ) to Christchurch airport to catch the flight to a rugby game, in order to cover that distance in that time, she had a moving average of 140kph. Now considering she had railway crossings to dog-leg over and towns to pass through, think what her top speed must have been...... And to think her officers give US tickets !!!!!

Stu

[Transalper]

My GPS has got 38.6kph Overall Avg Speed and 56.2 Moving Avg Speed over the 600km total I did.

Thanks for that, you have some cool toys to go with that DR of yours... and having the technology to post here while actually on the side of the road was brilliant, those little update posts have made the thread for me. An accurate account in real time of how the plan came apart.
I think i'll revise Rs original timetable with average speed as 56.2 km/hr and add his stops as 10minutes and see what it looks like plus lunch and tea as 30minutes. Then have a tolerance at the end of two hours for repairs.
I stopped quite a bit, often to get video, often longer than i should have.

[far queue]

Well, done guys. How are all the sore arses and so on today?

[Transalper]

Sore shoulders , Legs were a bit gelly yesterday, better now. Ass got kinda sore but never really got worse, I just kept changing position like Warewolf suggested and it seemed to work quite well. I did not use a sheepskin.

Next time i'll go with a view to spending a few hours asleep at the side of the road and take a bed roll to keep me in that frame of mind. Just wasn't really siked to do that this trip, hadn't thought of it as an overnighter. Kinda wish i had now, sorry Plug.
Oh well, until next time

[warewolf]

Arse was starting to get sore while on the bike at the end of the day, but that stops as soon as I get off the bike. Noticed it more on the trip home on the smooth tar than anywhere else. No sheepy, std seat. Also, I started the day with the rear shock tuned for two-up so it was too firm and chattering in the rough (even on the tar), set it back to solo settings at Blenheim and the comfort returned.

Ankle/lower calf muscles Sunday morning knew they'd had a workout. Apart from that, no aches or pains.

[magicfairy]

Just want to say a huge thanks to all you guys for a great day. I thorougly enjoyed it. (Except for the odd scary moment, like nearly being tipped off the bridge )
And your support of BusaJim and me was awesome, sorry we had to hold you guys up.
The highlight for me was going to the top of Mt Altimarloch, the lowpoint - getting the puncture on the way back down.

Plug - you were awesome helping us sort that out. I promise I didn't video you with your pants off.

Cooneyr - What can I say, amazing amount of work went into the preparation, those route sheets were brilliant.

And all the rest of the crew, huge thumbs up, thanks again.

Anytime anyone needs a bed in Wellington, just give us a yell.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me about the biking community, the really great people you meet and how fantastic bikers can be helping other bikers.

[SDU]

Welcome back folks. Sounds like extra kip in order after that haul. Good on ya all! Look forward to seeing the vids/pics

[cooneyr]

The day started really well - all arrived on time. The trip over the Mangatapu in the dark was heaps of fun. Only one incident where BusaJim and Magicfairy had an oppsie on a bridge with no guard rails. Well done saving that one! From there it was quick run to havelock then fog to the start of Onamalutu Rd. Got our first puncture along Onamalutu Rd. Then wound our way to Blenheim via Tuamarina. Quick stop for fuel (both bikes and humans) then over Taylors pass to the Awatere then along the seal to the start of Black Birch Range Track. Absolutely magnificent views from the top at 1696m (highest road in 4x4 books). Could see Waihopi, Port Underwood, North Island, Grassmere, Cape Cambel, etc etc. If you have the inclination to go up there it is not a bad track and is defiantly worth the time. Had our second puncture on the way down.

From there was a run to and through the Molesworth to Hamner. Only 46 degrees at the Molesworth according to a car thermo. Time was marching on so after another quick fuel and food stop was off through the Rainbow. Our process of whoever opens the gate shuts the gate worked really well as the faster guys opened and shut the gates by passing the slower ones. Meant everybody got the travel close to their preferred speeds and yet the group stayed together. Was starting to get dark as we got to St Arnaud (1/2 way point in kms) so some decided it was time to bug out. The mad few decided to keep going.

We headed off for the Howard Valley and managed to overshoot it in the dark. After a little back track was off up the Howard to and over the Porika Track. The Porika was fun in the dark as with the lights could see the rocks to avoid so was reasonable pace still. Comming down the steep section into Lake Rotoroa we all stopped and turned our lights out. Once our eyes adjusted we could see the lake, bush line and ridges. Also saw the most stars I've seen for a long time. From Lake Rotoroa we went over the Breaburn track and out to Murcheson. Was frustrating on the gravel sections as I've travelled them at 80-100 kph during the day but was maxing about 65kph at night. Couldnt see the wheel tracks or central ridges of gravel or corners very well.

Once at Murcheson we had another flat so we were down to three. Plug the slave driver was keen to continue, and the other two (me included) were wavering. We decided it had got to the point that we were going to struggle to complete it in 24 hours and we were knackered. We decided to call it quits and run for NN (1.5 hours away). With a few stops on the up we managed to get back to NN around 2am.

All in all an awsome day in terms of weather, scenery, friendship, and fun. Would love to have another go and see if I could complete it - would have to be a very hard out day though. Didnt get overly sore, butt was a little uncomfortable but with the stops was perfectly managable - standard (read old and soft) DR650 seat with no sheepy. Worst thing for me was slight dehydration (drank 3.5 litres over 21 hours) and numb hands. I now have puffy hands and am damn tired.

Started with an almost new (500km old) Shinko R244 rear tyre that is almost half cut now so kinda hard on it but had heaps of fun hanging it out.

In conjunction with Zukins very kind offer regarding the photos, Nordieboy have given me a brand new pair of sixsixone (I think) medium black motocross style gloves to give away. So I have decided that we should get feedback from the participants to decide which participant is most deserving of them (kinda arrogant but - no point nominating me as my hands are too big). Nominations can be serious or silly.

My nomination is for Magicfairy for two reasons -
1 - Having to put up with Pete running round in his gruts while helping BusaJim fix the flat and ;
2 - Having to put up with BusaJim's arse in her face while he was standing on the trip up the Mangatapu.

My photos all suck as the phone camera doesn't cut the mustard and I was too slack to take. I've attached the best one from up Mt Altimarlock. You can just make out the north island in the background and lake grassmere is down to the right.

Everybody got home safe last night.

Cheers R

[Transalper]

I only had video equipment with me so no photos here.

[warewolf]

Our process of whoever opens the gate shuts the gate worked really well as the faster guys opened and shut the gates by passing the slower ones.

And somehow the key carrier ended up first to each of the two locked gates. Who planned that?

My nomination is for Magicfairy for two reasons -
1 - Having to put up with Pete running round in his gruts while helping BusaJim fix the flat and ;
2 - Having to put up with BusaJim's arse in her face while he was standing on the trip up the Mangatapu.

3 - They'll provide that expert touch when massaging BusaJim's butt when he stands;
4 - They'll help if she has to climb out of a ravine if BusaJim throws her off a bridge;
5 - She'll be guilted into riding her own bike on the next one...

[warewolf]

Fuel economy was pretty good, better than I expected. Worked out at 5.14 L/100km (19.5 km/L) for the stretch from Blenheim to Nelson: Taylors Pass, Black Birch up Mt Altimarloch, Molesworth to Hanmer, Rainbow and home to Nelson. Just shy of 500 kays to a tank.

That's better than what I typically get road riding, but marginally worse than a two-up trip from St Arnaud through Rainbow-Hanmer-Molesworth-Taylors to Blenheim.

[Balrog]

....
2 - Having to put up with BusaJim's arse in her face while he was standing on the trip up the Mangatapu.
...
Cheers R

LOL,
Yeah, Big Black and Dusty not much of a view there I'm afraid

Great weekend guys. I just want to go back and try it again.
( I'll pass on the wasp stings next time )

Its hard going back to work when you have this kind of entertainment
in the weekend.

When are we doing it again?

[NordieBoy]

This is just a test unnerstand but...
If you load THIS up into Google Earth you may get the Dusty Buttcheek 500 track and some photos.
As I add more photos they'll appear like magic at your end.

Possibly...



Oh and I'm not condoning this at all but if one were to accidentally spill some CRC on a rag and try to remove it by wiping vigorously on Ryan's handiwork on your Dusty Butt sticker it may accidentally come clean.
Or so I heard