When's the next 250 ride, damnit!

[Donor]

Dammit I just can't get off work.....

Got any family members (close or distant) who you never see that you can kill off?

Religious convictions that you can make today into some holy event?

Buy the company and make your own bloody rules??

No??

Sadness...

[Winter]

Sorry Guys, Im out.

I've only been riding a week, and I dont want to tacle such a ride in the wet.

Next time.

[Donor]

It's only water.

But fair call, perhaps use the day to pootle some quiet streets and get your confidence up.

Onya for admitting ya limits matey, and look forward to seeing you on some other ride!

[Chisanga]

It's only water.

Lol - have you looked outside There is a gale warning and hail and thunderstorms predicted. Not the best weather for even experienced riders I would think.

[Donor]

Lol - have you looked outside There is a gale warning and hail and thunderstorms predicted. Not the best weather for even experienced riders I would think.

Yup! Looked several times - and it's still not a patch on the weather I had for my very first KB ride... lol

But I'm mad, and been caged for a few weeks, damned if I'm going to let anything as silly as wind and rain take away at LEAST a good ride to the Autobahn... lol

Hmmm, must be time to start texting Zeocen if we want him there on time for a change as well...

[Chisanga]

I just don't find it particularly enjoyable to be "riding for enjoyment" when I am soaking wet, miserable and worried that I could lose traction at any moment.

Not tking anything away from those who do ride in these conditions, I would just rather have a nice(ish) day if i'm going to ride 400 odd km on roads i've never been on before.

(coupled with last minute commitmeent popping up) are the reasons I won't be attending.

Please stay sae out there and don't be afraid to call it quits if the weather gets as rancid as they are predicting.

[gijoe1313]

No hey problemo, I have literally ridden through worst on my sojourns! I have ridden at night, in hail with blustery winds ... where no sane person in a cage should be even driving (but that's just me!) I count this as practice for my mad cap plans for when I do a long motorcycle ride around the Earth later on!

I will ride ... and of course take the necessary precautions and healthy dollop of common sense along. Seems like there will be only two mad riders of the storm this fine day.

We few, we happy band of biker brothers
Come together in the spirit of biking,
We shall show restraint, we shall be humble,
Come what may, the weather's challenge to us,
We know our limitations, but also strive to better them,
Come from four points of the compass,
We shall ride ... for our own glory, our honour
And in the spirit of the ride!

Now twist those wrists and let slip our steeds of riding!

Per factum excelsior maior vitae!

[Winter]

Damn it looks better now than it did at 7am.. I could do with a blat down to the autobahn, but your all long gone!

[Lucy]

Damn it looks better now than it did at 7am.. I could do with a blat down to the autobahn, but your all long gone!

No LONG gone actually...we only left about 10am, due to Zeocen having to do his hair, or something, not sure what the hold up was, he may have been on the phone with the president?

I couldn't go on this ride either, had to work this afternoon, woke up and it was really stormy and bad and I was supposed to be packing up the house. I thought about texting or writing on here that I couldnt go, but I thought "What would GI Joe do?". So in the end I got up and rode down to the Autobahn to tell them that I couldn't make it. And then, seeing as I was already out, I thought I could join them as far as Puke or Tuakau, but when we got there it seemed like we had just started, so I carried on as far as Glen Murray. Weather wasn't nearly as bad as predicted, it was a bit wet coming home, but that soon stopped.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of their expedition!

[zeocen]

No LONG gone actually...we only left about 10am, due to Zeocen having to do his hair, or something, not sure what the hold up was, he may have been on the phone with the president?

Everyone should know by now that my hair takes incredibly long to do! I'm in my own time zone. Fashionably late is so in right now
But i'll leave the ride details to gijoe, it'll be a doozy

*cough*438km*cough*

[gijoe1313]

Well, I couldn't get to sleep last night. Tucked in at 12pm ... got up at 2..4..5 and 6.30am respectively (I always get like this in anticipation of a great days long ride! )

Had all my gear packed and donned my wet weather riding gear, headed off to the Autobahn and was filling up with 98 (my little ol'Hornet always gets it!) when Donor appears. We catch up in McDeaths and discuss the finer points how we are the Ewan McGregor and Michael Boorman of this little adventure!

Lucy pops up on her mighty Ginny and we have a good old chinwag... when zerozen texts us... and texts us... and we sit around mocking him waiting for him to show up! 9.30am was the departure time... 9.45...10... 10.05 ... by this stage I've chucked my timetable out and lo! He appears! By this stage we wondered if anyone else would show...

Nup! The others pump air into their tyres and we all pootle off! Woo-woo!

Now, I was point man, zerozen in second and Lucy backed up with Donor. We made a good run through Puke/Tuakau and the wind picked up, no worries! At Tuakau we pull over as Lucy had said she could only ride part of the way (good lass, she went with us to Glen Murray and turned around there!) Kudos to her ... she was willing to ride come what may!

Well, the three amigos were now left to their own devices. SH22 beckoned and the kms pipped away quickly - I blatted ahead to discover the road ahead and gave warning where I could (pine needles on your lines are the devil, as loose metal on your line are the curse of ages).

Weather was brilliant. Wind was still blustery, but the sun was shining and there was blue in the sky. The biker gods were pleased with our efforts in sacrificing oil, filters and cleaning unguents unto them. Our determination to ride no matter the conditions was rewarded with the perfect riding conditions!

Hit Raglan after we made a drain the python stop at Te Uku. The twisties there brought a grin to my face and I had to slow down to ensure I wasn't getting too far ahead from my charges. Lunch was a sedate affair ... after I recovered from my heart attack when I thought Donor had binned it ... I rode quickly ahead so I could get a shot of Donor and Zerozen coming in to Raglan by the roundabout ... waited 1..2...3...4....5 minutes... Did something happen? Fanged it back up the road and was confronted with Zerozen with a "whassup doc?" shrug. I rode on... and on... with a sinking feeling in my stomach, I had slowed to 50-60kph looking for the signs of a bin.

The bastard. He was parked on the side of the road, looking all nonchalant as you like! Turns out he could smell oil and pulled over. I give it a quick squizz and work out he's overfilled it from yesterday :slap: Just usual heat expansion doing it's wicked work. He's got his side to tell about this so I will leave it to Donor in his report.

Lunch. I had a kiwi big brekkie - hashbrowns, eggs, bacon, tomato, sausage, toast and mushrooms. Big basket of chips for one and all and a couple of ice cold cokes to wash it all down. Lovely. I call time and pistol whip the lads back to their bikes "we got a schedule to keep!"

Off to the 'tron and through Newstead to Morrinsville .. see Part II to continue this!

[gijoe1313]

Now, Newstead to Morrinsville via the 'tron was easy as you like, 'cept for when I did the sudden lane changes forcing my buddies to do that "eek! What's he doing that mad biker?"

I also didn't pull up to visit the bike dealers there for Donor to buy a balaclava like mine (I had reasons... later...). At times, I had to slap myself to remember I had buddies depending on me giving clear leads! Too use to the lone wolf riding I guess!

Anyhows, a quick fang to Te Aroha where we make a stop at the servo there, to allow numb arses and sore wrists to recover (I inwardly scoffed at such pansie delicacies - they need to harden up more with gijoe1313's patented "Long Ride Restorative via Riding Longer and Further elixir") I pointed out that holy of holies biking route down to the Opal Hot Springs, they were not worthy at that stage and I pontificated about how "they shall be treated to a spectacle of serendipitous riding" along that route another time!

By the time we got to Paeroa and did the mandatory "world famous in NZ" thing with our trusty steeds (we rode right past the bollards and generally behaved in a despicable biker fashion that put off visiting tourists from coming out of their cars whilst we were monopolising the site), I noted that the others were suffering from the windchill factor (serious that!) We located a local farming supply store where they purchased balaclavas made by zulu virgins rolling the supple material on their supple thighs (or so I thought when the "Swazi" brand label was revealed :spudbooge

Now we all matched. Bank robbers standing opposite the BNZ and looking so staunch... on our twofiddies! glancing to the next locality, I saw the ominous signs of the weather gods intruding on our galloping ride of freedom!

Part the III shall contain the parts thereof, not discussed, for the sojourn pertaining to the efforts of the triumvirate.

[gijoe1313]

From Paeroa along SH26 we fanged it quickly, leaving behind the one rozzer we saw and an idiot of a pickup cager (he overtook an entire line of vehicles and us, to get to... the next turn off

When we got to Kopu, I pulled over and had a confab to say we're skipping the Whangamata circuit due to the weather being an inclement shade of pissing-the-hell-down. As it was, we were riding towards the Miranda/Kaiaua route where we fanged it to be confronted by the spectacle of a heavy rain front. We U-turned and did the route back to Mangatangi ... the slow way. A 4x4 decided to show us why Remuera tractors are completely useless in the rain. Nana'ed it at a svelt 80kph all the way. When we got to the SH2 juncture, it decided to keep doing 80kph - a great line of vehicles did the conga as we all waited for the "hit the gas and speed like hell up the hill" part, finally, the rain decided to let rip at us and we pulled over to the Bombay servo to gas up and have a break to recuperate our riding energy.

But... before that happened, we were all blatting around the curve on the Waikato expressway, when bloody oath.. a frikk'n van with its hazard lights on was sheperding two cyclists (pyschoists more like! ) up that lane! Gingerly squeezing front brake and engine braking to pull up well short of it's back end. We pulled around and beetled it to the BP Bombay servo.

At this point, a large hot chocolate for me - a debrief of the good/bad moments, me laughing at the probs Donor and Zerozen had with their balaclavas (but they did appreciate them) and more cautionary words from me about how "accidents happen closest to home". What more can I say? Quick blat home with Donor in the lead (I had the lime-yellow shirt of "look! I'm a motorcyclist! Watch out!" and it was more useful at the back of the pack at this stage). I've squeezed out the wet gear and typing in all this dribble and tripe. Anyone still reading at this point is a madperson (curse this PC poppycock! Er.... poppyseed!)

As usual, the ride was amended as circumstance dictated - still hit all the time points and anyone who needed to be home could have easily made it at the various stops. People who decided not to come missed out on a stonking road trip, but no worries, always more to come!

And I think, Donor and Zerozen got a small inkling of what it is like in the mindset of gijoe1313 when he does his "I think I will go out for a little pootle" thang!

Now... where shall I go tomorrow?

[gijoe1313]

Watch this space with your occular viewing biological devices. Piccies to be transferred, photoshopped and compressed and uploaded to said thread post.

ipso facto ars incarnum funk

Photo 1 : The start of the day, Donor, Lucy and the little ol'Hornet belonging to gijoe1313.
Photo 2 : Raglan, all lined up and nowhere to go.
Photo 3 : Donor doing the staunch "biker doing the texting thang" pose.
Photo 4 : zeozen withdrawing cash to bribe the pub girls to go out with him (double points phwoar!)
Photo 5 : The other angle viewpoint, blank licence plates for rent.

[McJim]

Yup! Looked several times - and it's still not a patch on the weather I had for my very first KB ride... lol.

I remember that trip...wetter than an otter in a washing machine was a phrase which sprung irresistably to mind.

But it didn't deter us no siree!