Castlepoint classic

[LB]

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Mr H: We were at the Fish for a while on Sat also - missed you though. Like you, I thought there'd be more bikes out and about. We only had a short ride, didn't get to the top of the hill till around mid-day, but then met up with a mate and decided to tootle on down to the Fish around 1.15pm. Hung round there for a while then back to the top of the hill till around 3.45pm, then home. Left all the bike gear out for our ride on Sunday - yeah right!!

Firestormer - know what you mean, some days (but not many) things just don't "gel". I'm sure your next ride will be a cracker. Let us know.
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[Hitcher]

Back to the original topic, there is no doubt the ride to Castlepoint is fun. I also enjoy the road to Riversdale, possibly even more. Then beyond there over the gravel is great on the dirt bike. The Wairarapa has some good rides. The only negative over there sometimes is the winds.

We don't do no gravel...

[Hitcher]

Aaahhh - I havnae seen much McTeagle , of recent times.. Fair brings a tear t ma eye.. McTeagle and McGonagal.....

The Moon By William McGonagle

Beautiful Moon, with thy silvery light,
Thou seemest most charming to my sight;
As I gaze upon thee in the sky so high,
A tear of joy does moisten mine eye.

Beautiful Moon, with thy silvery light,
Thou cheerest the Esquimau in the night;
For thou lettest him see to harpoon the fish,
And with them he makes a dainty dish.

Beautiful Moon, with thy silvery light,
Thou cheerest the fox in the night,
And lettest him see to steal the grey goose away
Out of the farm-yard from a stack of hay.

Beautiful Moon, with thy silvery light,
Thou cheerest the farmer in the night,
and makes his heart beat high with delight
As he views his crops by the light in the night.

Beautiful Moon, with thy silvery light,
Thou cheerest the eagle in the night,
And lettest him see to devour his prey
And carry it to his nest away.

Beautiful Moon, with thy silvery light,
Thou cheerest the mariner in the night
As he paces the deck alone,
Thinking of his dear friends at home.

Beautiful Moon, with thy silvery light,
Thou cheerest the weary traveller in the night;
For thou lightest up the wayside around
To him when he is homeward bound.

Beautiful Moon, with thy silvery light,
Thou cheerest the lovers in the night
As they walk through the shady groves alone,
Making love to each other before they go home.

Beautiful Moon, with thy silvery light,
Thou cheerest the poacher in the night;
For thou lettest him see to set his snares
To catch the rabbit and the hares.

[vifferman]

What you really need is a bunch of screaming fighting children to take with you on your next excursion

No, that's not what I need at all. It's bad enough having fighting children, or children who talk very loudly all at the same time. But at least we can leave them at home now, and go to Rotorua, Melbourne or wherever the hell we like on our own. I'm so over that whole "fighting kids in the back seat" thing.
They did a bad job on our 5-day jaunt the other weekend; we arrived home and the house wasn't a smoking crater in the ground.
Note to self: Stock up the house with more flammable / explosive substances.

[toads]

No, that's not what I need at all. It's bad enough having fighting children, or children who talk very loudly all at the same time. But at least we can leave them at home now, and go to Rotorua, Melbourne or wherever the hell we like on our own. I'm so over that whole "fighting kids in the back seat" thing.
They did a bad job on our 5-day jaunt the other weekend; we arrived home and the house wasn't a smoking crater in the ground.
Note to self: Stock up the house with more flammable / explosive substances.

Damn, I was really hoping you'd offer to have mine for the school holidays, you know, just for the experience!, oh well, it's just as well I have just taken my bike for a damned good thrash today, I have 2 weeks where I won't be able to even think about getting on it due to having young kids to look after, I think school holidays are far too frequent!

[Ghost Lemur]

Damn, I was really hoping you'd offer to have mine for the school holidays, you know, just for the experience!, oh well, it's just as well I have just taken my bike for a damned good thrash today, I have 2 weeks where I won't be able to even think about getting on it due to having young kids to look after, I think school holidays are far too frequent!

Totally agree, why don't you add that rant to the Education thread.

BTW Least you HAVE a bike to ride.

[LB]

We don't do no gravel...

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Man after my own heart.......
(waits cringing for Oscar and 4skins to call her a woose...)

[LB]

(though in my defence, have been known to do Gentle Annie, and Whangamomona)

[merv]

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Man after my own heart.......
(waits cringing for Oscar and 4skins to call her a woose...)

While I love gravel roads, that is certainly not on the road bike. The weight, the tyres, the riding position are all just wrong for it and it aint worth the risk.

[Hitcher]

While I love gravel roads, that is certainly not on the road bike. The weight, the tyres, the riding position are all just wrong for it and it aint worth the risk.

Indeed. I've ridden through the Tangarakau Gorge, but that was a nice hardpacked surface. There's something rather unnerving about loose gravel rolling around underneath a 180 width rear wheel...

[merv]

Where the road tyres are at their worst are on wet surfaces that are a bit rutted and there is no side grip at all so you can't climb outta the rut and next thing you know you got too much lock on the steering and the inertia of the bike has it heading one way while you are trying to steer the other. A nice light dirt bike with plenty of tread on the tyres just doesn't suffer that sort of problem. The weight of the road bikes just kinda pins them in a hole.

Classic comparo with this was riding up a nice not too slippery track on the Pukemanu run and a newish BMW F650 was ahead of me and then there is an angled rut across the track - his front wheel just went into it and he went splat - those bloody things weigh about 195kg dry. Net result was broken plastic everywhere - I picked up and handed him back one of his indicators. A dirt bike like my WR just flies over things like that as if they aren't there.

Horses for courses eh! I like road and dirt and from my experience on the adventure rides going back almost 15 years its what made me stick with a bike for each purpose, particularly as I am not a big guy. I had thought about an F650 when they came out but opted to buy my VFR in '94 instead and stuck with a trail bike for the dirt as I saw too many come to grief on essentially what were easy dirt rides.

[Oscar]

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Man after my own heart.......
(waits cringing for Oscar and 4skins to call her a woose...)

Woose? Nah.
But you gotta give it a go, then you can come adventure riding with us.
Besides, a bit of off-road riding does wonders for bike handling skills and confidence.

I took 4skins and the J-Girl on an adventure ride around Raglan yesterday, it was great fun. They rode my TDM - I don't know what was more amazing, what 4skins did with the TDM, or the fact that Jan never once looked worried...

Pictures to follow.

Ps. See you on the Island.

[LB]

Woose? Nah.
But you gotta give it a go, then you can come adventure riding with us.
Besides, a bit of off-road riding does wonders for bike handling skills and confidence.

I took 4skins and the J-Girl on an adventure ride around Raglan yesterday, it was great fun. They rode my TDM - I don't know what was more amazing, what 4skins did with the TDM, or the fact that Jan never once looked worried...

Pictures to follow.

Ps. See you on the Island.

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When I found out the price of new DR650's I did seriously consider buying a couple, but they'd run out by then.

Only three and a bit weeks to go!!!
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