Castlepoint classic

[Hitcher]

Given how the weather has since turned to custard, it is nice to reminisce about Saturday's riding opportunity when Mrs H and I managed to abscond over the hill for a few hours of riding pleasure.

On Friday I had fitted my new tyres -- my second set of Metzeler Roadtec Z6s -- which I had run in on Friday night in readiness for the weekend on my favourite "tyre running in" route (downtown to the Wainuimata coast and back home).

Saturday on the Wairarapa was perfect riding conditions -- high overcast, light winds, dry roads.

We were surprised at how few other bikes were out and about. Two bikes from Masterton arrived at Castlepoint while we were there -- An old black Z1000 and an equally old black Yamaha of indeterminate model.

Our route took in Martinborough (brunch at the "Fish"), the back road through Gladstone, cutting through that narrow little windy road before the river that comes out on the Castlepoint road. We returned the same way, but this time turned off at Gladstone heading up past Middle Run towards Carterton, but running around the back before rejoining SH2 south of Carterton. A quick cake stop in Greytown before a most enjoyable run over the 'takas and back home in time for the footy!

Don't new tyres make a difference! Call me a woos, but I enjoy the riding style of the Zrex more than the clip-on style of a sports bike (although Friday's ZX12 experience was good fun, largely due to that wonderful Yoshimura exhaust note...)

[vifferman]

Saturday on the Wairarapa was perfect riding conditions -- high overcast, light winds, dry roads.

We were surprised at how few other bikes were out and about.

Perhaps it was because the Met Service was unduly pessimistic about the weather? We were forecast showers in D'Auckland both days, and it was warm and dry. So I blew off Saturday with chores, and cleaning/maintaining the bike (not a chore!)
Yesterday Mrs FS and I finally decided to go for a ride (after getting all the other bollocks like housework and shopping out of the way). More stuffing around choosing a route and sorting out what Mrs FS could wear on her feet (first time wearing her 'new' leathers, and her boots wouldn't fit over or under the pants legs. In the end, she wore some snow boots ) Anyways, by the time we sorted that out, and I took my helmet off and on a few times (ear plugs), it was well after 3 PM.
Very few bikes out on the road, and only a very few spits of rain, that I wouldn't have noticed but for them landing on the visor. I got a little lost, so ended up following a guy on a BMW that looked like he was going somewhere, and indeed, he was going down the very road I was looking for (for a ways, at least). So we eventually headed up Old North Road, through Kaukapakapa, across to Silverdale, then up to Orewa for a caffeinated beverage. Stopped a at a likely-looking cafe, took off the helmets, gubs, earplugs, etc., only to find that it had closed a few minutes before, and the patrons inside were just ekeing out the last few sips/bites of the afternoon tea.
So, rather than gear up again just to look for another place, we went home.

At home we compared notes to find neither of us had particularly enjoyed the ride. Why? Dunno. Didn't help that we both had headaches, nor that Mrs FS had twice dropped her clip-ons for her glasses on the road, and had got cold near Kaukapakapa. It was just a pointless sort of ride, and I was feeling unsure of my riding, due to the mind-altering substances having worn off earlier in the day, so I was taking it slow. Plus the weather, though dry, was decidedly gloomy. I was a little disappointed with my 'new' X-Vent, as the x-venty thing was whistly at highway speeds (not a problem with my earplugs in, just a little irritating) and my ears/forehead ached.
The major bummer was it didn't make me feel good about motorcycling, and probably made Mrs FS less enthusiastic to, despite it being her idea. I think a car ride (blasphemy! sacrilege!) would've been more enjoyable. :spudwhat:
In fact (haven't told her this), I'd be quite OK with selling the bike right now.

[Hitcher]

In fact (haven't told her this), I'd be quite OK with selling the bike right now.

Mate, It can only get better. It's always darkest before the dawn. That glass isn't half empty, it's half full! Get back on that horse. He who leff loffs laffs lest!

[Marknz]

In fact (haven't told her this), I'd be quite OK with selling the bike right now.

:spudwhat:

[jrandom]

I'd be quite OK with selling the bike right now.

Oh, can ye lend me two bob 'till Thursday...

[jrandom]

And stop wittering on about selling the bike. You know you'll regret it if you do.

Riding is like sex.

When you're doing it on a Sunday afternoon with the frame of mind "we can't waste the opportunity..." it's never quite as good as it's cracked up to be.

[vifferman]

He who leff loffs laffs lest!

Mate, that was a whole bunch of platypuses? (Or is that platypi?)

:spudwhat:

It's a spud going "What?", Mark.

[vifferman]

Oh, can ye lend me two bob 'till Thursday...

What?

When you're doing it on a Sunday afternoon with the frame of mind "we can't waste the opportunity..." it's never quite as good as it's cracked up to be.

I don't think it was that; we both wanted to go for a ride, agreed on the destination, etc., but it just seemed pointless and pointless. And there was no point, either.

[jrandom]

What?

From these glens and scars, the sound of the coot and the moorhen is seldom absent. Nature sits in stern mastery over these rocks and crags. The rush of the mountain stream, the bleat of the sheep, and the broad, clear Highland skies reflected in tarn and loch form a breathtaking backdrop against which Ewan McTeagle writes such poems as "Lend us a quid till the end of the week". But it was with more simple, homespun verses that McTeagle's unique style first flowered.

If you could see your way to lending me sixpence
I could at least buy a newspaper
That's not much to ask anyone.

No longer do we have to be content with Keats' "Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness", Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud" and Milton's "Can you lend us two bob till Tuesday".

Oh gie me a shillin' for some fags
and I'll pay yer back on Thursday,
but if you wait till Saturday
I'm expecting a divvy from the Harpenden Building Society.

[Paul in NZ]

Well of course it was pointless... thats the point of riding....

Sometimes the best rides don't become the best ride ever until a few weeks later... (after the bruising goes down) And frankly, if we are going on long holiday or off to the shops, we take the car! We can't be arsed with the bikes...

When I do ride, I don't ride along brimming with laughter and joy every ride. I'd get locked up!! But having a bike, and being a rider is a more than reveling the the actual riding! It's an attitude, a state of being, it colours everything you do and makes you a better person. Thats the real return on your investment.

Laughing when you turn up to a meeting with greasy fingernails and helmet hair! Being bummed 'cos it's a nice day for a ride and you are at work!

In the words of the Great Guru of our age, Homer Simpson... 'Don't over think it'

Paul N

[vifferman]

When I do ride, I don't ride along brimming with laughter and joy every ride. I'd get locked up!! But having a bike, and being a rider is a more than reveling the the actual riding! It's an attitude, a state of being, it colours everything you do and makes you a better person. Thats the real return on your investment.

There are those rides where the corners feel like magic (like a good run on the skifield), and those days when you're riding along, revelling in the sensations, such as the smell of honeysuckle in the hedgerows, and the feel of riding through a cool, shady 'pool' of air on a hot summer's day. And then there's the other experiences, like riding when it's snowing, riding in a torrential downpour, riding some bike that's an absolute Heap'O'Shit (TM) but so bad you just have to crack up. I've had unmemorable rides, but I guess I was just disappointed that yesterday's was the first that we both looked forward to yet was just blah. Mrs FS has made a decision to join me in biking, and I really wanted it to be better. On the plus side, her leathers were MUCH better than anticipated, so once we sort out a better helmet (currently a BMW System3, which is a bit heavy/noisy/fat) and her own gloves, and boots that work well, then her comfort/enjoyment factor should improve. A few rides with other bikers should help - I've only ever been on a few group rides ever (the last was a couple of years ago), but I've enjoyed the camaraderie and shared experiences of them immensely.

[toads]

Perhaps it was because the Met Service was unduly pessimistic about the weather? We were forecast showers in D'Auckland both days, and it was warm and dry. So I blew off Saturday with chores, and cleaning/maintaining the bike (not a chore!)
Yesterday Mrs FS and I finally decided to go for a ride (after getting all the other bollocks like housework and shopping out of the way). More stuffing around choosing a route and sorting out what Mrs FS could wear on her feet (first time wearing her 'new' leathers, and her boots wouldn't fit over or under the pants legs. In the end, she wore some snow boots ) Anyways, by the time we sorted that out, and I took my helmet off and on a few times (ear plugs), it was well after 3 PM.
Very few bikes out on the road, and only a very few spits of rain, that I wouldn't have noticed but for them landing on the visor. I got a little lost, so ended up following a guy on a BMW that looked like he was going somewhere, and indeed, he was going down the very road I was looking for (for a ways, at least). So we eventually headed up Old North Road, through Kaukapakapa, across to Silverdale, then up to Orewa for a caffeinated beverage. Stopped a at a likely-looking cafe, took off the helmets, gubs, earplugs, etc., only to find that it had closed a few minutes before, and the patrons inside were just ekeing out the last few sips/bites of the afternoon tea.
So, rather than gear up again just to look for another place, we went home.

At home we compared notes to find neither of us had particularly enjoyed the ride. Why? Dunno. Didn't help that we both had headaches, nor that Mrs FS had twice dropped her clip-ons for her glasses on the road, and had got cold near Kaukapakapa. It was just a pointless sort of ride, and I was feeling unsure of my riding, due to the mind-altering substances having worn off earlier in the day, so I was taking it slow. Plus the weather, though dry, was decidedly gloomy. I was a little disappointed with my 'new' X-Vent, as the x-venty thing was whistly at highway speeds (not a problem with my earplugs in, just a little irritating) and my ears/forehead ached.
The major bummer was it didn't make me feel good about motorcycling, and probably made Mrs FS less enthusiastic to, despite it being her idea. I think a car ride (blasphemy! sacrilege!) would've been more enjoyable. :spudwhat:
In fact (haven't told her this), I'd be quite OK with selling the bike right now.

What you really need is a bunch of screaming fighting children to take with you on your next excursion, after stopping to refasten seatbelts,take kids to the toilet, stop cos one of 'em feels sick and then stop again to buy panadol cos you have a headache, then stop to buy icecreams and drinks cos they are all complaining, then 4 more stops for toilet or for 3 of them to be sick, you will then truly appreciate what it is to be on a motorbike, granted the helmet and other bit'n'pieces are a hassle at times, but well worth the effort for the ensuing wave of sanity that engulfs you afterwards, sorry you had a bummer of a ride, maybe you just need a good rest and to borrow someone's bloody awful kids to put things in perspective. cheers L

[SPman]

From these glens and scars, the sound of the coot and the moorhen is seldom absent. Nature sits in stern mastery over these rocks and crags. The rush of the mountain stream, the bleat of the sheep, and the broad, clear Highland skies reflected in tarn and loch form a breathtaking backdrop against which Ewan McTeagle writes such poems as "Lend us a quid till the end of the week". But it was with more simple, homespun verses that McTeagle's unique style first flowered.

If you could see your way to lending me sixpence
I could at least buy a newspaper
That's not much to ask anyone.

No longer do we have to be content with Keats' "Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness", Wordsworth's "I wandered lonely as a cloud" and Milton's "Can you lend us two bob till Tuesday".

Oh gie me a shillin' for some fags
and I'll pay yer back on Thursday,
but if you wait till Saturday
I'm expecting a divvy from the Harpenden Building Society.

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

'Twas in the year of 1898, and on the 8th of June,
A mother and six children met with a cruel doom
In one of the most fearful fires for some years past
And as the spectators gazed upon them they stood aghast......

[merv]

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.

[mccool]

...but it just seemed pointless and pointless. And there was no point, either.

Ah, just like life in general. You make a plan, you go out looking for something, but in the end you find yourself gazing into the dark terrible blackness, the terrible blackness that waits for us all at the heart of our being. And now the Tokaanu trip is booked out, so there goes the last tiny chance of salvation. Pointless....pointless.