Well another couple of first’s
My first organised ride & tackling the Rimutaka Hill .. that is something I have been wanting to do for a while ..
Well decided that there are a lot of palmy & surrounding area lurkers out there & it can be daunting coming to an established group so the plan was to get some new faces out there & give it a go ..

Planned a flowing kinda ride (thanks to the auck crew @ turangi for the idea on how to do this)
So 19 bikes turned out & all skill levels catered for, with no pressure to keep up or worries on where to go, also no pressure on anyone to ride above their own ride.
Now for my ride day .. after being sick for a few weeks I really really really wanted this ride and have not travelled the back roads of pahiatua for 3-4 months so really wanted to see if I had become smoother & if I could get the corners to flow ..
Needless to say the smile pretty much said it all .. I had an absolute blast .. road most of it myself but it was great knowing there were others behind me & a tail end Charlie so could concentrate on wot was infront of me rather than ahh fark I am being left behind ..
Still overcooked one or two corners but that was ok I Knew the mistakes I made & worked on making the next corner better.
After lunch the taka hill loomed & must admit I was feeling a mixture of trepidation & excitement, the hill certainly has a reputation & demands respect or it will spit you out without a second thought ..
But this would have to be the highlight of my ride I deliberately waited til all the other riders left .. apart from bonez who kindly offered to go TEC I certainly felt no pressure with him behind me & warned I would prob be slow .. but I found my niche .. kept Betsy in 3-4 gear & did not change up or down stable speed and the corners flowed fantastically really felt good about the ride & my ability to corner more smoothly
By the time we reached the summit I was really buzzing & smiling but also not getting above myself as we still had the down side & paikakariki hill to come so knew it was not time for any complacency.
Had fun with another kber on the windy bit by Te marua & he passed me on the straight but I passed him (in a safe overtaking manner) on a sweepy wide turn .. totally relaxed & grinning from ear to ear.
We managed to slightly hit a white line covered in rain on the paicock hill & felt Betsy give a wee sideways flick but totally did not bother me .. also aware of others accidents on this hill treated it with the respect it deserved & slowed down as well again tried to get the flow going .. but as I was the 3rd rider behind the leaders realised that I had some real experienced riders behind me .. so a wee bit conscious about this .. however no comments on cornering eventuated & experiencing this more should hopefully ease the incompetent feeling one sometimes feels ...
Other than the driving rain which I have experienced before the ride was totally a success & look forward to some more great times ahead ...
Today I have a smile that will not leave & a feeling of yeah that ride rocked …
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