I'm disappointed in you lot!
On Saturday I rode down to Ducatijim's place at Reporoa. As some of you know, we are planning a little dirt bashing in Oz next year - like about 18,000 km of it. So there is a fair bit of planning and organising to do. The list is long, but getting shorter.
Anyway, just for a change, I took the direct route - like Pukekohe (Mr Motorcycles for a new Tour-X Arai helmet and some body armour), Kopu, Hikuai, Whangamata, Waihi, Paeroa, Te Aroha, Tauranga (via Kaimais), Rotorua (via Pye's Pa) and on to Reporoa. Very pleasant it was too, since last Saturday was pretty much motorcycling ideal up this way - except for one thing.
I headed into Whangamata expecting the lunch hangouts to be full of bikers and looking forward to a brief bullshit session. I mean, after all, this was lunchtime on a glorious biker's Saturday on the Coromandel. How could Whangamata not be teeming with bikes? Anything else would be sacrilege and a huge break with tradition.
As I rode down the main street, I saw one bike. It was a Triumph and I was riding it. I saw one other Biker - a lady Ulyssian that I know - and she was walking.
For pity's sake people - get your act together. You are letting the side down. Even worse, the locals will start to relax!!
As a complete aside, I spent Sunday afternoon driving a bale wrapper. I had driven the rake and baler before, but never the wrapper. Fun actually. New skills and a new challenge.
I left for home about 6.30 pm and was pushing it along just a little. I was keen to get home as I hadn't eaten anything much since about 7 am. It was not to be a quick run however.
From Matamata to Mangatawhiri, the insects were unbelievable - way worse than anything I have ever seen (or in this case not seen) before. The noise was like gentle constant rain on my visor and helmet and obviously my vision was progressively more and more obscured. I had no water with me. I dared not wipe my visor as that would only make it worse. If I raised my visor, my glasses would soon be in the same condition and if I took my glasses off, I couldn't see for insects in my eyes. There are now no servo's between Matamata and Maramarua and so I just pushed on.
I made it home OK, but the trip was less than ideal and more stressful than I wanted. Obviously I had other options but I chose to push on. When I arrived, my visor was almost completely obscured. My fluoro vest looked like a fur coat and my riding boots looked like they were made from black suede.
Just wondering if anyone else has struck it that bad and if anyone knows why the little buggers were that prolific on one night?
I may not be as good as I once was, but I'm as good once as I always was.
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Originally Posted by Donor
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