Great weekend riding

[Fryin Finn]

What a great weekend. Went up to Waiouru for the Alpine Express. Did 2 laps of the Southern loop in the morning - non stop for 40 kms. There were lotsa bruised bodies on the side of the track (some people fail to realise it is not a race) but the riding was excellent and unbeatable scenery. After lunch we did the northern loop which was even better. Less bodies and more scenery. I drove back Sat night and on Sunday went for a long road ride with McCool and Jembo over to the Wairarapa. Found some new roads by accident and stopped in Pahiatua for lunch. The cafe was a bit hot but we were distracted by the presence of many young people of the female persuasion. Larry let me ride his R1 over the Pahiatua track it's very nice and I may have misbehaved but only a little.
The Sun shone and the birds sang and even a prang on the waikanae bridge that held up traffic didn't bother us. Now I'm back at work I can't be bothered.

[vifferman]

What a great weekend. .... Now I'm back at work I can't be bothered.

Yeah, I know the feeling...

We had a great ride too. I had offered to go to Rotorua to help my mother out, so Mrs FS decided we should have our first proper ride together, and take the VifFerarri instead of the car, despite the ominous looking report for Sunday. I picked up another Ventura bag from Kerry (Motohaus) for a good price, Mrs Organiser packed it up Friday night, and we hit the happy trails at 7:25 on Saturday morning.
First impression: a bit wallowy in the corners with the extra weight behind the back wheel.
Second impression: Man - this thing's turbine smooth!
Because it sounded busier than the FahrtSturm at the same revs, I found I was tending to ride a bit slower. Not a bad thing, I guess.
First discovery: the fuel gauge goes from two bars to flashing (about to be empty) when you brake hard going downhill. And stays there. So we had an unplanned stop at Maramarua to fill up.
The ride to about Matamata was pretty uneventful - nothing noteworthy apart from how easy the bike was to ride, and how gorgeous all the honeysuckled hedgerows were. Ah - that smell! I love early summer days in the country on the bike! Glad we didn't take the car.
According to the external temperature gauge, it was 19C, till we got to the Mamaku Plateau, then my hands felt a little cold in my thin Spidi gloves at 14 with wind-chill.
Hmmmmm... grip heater....why not?
Toasty hands, and I felt warmer all over, and the difference such a small luxury made brought a smile to my dial
This is going to be great in winter!

Second discovery: the slightly higher screen on the VFR (c.f. the VTR) meant about 4 times as many bugs were directed at my helmet - at least 1 per square cm!

Spent the day working in Mum's garden - Mrs FS pulling weeds, me pulling a fence down and dismantling it.

Sunday - up at sparrowfart to do some more work, then off to Papamoa at 9:30 AM to visit the in-laws. Great ride through Mourea-Okere Falls- Paengaroa, with Mrs FS commenting on our arrival how much she enjoyed "the winding roads through the hills". The weather was looking decidedly dodgy by now, with thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon, so we were starting to think maybe the detour was a dumb idea.

After an early lunch, we bid our relatives adieu, and headed out in the drizzle. I was optomistically not wearing any wet-weather gear apart from gloves, and the odd trickle of water found its way down the seams of my pants when we encountered showers between Tauranga and Katikati. However, the weather looked clearer towards the Athenree Gorge, and indeed the roads were dry north of Katikati, where we stopped for fuel and bladder drainage (one coffee too many for me )

Apart from having to pass a few of the slower cars, the ride through the Karangahake Gorge was most enjoyable (if a little slow), especially with the sound of the Satantune echoing off the rock walled corners, and the intermittent sweet smell of the honeysuckle. Ahead the skies were clear and blue, and we had to pause in Paeroa (24 degrees!) to divest ourselves of sweatshirts, change gloves and open vent zips.

Across the plains, the wind was annoying, as it was tending to twist my helmet to the right, and there were a few patches of fresh road seal to negotiate. The light traffic gave me some practice overtaking, and I found that although the VifFerrari was happy to accelerate from 5k RPM in any gear, it was much more fun to drop a few cogs to hear the howl. Up the south side of the Bombays, it was quite willing to cart in excess of 160 kgs of passengers and luggage up the hill past all the other traffic, in top gear.

Mrs FS must have either a larger bladder than I, or slower kidneys, as it took until the top of the Bombays before she indicated the need for another stop. I was wondering where to park, when I spied a group of bikes on the footpath outside the cafe, so we parked next to them. As they all had their bags and helmets left with the bikes, we left our bags on the bike, and headed inside for coffee and leakage. It turned out the group of spritely but largely grey-haired riders had been further afield than us, with a trip to Taranaki, around National Park then home again.

********************
You know what? When I was riding home, and my knee was screaming at me, I thought maybe taking the car wouldn't have been such a dumb idea after all. But hearing Mrs FS say how much she enjoyed the trip, and meeting friendly strangers at the AutoBahn made me realise how privileged I am to be a biker.

[vifferman]

What a great weekend. Went up to Waiouru for the Alpine Express.

Wassa Alpine Express, Finn? :spudwhat:

[Devil]

Wassa Alpine Express, Finn? :spudwhat:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/latestnews...toryID=3612667

[Blakamin]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/latestnews...toryID=3612667

That'll do wonders for the biking community

[crashe]

wow sounds like you had a awesome time.... out there riding in the weekend...

Afraid I didnt do much riding except from here to there and back again...
Had to re register the bike on Saturday.... and only now, just put the label in its thingee..... (two days late ....lol)

Would love to have gone for a long ride, but had to do other things.

[vifferman]

That'll do wonders for the biking community

Sounds like your typical inflationary sensationalist piece of media crap. They could have instead reported the large numbers of riders that had a fantastic time, and quoted some saying how much fun it was.

[Blakamin]

Sounds like your typical inflationary sensationalist piece of media crap. They could have instead reported the large numbers of riders that had a fantastic time, and quoted some saying how much fun it was.

Half the guys that fell off would probably tell them they had a fantastic time!
might have to get another dirt bike one day

[Devil]

Well using their lower estimate of bikers there (1200), that means 97.5% of riders didnt hurt themselves. Id say thats not too bad for an offroad event!

[Mr Skid]

Well using their lower estimate of bikers there (1200), that means 97.5% of riders didnt hurt themselves. Id say thats not too bad for an offroad event!

That's probably even better odds than a KB road ride..

I'd be pleased if we could get the crash rate down to 3 bins per 100 KB rides.

It does reek of 'evil irresponsible motorcyclists trying to murder themselves' but if someone wants to go out in a 'controlled' enviroment such as on the track, or a designated course such as this and push their limits, then I can't see why it's the public's business..

[Blakamin]

It does reek of 'evil irresponsible motorcyclists trying to murder themselves' but if someone wants to go out in a 'controlled' enviroment such as on the track, or a designated course such as this and push their limits, then I can't see why it's the public's business..

Probably bitchin over using the chopper...might have been needed for one of those safer sports...like rock-climbing and stuff

[vifferman]

Well using their lower estimate of bikers there (1200), that means 97.5% of riders didnt hurt themselves. Id say thats not too bad for an offroad event!

Probably lower than the rate of injury for 1200 rugby players?

[clint640]

Had a good time at the Alpine Express too - great scenery, awesome tracks - I've always wanted to go for a hoon on those tank tracks, perfect weather - fine with a good breeze to blow the dust away, and the bike was going nicely with the new pipe & knobblies doing their job. I did both days. The extension on the Northern loop on sunday was good, I got the 640 up the expert loop with no problems so I like to think I'm starting to get the hang of riding it in the dirt, I'm still slow compared with most of the maniacs out there though.
I liked the bit in the herald about speeds of "50 - 60 kph" even I was into 3 figures in quite a few places, (see above comment) I swapped the 640 for my mates 200EXC at one point, he reckoned he saw 160 on one of the tank tracks alongside SH1 hang on, thats my bike!

Cheers
Clint