MMMMM 2008 26-27 July

[young1]

The camera wasn't taking the best of pictures, I think the lense fogged up a bit. By the way I learnt not to try and warm cold hands up on a hot exhaust when you have polyprop gloves on - they melt!!

First picture some of the guys who arrived this morning.
The rest are taken in the forest.

[young1]

Last one

By the way how about some (or two) of you admitting the speeds that were reached through the forest... Absolutely amazing.

[marks]

Thanks for posting the photos guys.

Close call Mike - I bet you never expected to bang Baaarbara like that

Hope the others got to the station ok without the weather gods having a major dump on them....

[offrd]

Home now, Great trip, even including my two little mishaps...
Lets just say, none of my clothing is now water proof, and the bike... Does not slide too far away from its master....

But awesome trip and one i will remember forever!

Pic is mishap2, Cary will post some of the first when he gets a chance i am sure!

[4skins]

The Welly boys (well 2 of us) cruised up to Taupo under dubious skies (and a sprinkling of snow across the Desert road) on Friday PM. Ten of us enjoyed a few beers and a beautiful roast meal put on by our hostess Dianne at the Rangitiki Lodge.

Next morning 15 bikes left the lodge bang on time at 9am and went about 10 km east to Pouukura Road an rendezvouzed with Jeremy, the third Welly boy. Following forestry roads to the north we blasted through to Minginui in about 50 min. Parts of the road were long, flat, smooth and straight so warp speeds were achieved by some - my GPS has a Max speed of 169k, but that wasn't the fastest!!!

By the time we reached SH38 at Te Whaiti the predicted rain had arrived. At this point 4 of us decided that a 1 day riding in rain was better than a probable 2 days riding in the rain, and we split, heading for home. The rest (don't forget one of the 'M's in MMMMM stands for Madness) despite the forcast of some of the worst weather in years, headed East, sticking to the plan whatever the prospect.

Our trip back to Wellington took longer than expected with the Desert Road closed. We got snowed on between Waiouru and Taihape and despite heated hand grips, needed a warm-up in a cafe to continue.

Thanks for your organising Clint, hope the rest of the tour went well for you lot.

[Crisis management]

Home now, Great trip, even including my two little mishaps...

Ya Wally, this is what comes of fitting heated grips to the bike....

Hope you & the bike are ok???


Paul, Barry & myself had a pleasant meander back thru the forestry roads behind Rotoiti (Clints route plus a couple more we "found" ourselves on) and up to Auckland by 4ish, only hitting the rain in the Waikato. Why is it that as soon as I take my rain suit off it bloody rains!

Great weekend Clint, the highlights for me where:
the roads & forestry down on friday,
the saturday forestry run,
snow at Waikaremoana, but not enough to build a snowman...,
the neat countryside thru the Motu,
the fire at Journeys end, luxury.... and dinner!
the gorge road on sunday morning to Opotiki (I didn't run out of gas)
the forestry tracks from Opotiki to Rotoiti

The last bit was horrible, rain, wind & traffic...welcome back to Auckland.

So, thanks to everyone I met and rode with, great to meet you and good to hear eveyone is safely home!

Do we need to extend the MMMM title to include Mildly Moist?

[marks]

So the horrific weather never eventuated while you were actually on the ride?

[Crisis management]

So the horrific weather never eventuated while you were actually on the ride?

Nope, a bit of snow & rain saturday morning over to waikaremoana and saturday afternoon was wet, but the expected gales and torrents didn't turn up at all. We were lucky....

[offrd]

Ya Wally, this is what comes of fitting heated grips to the bike....

Hope you & the bike are ok???

This is what comes when you forget the back brake locks when it feels like if using the back brake even lightly without warning....

When it went down the first time i just thought i had overcooked it into the corner on ther gravel but when it went down again, on the seal the second time it had me stumped! ..............for a while!



I had issues with it on the CCA and had really not used the bike since.

Next mission is strip the caliper and see if anything is gummy in there and chuck in a new set of pads!

Thats life!

Thanks Cary, Clint and GLG for getting the bike rideable again...

Bike only needs fork seals, rear brake rebuild, handlebars and side cover.

My gear did a great job so i came out pretty sweet, The yellow gear did not fare so well!

[Frodo]

Glad to hear that you're okay Duncan.

I drove back from Turangi yesterday (work trip) and the Desert Road was closed and it was snowing heavily in Waiouru and I was thinking of you guys. And then I turned the heater up just a bit...

[trustme]

Awesome weekend Clint , thanks for everything & book me in for next year.
If we had realised how how little rain Opotiki had got , Barry Ian & I would have had a crack at the Motu, hindsight is a wonderful thing
Does the hardy few who got to the station get first dibs next year ??
Triboy, at times it was beyond the comfort zone of both me & the scram, it wasn't always pretty but I sure am glad I did it.

[tri boy]

Gutted i pulled out mate, but honestly couldn't see f all due to fogging.
Stoked you guys pushed through, and i'm hanging to see pic's and ride reports.

[offrd]

I have the actual route plotted on garmin GPS database if anyone wants it emailed, It includes the actual route across the kaiangaroa forest. PM me if you want it!

[young1]

Glad to see that people are arriving home safe and in one piece.

Duncan glad you are not hurt, hope the bike won't cost to much to fix.

What is funny is that the weather here is much nicer today than what I rode back in yesterday, that is life!

Only damage I have to report is two melt marks on my gloves (when I hung them next to the fire at Bennydale pub) and also the knee of my wet weather leggings has melted a bit from me sitting too close to the fire trying to thaw out!!

[reofix]

great weekend gentlemen ... special thanks clint... did the opotiki to rotoiti sections on the way home (great fun and no rain) ...not sure how ...but ended up playing in the forests near atiamuri after that(the long way home)... How was the Motu? ..........see you all next time