Nelson Rideouts - Where next?

[Padmei]

gonna be 10 mins late. gotta oil my filter.
c u there.

[NordieBoy]

Well I can go down hills that I can't get back up...

[Fluffy Cat]

Just follow us .......we KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING............................................. ..Yeah Right!!!!!.


But really it was a blast, thanks.

[NordieBoy]

Just follow us .......we KNOW WHERE WE ARE GOING............................................. ..Yeah Right!!!!!.

We never said we knew where we were going

But really it was a blast, thanks.

Says the guy riding the appropriate bike

[Padmei]

I'm rooted again.

Fluffy bum, Nordie & Woodman were waiting patiently as my newly cleaned & oiled air fiter with bike attached roared into Sharlands carpark at Hira Forest. They talked tyres beside the dazzling orange Sunday bike of Fluffy's while I talked KDX220's with another couple of guys.

"Shall we start off up Hurricane Hill" says Nordie. I look sideways at him wondering if he's serious.
He is & the reason he was so keen is he was riding a liteweight TT350 whilst the wallowing wallower was getting it's valves bounced all the way down the Molesworth under the careful throttle hand of "Twist it till parts falls off" Bro Shane.

Hmmm... Fluffy with a bike with actual power, suspension & tyres with lumps of rubber on them, a madman on a red KLR, a usually controlled & civilised Nordie with a borrowed bike & myself on a sad looking Gonzo .... Could be the recipe for mayhem.

With full throttle & careful lines keeping the front wheel away from the loose clay marbles we summited Hurricane Hill & without a backwards look roared along the twisty dry gravel roads, as a tornado of dust & roost rose in our wake

Conditions were spot on, temperatures cool to warm, traction was plentiful when required & adrenalin flowed as bike upon bike crested raw clay banks & plummeted steep descents thru little used tracks & rutted dozer tracks.

Before long we had arrived at the base of a long steep loose climb I've yet to conquer. The others looked & took off up it seemingly effortlessly. I followed determined it was MY time. Things were looking good -3/4 up almost at the crux then damn... the front wheel became too lite & wandered across to no mans land. But wait - the track forks... if I could hang on I could at least stay on a track.
Ah yes. Now I'm on a dead end track trying to turn around to meet up with the others, paddling over drainage ditches & dodging dead branches on the ground. Next time my tyres will match my determination.

Eventually I met back up with them & Nordie leads us on a few tricky little tracks to a skidder site. At the edge of the skidder site is a neat little rock wall that after a few hesitant looksies we attack. Although not quite Erzburg there was a distinct feeling of satisfaction hopping up it & coming back down.

Back on the track we ride a few side roads until we come to the top of a ridge with 2 options of going down. Where we stopped there were telltale signs of bikes turning around. Nordie noses ahead. I get off & walk to the edge of the steepness cast my wary vastly experienced eyes over the large loose rocks, turn around walk back to my bike, thumb the starter & roll slowly down the alternative descent as I hear Nordie carry on rolling down his path.
Nothing good will come of this. I've been adv riding for a year & a half now - I know a lot.

As I arrive at the expected location below the others I hear a shout & laugh. There 20 metres above me at the edge of a rock bluff surrounded by pines I spy Nordie thru the foliage.
"They're coming down too".
Ah yes. Deadended down a ridiculously steep hill were my 3 riding companions.
After much discussion, the thumpers fired into life & back up they went....
Well actually Fluffy got up.
Nordie got partially up & Woodman managed to get halfway up, piroette & end up off the track facing back down the hill.
As I raced back up to help out Fluffy advised me to just stay out of the way as rocks were flying everywhere as were bikes.
Woodman came blasting up like the proverbial Bat out of Hell & with a whoop got off his bike & collapsed in a pile of sweat & dribble.
Nordie started up, but sadly the TT350 ran out of puff a few times. Kick starts are a curse in these situations. With loud shouts of encouragement he coaxed it far enough up we were able to push the rest.
The boys were beat.(Cue pics of hardcore adv riders lying on the ground resting.)

Down a few more narrow tracks & Nordie leads us thru the undergrowth where a track apparently existed for a race he participated in in 1976. With a lot of help from the crew I managed to manhandle 200kgs of Kawasaki machinery out of the head-high weeds onto the road.
Phew well that was enough for this boy by this time the bood sugar levels were in need of an easter egg fix.

We coudn't finish this ride without descending the way we came up-down Hurricane Hill.
Smoothly... line up the front wheel... not too much back brake... ahhh life is good...

Many thanks to my fellow riders. All up it was ony about 40kms of riding but a very enjoyable afternoon.
Apologies for taking up so much bandwidth

[Fluffy Cat]

You are quite right. But you gave the impression that you knew where you were going..........

[Fluffy Cat]

KDX 220 way to go.......

[NordieBoy]

I'm rooted again.

I'll reply to the rest of this when all my fingers can fing again...

[Woodman]

Fantastic write up there padmei. Giggling as I type.

really enjoy those wee rides up there, bugger all miles but a brilliant way to kill an afternoon.

Two things I learned today. (which is a record btw)

1..... Fingerless gloves may be cool on a Harley Ferguson, but are not real good on gorsey trails.

2.....Nordies, "Its ok come down here " signal, is indistinguishable from his "Don't go any further because your life is at serious riisk" signal.

Somewhat rooted too

[NordieBoy]

We coudn't finish this ride without descending the way we came up-down Hurricane Hill.
Smoothly... line up the front wheel... not too much back brake... ahhh life is good...

Tui !

[Padmei]

Two things I learned today. (which is a record btw)

1..... Fingerless gloves may be cool on a Harley Ferguson, but are not real good on gorsey trails.

2.....Nordies, "Its ok come down here " signal, is indistinguishable from his "Don't go any further because your life is at serious riisk" signal.

Somewhat rooted too

hehehe.
Here's me thinking you were going to the Billy Idol hip replacement benefit concert with those gloves.

We are going to have to sort out some proper signs or take a set of walkie talkies.

It's funny, taking to the other dudes in the carpark yesterday about other bikes the point they brought up was how fast this bike is or that bike is. After riding yesterday trying to keep up I KNOW that if I had a bike that was faster offroad I'd end up in a pile of broken bones.
Lighter yes, faster mmmm pass...

[JATZ]

Lighter yes, faster mmmm pass...

CT125 !

[Fluffy Cat]

DT 50 m (1979), sweet little bike.

[NordieBoy]

We coudn't finish this ride without descending the way we came up-down Hurricane Hill.
Smoothly... line up the front wheel... not too much back brake... ahhh life is good...

You work in advertising don't you?

[Woodman]

hehehe.
Here's me thinking you were going to the Billy Idol hip replacement benefit concert with those gloves.

We are going to have to sort out some proper signs or take a set of walkie talkies.

It's funny, taking to the other dudes in the carpark yesterday about other bikes the point they brought up was how fast this bike is or that bike is. After riding yesterday trying to keep up I KNOW that if I had a bike that was faster offroad I'd end up in a pile of broken bones.
Lighter yes, faster mmmm pass...

I think that a bi product of riding something kdx220ish would be that you would go quicker. You probly would not get as rooted so would be more likely to wheelie over shit instead of braking and riding over slow. Cornering would be quicker too cos there isn't as much weight trying to steer you straight into the gorse etc etc. The big bumps will feel a lot smaller.