2008 Grand Challenge route revealed

[Beemer]

Andy has noted on occasion that he has passed certain bikes along the route and yet when he's pulled up at the next checkpoint they are ahead of him!

Me, even if the route was all up and down SH1 I'd never make it past the first five or six hours so kudos to all who manage to finish.

[xgnr]

Yes disappointed at the obvious decision by some to avoid the nasty bits.

I was being followed by a group who continued on when I turned off onto some fukin' goat track.

Caught them up later looking sad with hazard lights going... poetic justice maybe.

Was a harder ride than last year. I stuck to the legal speeds (well lets say 110km true) for almost the whole ride and was barely 1/2 an hour ahead of the required run rate until much later when I could get some decent catchup done. Arrived in at 22.5hrs which was about a 1.5 hrs slower than last year.

Key thing is that you dont need to go like a mad bugger to complete this event. Getting lost, crashing or breaking down will stuff you so take your time and keep going.

Funny just how much time was spent riding solo yet a pile of bikes seemed to arrive almost at the same time at the checkpoints.

Highlights....

Hitting a possum at 100k on the Napier Taupo road with my boot. Felt like i broke my bloody toe. Rider behind me must have laughed.

Getting lost and coming out at a large roundabout then almost binning it on the large white "give way" triangle.

Doing the track close to Palmerston North (8k or so) and wondering if I was lost. Was sure that I was going to drop it in the deep shingle as it seemed very slippery stuff.
Maybe I was just getting very tired. Heart in mouth stuff as I thought that if I went down that would be it as picking the fat old bitch up would not be easy.

Finishing

Having a few beers after the event

Looking forward to next year

Stu

[DougieNZ]

As to the "cheats"; don't under-estimate the amount of work required to run this event. Adding any further checks may just be stretching things too far.

Definitely not advocating that. All I am saying to the cheats is "shame on you". Nothing can be done by the organisers to prevent this happening. I just think that it is a shame that it does!

[Forest]

Key thing is that you dont need to go like a mad bugger to complete this event. Getting lost, crashing or breaking down will stuff you so take your time and keep going.

That's absolutely true. Speed isn't required to complete the event.

I stopped for two decent sit-down meals this year (dinner in Taupo, late breakfast in Te Kuiti) and still got back with well over an hour to spare.

[Gremlin]

That's absolutely true. Speed isn't required to complete the event.

I stopped for two decent sit-down meals this year (dinner in Taupo, late breakfast in Te Kuiti) and still got back with well over an hour to spare.

Good grief!

Granted, the number of stops killed us a bit (around 10 from memory), but we weren't moving slow, and stops were kept reasonably short. Only had 45 minutes spare at the end...

maybe you cheated

[Forest]

Good grief!

Granted, the number of stops killed us a bit (around 10 from memory), but we weren't moving slow, and stops were kept reasonably short. Only had 45 minutes spare at the end...

maybe you cheated

That's one of the nice things about the R1200RT. It has a 27 litre fuel tank which gives a usable range of about 500km.

I stopped for gas four times and never even touched the 4 litre reserve.

[Gremlin]

...gives a usable range of about 500km.

I'd give a left nut for a range of 500km... thats about double what I can get.

Longest trip was 230km, shortest was 107km. Here's hoping for a larger tank becoming available, and a nice seat that can be described as comfy

[Taz]

I'd give a left nut for a range of 500km... thats about double what I can get.

Longest trip was 230km, shortest was 107km. Here's hoping for a larger tank becoming available, and a nice seat that can be described as comfy

Strap a can on the back.

[Gremlin]

Strap a can on the back.

Top box already there for carrying stuff... and the back seat was used to transport sleeping bag etc. Besides... good excuse to buy something

[bryce]

i just keeped up a good avege speed,cary corner speed ,keeped my stops short,rode fill throtle,110km and on big hills keeped it below 120 to avod heat sezing,made a plan an keeped to it,work out when i needed to check in by ,and road my on pace,i had 10 fuel stops,1at the time check 3-4 piss stops dropped stuff at home stopped to put on weets 1 to find a torch 1to change the batterys 1 to disconect the battery 1 to charge the battery (2 hr ) and check 5 ,i think i might have to cut down on my stopps next year,

[Mystic13]

i just keeped up a good avege speed,cary corner speed ,keeped my stops short,rode fill throtle,110km and on big hills keeped it below 120 to avod heat sezing,made a plan an keeped to it,work out when i needed to check in by ,and road my on pace,i had 10 fuel stops,1at the time check 3-4 piss stops dropped stuff at home stopped to put on weets 1 to find a torch 1to change the batterys 1 to disconect the battery 1 to charge the battery (2 hr ) and check 5 ,i think i might have to cut down on my stopps next year,

So how is the GN250? 10 fuel stops, whoa! I had 6. My first was at Piopio thinking I could make Taupo. I had a moment of not being sure where I was and after looking at my notes for a few minutes and not making any sense of them, two bikes shot past and I followed them to Taupo and just made it before running out of gas. I realised as a first timer my fuel strategy had taken into account me riding a bit quicker but hadn't allowed for me getting lost.

I decided to factor that in for the remainder of the trip. There are so many things I plan to differently next year but one of them won't be riding around the course on a small bike.

Do you plan to do another GC and what plans do you have for topping the GN250. I noticed some riders mentioned they rode at 110-120km per hour (on their bigger bikes) but riding a bike that is limited to that speed removes all room for errors and I guess you'd have to factor in overworking the motor. I rode a GPX250 from New Plymouth To Auckland a couple of months back and besides the suspension bottoming out I had forgotten how hard it is to pass a car or truck when you have a limited top speed. I can't imagine me ever trying the course on a 4 stroke 250.

Cheers

[Taz]

My overall average speed was 82km/h for a time of 19.62 hours while the moving average was 95.6kmh so a high top speed is not essential but it surely does help.

[bryce]

I didn,t no the waitomo area so maked route sheets out off card board
R samething rd
L thingy rd (gas)
t check
then through it away started the next one ,i made three to get me to taupo.I needed gas between waipuk and masterton so filled it at the start to save time and if i got lost around waitomo,i got lucky with trafic only held up 3-4 times on the ride but had trouble all the way home ,with only 2 hp used 1 to move the bike 1 to move me ,nun to spinn the wheel on the gravel around waitomo ,made up about an hr ,in case i needed it on napier-taupo,

no plans for next year ,moose would like to try a posty bike(ct 90-110) don,t own one thank god ,would like to do it in under 20 on the gn ,i,ll have to see if james will be keen

went to parmy on gn wed night got half way back and died,still got problem, lucky still had tourch.

[KoroJ]

We usually get several Ride Reports to enjoy after a GC........What happened to them all this year?

There was one posted on the Rusty Site today, but we need more to let Hitcher and DougieNZ know what they missed out on!

[ntst8]

KoroJ, I wrote this for a non NZ forum, ramblings of a first timer.

I finally plucked up the courage to enter this year and set myself a target of average speed on the road of 80 kph (50mph) and average speed including stops of 70 kph – which would get me home in around 23 hours. Doesn’t sound much on paper but allowing to travel near our 100 kph speed limit and for slow speeds through towns, road works, tight back roads plus down time for fuel, food, running repairs etc that sounded reasonable.
Have a seat bag with a water bottle, muesli bars and small packs of raisins/dried apricots the idea being to refuel and have a quick snack and sip and every stop – keep the energy up and stop time down. Also have Rusty route instructions taped in plastic bag on tank and a Garmin etrex on loan from a mate, route programmed in by me mostly correctly. I have to ignore it a few times though.
The ride, 104 entered this year, nice weather for the off.
Stage 1 Turangi to Te Anga time check – easy riding on open state highways, with a few tight bends to start with but nicely flowing after that. Keep on thinking keep it sensible, it’s not a race, relax so you don’t get tired and ride quietly so you do make it home. And then the turn off to Aria is onto narrow winding rural roads in steep hill country, great Sunday riding area for us locals but a bit frustrating when stuck behind a dozen less familiar with the roads. Relax and go with the flow. Still in heavy GC traffic entering the single file queue at the time check.
Stage 2 Te Anga to Te Kawa, total 300km – more of our Sunday riding roads, tightish but can make a reasonable pace, after the time check down to a group of 5 or 6 who don’t believe me and all take a wrong turn down a 10km dead end. It turns out to be much easier riding solo and I largely keep it that way for the rest of the ride. A short out and back detour for fuel at start of Kawhia Road, have snack and drink there, a few others there also.
Stage 3 Te Kawa to Waipukurau, total 646 km – quick splash of fuel at check point just in case, card clipped and away pronto. A landslip on Waipapa Road means a detour including a few km’s of gravel just as it gets dark, well it is a challenge after all. Then good run to Taupo, fuel and snack and put on extra shirt and polyprop under gloves. Now on to Taupo - Napier road, initially straight and boring, but turns to a series of sweepers later in the run. Need to find a side road in the middle of nowhere in the dark, find it ok but make a bit of a hash of navigating the next bit, travel all the right roads plus a km or two of optional extras. Run to Waipuk uneventful once back on main roads.
Stage 4 Waipukurau to Masterton, total 842km – route 52 is 200km of largely unrelenting tight twisting roads, glorious on a good day, a slippery never-ending hell on a cold wet night. About half way through I hit the wall, trouble staying awake and focused so riding really slow, why am I doing this, whose dumb idea was it, if I wasn’t in the back of beyond I could well have pulled out here. Stayed upright and got to the checkpoint. Average rate so far under 64 kph!! Yikes, but the tight stuff now all gone, will make much better time from here so still hope.
Stage 5 Masterton to Rotorua, total 1273km – card clipped, refuel, snack and a drink, and then despite slow progress to date decide to take a bit of time, have some service station hot food and a lot of walking around jumping on the spot etc to get the system ticking over and warm up – good move in hindsight, I started to get a second wind. Now a long run, straight roads up to Pahiatua, over the nice windy Pahiatua Track, refuel in Palmerston Nth, again some nice roads to Vinegar Hill, from then mostly straight and open and well policed but the memory of this leg is the bone chilling cold. I’ve since read between 1 and 3 degrees (around 33 to 35F) and despite layers of thermal gear my hands couldn’t feel the heated grips and I was COLD through, thoughts of hypothermia as a big shiver went through me every 10 minutes or so – resorted to tucking my left arm under my body and riding with my chin just above the screen to try to avoid the wind chill. Refuel at Waiouru, chat to the attendant for 10 mins – its warm inside. Buoyed on by seeing the sun start to rise – its got to get warmer soon. After Taupo and it begins to warm. To keep alert I resort to singing and talking out loud, only to be followed by a panic attack at the next stop when I find my helmet blue tooth gear has somehow turned on and paired to my mobile phone which has a voice dial function – god forbid that anyone should be subjected to that as a voicemail, and even worse if they knew who it was! Thankfully no calls made, the panic heart rate helped the body temp though, and starting to look promising for finishing on time.
Stage 5 Rotorua to Te Kuiti, total 1427km– Again a short stop, feeling good now, a way to go but the end is in sight, and its daylight. The riding is ok up to Whakamaru but the Benneydale road is always a corker. Get wet and cold again before Benneydale then from there to TK sunny, warm and dry, best bit of riding of the run, have a quiet fang on one of my favourite roads - just to warm up of course. Another checkpoint, fuel and snack and on the way again, barring the unthinkable I’m going to make it, feeling good.
Stage 6 Te Kuiti to National Park, total 1554km– nice and warm and sunny in TK, removed the neck warmer and thermal glove liners for the last 2 runs and look forward to more nice flowing main roads, can sit on 100kph through continuous bends marked for 65 to 75kph and enjoy the ride. Only low point was to be the GC entrant on a GN250 who passed me in road works and kept it nailed, as I was keeping it legal he quietly edged away. If my memory isn't plating tricks I had seen the rider enter the Rotorua check point riding with both hands off the bars searching in a bag, and then back on the bars just in time to stop at the petrol pumps. I gather he wasn’t a learner.
Stage 7 National Park to Turangi, yep 1609km– nearly there and would you believe it cold and wet again, removing those warm clothes earlier was a mistake but nearly home, a short downpour and then back to warm sunshine at home base. Water dripping out of my jacket as I check in at around 22 1/2 hours, woohoo, Rusty at the check in “your badge and certificate, how do you feel” – I mumbled something unintelligent but feeling quietly elated and more so when I see that 29 had withdrawn during the event, a couple of off’s resulting in hospital visits (nothing too serious I believe), a few mechanical failures but mostly either running behind time or didn’t feel safe to continue – in which case pulling out is the sensible thing.

It must be addictive this riding thing, after a couple of hours, including a cooked lunch and stubbie of beer included in the entry fee I felt alive enough to tackle the 2 1/2 hour ride home and was there in time for dinner.
Only really frightening moment was when I finally told my wife just what this motorcycle weekend was all about – “1000 miles, so when did you sleep?” “WHAT - do you know how dangerous that is?” Apparently I won’t be doing it next year - probably.