a few years ago the rusty nuts guys organized a ride to " the bridge to nowhere" a group of us from the neslon road turing club went to it, just wondering if any KBers also went on it....???
gypsy
a few years ago the rusty nuts guys organized a ride to " the bridge to nowhere" a group of us from the neslon road turing club went to it, just wondering if any KBers also went on it....???
on the up
I didn't go on a Rusty Nuts ride up there but my ex-wife's father ran the Bridge to Nowhere Jetboat tours so I've been there many times.Originally Posted by ajturbo
Beautiful scenery on the Whanganui River - and jrandom - you'd love the place - a feral goat every couple hundred metres and no-one around for miles - my ex-Father in law always had plenty of food for the dogs.
Not very good riding up there though - unless you had a particularly nimble trail bike.
We used to get around on an old TS250ER but to be honest, in that area you're better off with a horse.
And I to my motorcycle parked like the soul of the junkyard. Restored, a bicycle fleshed with power, and tore off. Up Highway 106 continually drunk on the wind in my mouth. Wringing the handlebar for speed, wild to be wreckage forever.
- James Dickey, Cherrylog Road.
gypsy
Not very good riding up there though - unless you had a particularly nimble trail bike.
we did it on big road bikes! i had my xj900 a couple had gsxr's etc, hard riding in the gravel at nigh!! nun feel off but it was soooooo close sooo many times!
Wannabe racer
I've been up there in a jet boat, never thought of taking a bike but it sounds like fun. Have to get me a trail bike sometime ...
Life is difficult because it is non-linear.
gypsy
from what i was lead to belive was that the local natives have to give DOC a special permit before they will give you a permite to even think about getting off the gravel road!!! let alone the "see" the bridge, we were alowed to ride on the bride ONLY, not alowed to ride up the track to it or back, we had a bike supplied that was CARRIED to the concret bridge, we were only allowed to ride on the concrete ONLY! (to get the badge...now where is it???)NOT allowed to get a rubber wheel on their grass!!!!!! they had natives there to check everything was being done acording to the 450 pg permit...
on the up
The local Maori have a very special, almost spiritual relationship to the Whanganui River and its very hard to explain to those who don't share the relationship.
However, if you spend a bit of time with them and become known by them, and make the effort to respect their feelings and culture, you will become respected and accepted by the locals.
That's not to say there aren't a few ratbags and stirrers on the river - Ken Mair comes immediately to mind - but the majority are pretty happy to live their own lives free from the tyranny of modern society.
This respect was shown to my family four years ago when my brother-in-law Scott, a 23 year old ski instructor who spent his teenage years in Pipiriki, and worked at Turoa, was murdered senselessly in Ohakune. He was honoured to be the first pakeha to ever lie in state on Pipiriki Marae and we were afforded full marae privileges.
Last edited by riffer; 16th November 2004 at 10:22. Reason: fixing my rubbish grammar
And I to my motorcycle parked like the soul of the junkyard. Restored, a bicycle fleshed with power, and tore off. Up Highway 106 continually drunk on the wind in my mouth. Wringing the handlebar for speed, wild to be wreckage forever.
- James Dickey, Cherrylog Road.
fükengrüven
Taking the jet tinny over to Whakahoro in 2 weeks for a spin up & down the Whanganui, Looking forward to seeing the famous bridge.
A few of my mates have ridden their quads down the old Mangapurua Rd from the top end, apparently you can get to within a 1-2 hr walk to the bridge. I want to do it on my mountainbike one day & get picked up at the bottom by boat.
Cheers
Clint
Hardcore Biker
but then again I organised the ride. If you have lost your badge contact me, we have spare badges for allthe runs we have ever done, provided you are on our register for the appropriate run we are happy to supply a new one - cost is $10 includes postage.
Was there something you wanted to know about the run in particular. ?
I will help if I can
Lee Rusty
If you say either "I can" or "I can't" your correct.
Hardcore Biker
Weve done it, took the jet boat, carried in a mini bike then rode back & forth across the bridge
Contact kiwizrx for photo's
There is also a bridge to somewhere near Whangamomana - same type of bridge
gypsy
hey Lee!.
i have moved so many times since i was there, it could be in one of the unopended boxes!,
i don't want anything in particular, i was just making coment on it and to say that is was one of the good rallies i have been to .. meaning, not of the normal ones, i have an aim to get to the 1000 mile run, just as it is a different type of rally. a group of us in nelson used to hold the "poor man's brass monkey rally" at the top of the Takaka hill, there used to be around 10-12 drunks up there ,, that was different, no music, beer tent, strippers or catering just what you brought with you...easy to clean up in the morning! hahahaha
Hardcore Biker
try our Rusty Nuts 50th event - its a one off. fifty statehighways in 100 hours.both N and S islands.
if you want info drop me a line rustyinfo@rustynuts.co.nz
Lee
If you say either "I can" or "I can't" your correct.
fuckin grumpy leave me alone
hey Lee nice to see you back on KB.
F/F
"Kiwi Biker, still a great place despite the mods "
"Would crawl over broken glass before owning Suzuki"
The only reason I only ride in the Iron man Class is I have no friends left to enter the two man events,
my own fault really.
Registered User
As Doug mentioned: Mini bike on the Bike to Nowhere pics are here
Wise Woman
For some unknown reason, this came up in conversation with The Man over the weekend. He called it the "Wild One Rally" and he was there too. He was on a Cagiva 650 Ducati.
I've just wandered over to the Rusty Nuts Website and there's a picture from that rally on the front page at the moment.In fact, there's a review by The Man & his mate Denis posted up on the site!
Wild One Review
"Women & cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea." Robert A. Heinlein
"Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer." Bruce Graham
L-Plate Rider
An interesting thread. Coincidentally, three of us had a go at this trip in mid February. We had 2 DRZ400s and a CR250. The track from Croton's Rd is 30km through to the bridge. It starts off easy for the first 10ks then gets rapidly harder. We managed to get through to the second bridge (these are DOC bridges, too small and light for a bike - tracks are cut around the bridges but they are pretty rugged) which is around the 18km mark. Google earth is good to view this track - the second bridge is at the first big bush clearing at Lat. 39°12'12.48"S, Long 175° 2'16.67"E. Generally the hard bits are in papa and although it was a stinking hot day, there was still plenty of wet and slippery bits to contend with. We found the 400's just too heavy to push much further and it had taken us 3 hours to do the 18km! It took longer to get back as the gnarly bits were all uphill. We spoke to a couple of trampers who said there were some very narrow papa bluffs closer to the BtN and they thought it would be difficult but not impossible to get the bikes around these. Big drop-offs apparently. We are intermediate type riders but personally I hit the deck many times on the DRZ. Be warned, there is no way to get a damaged bike out of this area other than helicopter so reliable bikes are a must. My call would be that if you are an ace rider with a light bike, good fitness and excellent tyres, you will go a lot further than us.
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