Originally Posted by
ColdKiwi 2006
25 February 2007
Cold Kiwi 2006 by Steve Green
32nd Annual Cold Kiwi Rally, 2006.
By Steve Green
Once a year, a large open paddock on the "Waione Station" six Kilometre's out of Waiouru towards Ohakune becomes the venue for the annual Cold Kiwi Motorcycle Rally. This years event was the 32nd in the Rallies long history and many of the over 1500 entrants at this years event were not even born when the first Rally was held many years ago.
This weekend's event started on Friday afternoon with the first of the many entrants setting up their tents in the pine trees on the edge of the open plain and getting their evening meal from the friendly on site team from "Onsite Catering" in Auckland, who spent the whole weekend cooking hamburgers and steak sandwiches for the hardy enthusiasts who were camped out for the weekend. Lynn Fletcher and her dedicated team from the Saint Johns Ambulance Service in Palmerston North were also on hand all weekend just in case anyone had need of First Aid.
Later in the evening the crowd was kept entertained till the early hours with some loud and enthusiastic music provided by the band, "Roadhouse 620", from Palmerston North.
Saturday morning dawned cool but clear with just a chill wind blowing through now and then to detract from the days events and on the horizon the snow covered slopes of Mount Ruapehu made for a very scenic backdrop. By noon most of the riders had arrived and the first of the events got underway, with the traditional, steep Hill Climb up a pair of fairly narrow pathways between rows of young pine trees.
The Cold Kiwi Hill Climb is always fun to watch with a number of the riders having noticeably more enthusiasm than ability. Not that I am knocking them at all, as it takes a brave man or woman to ride their motorcycle up a steep hill that you can barely walk up, especially for those who tried it with two or three people on a motorcycle built for two. At least one pair of riders attempting to ride up the steeper side of the hill took an unintentional sharp left turn and crashed into a tree.
After the Hill Climb had finished, the steep side of the hill was used for a helmet dash, which was a running race from the bottom of the hill to the top, with the competitors having to wear a helmet while climbing and the winner gets a brand new Nolan Helmet.
Next was the slow race, which sounds like a contradiction in terms, however the idea is for the entrants to all start at the same time and the winner is the rider who gets to the finish line last without putting a foot to the ground. This is not as easy as it sounds since motorcycles are like pushbikes in that they tend to fall over if you go too slow or stop forward motion, to win this event you need good throttle & clutch control as well as good balance.
The wheel stand competition also required good balance and throttle control to ride on one wheel down the length of the course. Needless to say, not all the entrants in this event had a good day as I saw at least one rider go bouncing down the paddock in a tangle of arms & legs. Despite all the active competition on Saturday afternoon, there was only one rider who needed the attentions of the first aid personnel after he had a big crash at the foot of the hill climb flying into the air and coming down with a thump on his back, knocking the breath out of him, and even he was able to eventually stand and walk away after catching his breath.
Later in the afternoon, the Cycletreads Burnout competition got under way with bike engines screaming and rear tyres spinning on wooden slabs, turning rubber into huge clouds of smoke. Always a crowd favorite, the burnout appeals to the young Hoon in all of us, from the early days at Six Cross camp where the first burn outs were done on the old wooden bridge over the stream to today's purpose built Cycletreads burnout pad.
In the evening, the Ruapehu Motorcycle Club held a prize giving for all the competitors in the events followed by an impressive fireworks display that would have had the locals thinking that Mount Ruapehu was erupting again. Then there was another band that played loud and long into the night. Sunday morning was cleanup time with all the riders packing away their tents and heading for home, while the organizers cleaned up the site and packed everything away for another year.
RESULTS
Burnout, Longest Johno Milne Kawasaki KZ400.
Burnout, best Neville Curran, Yamaha TT500.
Helmet Dash, Jason North.
Wheelstand, Neville Stocko 1st, Land Scout.
Tony Rowland 2nd, Honda XR500.
John Roper 3rd.
Slow race, Trail bike section, Carl Looney, CRM250.
Slow race, Road bike section, David Tristrum.
Hill Climb, Trail Section, Mark Rowland, XR250.
Hill Climb, Road Section, Yoe Panting, BSA 650.
Oldest entrant, 63 years old.
1st entrant, Mr Pepper.
Rat Bike, Miles Gregory.
Most desirable bike, Kawasaki Z1000 of Peter Birkett.
Furthermost travelled, G Rogers of Kaitaia.
Oldest Bike, Graeme Staples Henderson 4.
Best pre 1980 Kawasaki, Mani Raumati's H1,500.
Hard Luck Award, Dave Kelly who ran out of petrol plus collected a speeding fine $490 along the way.
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Dusty Butt 1000km - We knocked the bugger off what next?
....under the trees, near the front of the site. 
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