0272324438 i can share the snow cats if you needOriginally Posted by whatastoner
L-Plate Rider
0272324438 i can share the snow cats if you need
Night rider
Have all of them now.
Time to ride
L-Plate Rider
i have them all now. thanks for your help gents. now i can sleep
L-Plate Rider
So. OK then.
TT Vergin' (sic) about to give it a crack, Nige'.
By virtue of a pure blinding revelation in the vein of "I've seen that before somewhere", #4 was tracked down & nailed in place.
However....
#'s 1 thru 3 have me completely stumped. Without wanting a hand out, can some kind soul(s) recommend some way I can track them down myself -before doing it the hard way on the actual ride?
And no, jumping on my trusty steed & riding around hoping to spot them prior isn't a viable option for me. I'm guilty of living sightly north of the Bombay's these days. It's more than a quick jaunt down the road & back......
Attempting to use google (maps) has burned so much time into the wee small hours -& I've killed a rodent! (aka the mouse on my PC) .
I've run out of ideas. Am I allowed to ask for help?
Ridicule & taunts below please.
Distance Rider
I feel your frustration - I'll PM you some hints:-)I've run out of ideas. Am I allowed to ask for help?
Distance Rider
Hints sent, let know if you don't get them as I've had a couple of problems while sending them.
L-Plate Rider
Hi. Seems I'm too much of a newbie to be allowed to reply to your PM's to me, -but do need to express my appreciation. Genuine thanks. Now I have some homework I might actually be able to do! !
Just enough info to get the searching started. still won't be too easy. Very grateful indeed. Thank you.
See you on the ride.
Plodding along at his own pace
Fully achievable, just plan your ride based around average speed of about 75Kph and allow a few minutes for each checkpoint, key point to remember is you don't have to get all of the checkpoints, there is no bonus for more that the required points and kilometres travelled.
Good luck with locating them all.
Its not the destination that is important its the journey.
L-Plate Rider
Wise advice from a voice of experience.
Many thanks.
Located the remaining mystery points on google last night. Success!
Don't think I'll bother trying to get to the Snowmobiles tho. Points/kms beyond what I'll need.
Am already enjoying the planning phase. Have had a thought though. From watching previous years tribute videos on the TT2000 site, it seems people group up & get on with doing the business. Am I safe to assume this grouping happens informally at the start venues?
Cheers.
Plodding along at his own pace
A lot of those folks are mates who ride together often, so the groups are formed well before the start, and they plan their routes out to suit everyone.Wise advice from a voice of experience.
Many thanks.
Located the remaining mystery points on google last night. Success!
Don't think I'll bother trying to get to the Snowmobiles tho. Points/kms beyond what I'll need.
Am already enjoying the planning phase. Have had a thought though. From watching previous years tribute videos on the TT2000 site, it seems people group up & get on with doing the business. Am I safe to assume this grouping happens informally at the start venues?
Cheers.
I am by no means an expert on the TT as I have only completed two, some folks here have done most if not all of them.
Everyone who rides solo has their own strategy and ability so what works for me my not suit you, but there are some good resources in the links from the TT site under the rally safety tab.
Personally I take a hydration pack, and as was suggested to me by another rider chopped up muesli bars, (just cut to bite size), they help with the energy levels and the hunger.
If your checkpoints are close together, every third of fourth take a walk for a couple of minutes, (I work on a five minute walk ever hour to hour and a half), just to get your body stretched and the blood flowing.
There is no point riding through the night to be tired the next day, pre-book your accommodation, and plan accordingly, easier to know you have somewhere to stay at 10pm, and skip a checkpoint than trying to find a place open. Build a couple of thousand extra points in to cover you in case you do have to miss a checkpoint as well. You can always skip one at the end if need be but its harder to go back and pick up the extra 1000 points you need to get to complete the requirements.
I know this was said previously, and is covered on the site but its worth keeping in mind. This is not Pokemon, you do not have to get them all, in fact there is no advantage to this, better to arrive on time, uninjured, and having enjoyed the experience with enough to complete than having to use the extra allowed just to get up as many points as you can.
At the end of the day you received a tee shirt at the start, you get a badge for completing it, and maybe a great story to tell, there is no prizes, its not a competition, (except maybe with yourself), why take more risk than is necessary for a weekends riding.
Its not the destination that is important its the journey.
Hardcore Biker
I mostly agree with JMemomic. I have ridden all but the first TT2000; three by myself and three with one mate, and both methods have their plusses and minuses.
In particular, if you are riding solo, you can absolutely please yourself on how far/fast you ride and not have to take anyone else's ideas into account. Likewise, as a team, you have the camaraderie and security of back up, and late at night or early in the morning, on a remote country road in the dark, the South Island can appear to be a lonely place. For 2016 it'll be the team of two, again.
My solution for maintaining a decent speed after the sun sets is illustrated in the photos attached. The 100W driving lights are for straight-ahead vision, and the high-intensity LEDs are angled outwards and upwards so that they effectively become 'see around the corner' lights when banked over. It makes a huge difference to fatigue. In the riding photo, the top picture is my bike on high beam (which adds to low beam) and in the second photo, taken with the same cameras settings, it is all guns blazing.
The approx. 700km range of the GSA makes route-planning less about 'how can I get to checkpoints and still refuel' and more about 'what's the most efficient way to connect the dots'.
For sure make certain that you maintain hydration and nutrition, and learn to manage tiredness, but equally importantly, enjoy the ride, have fun, and finish on time, with points to spare, with the distance covered, in safety.
Distance Rider
Both JMemonic and Racing Dave's advice is excellent so not much to add to that.
I've done one TT last year starting in Dunedin that time and did a solo ride. What really helped me prepare was to plan some dummy TT routes that I could do in a day as a practice. Planned something with similar spaced checkpoints and mix of roads. Did this a couple of times with different routes and found out all sorts of little changes I needed to make. E.g.: I use route notes instead of GPS and getting the bits of paper in and out of my tank bag was a pain in the neck until I modded my tank bag to make it easier.
One thing to really practice is the checkpoint routine as you can loose a lot of time with this and it adds up. Go though the whole, drape t-shirt over bike, take photo, prep for next check point, drink of water etc when your practicing as it makes a big difference.
As mentioned I rode solo but sometimes you fall in with other riders for a couple of check points before going your separate ways again. You'll find at almost every checkpoint you'll bump into other riders. E.g. for several checkpoints on the evening of the first day I arrived at the same time as three riders on off-roaders. They would go shooting off in one direction (normally dirt track) while I'd head in the other only to meet up at the next checkpoint. This happened for 4 or 5 checkpoints in succession and then I didn't see them again until the finish.
Personal targets are the best. So in my case I'm just trying to get more points than I did last year. Also last year in my newbie keenness I completed the whole thing by Saturday night so I just had to go to the finish point on Sunday morning - I found this was a bit of an anticlimax so this year I'm going to do a few check points the Sunday morning as well (according to Google maps I'll get to the finish at 11:53am so no worries:-))
L-Plate Rider
18mths ago, a mate & I spent 7 days riding all over the Sth Is. We rode some routes in both directions, covering 6-800+kms per day. We were in cruise mode, stopping frequently, swapping bikes, swapping lies, & generally just doing what biking mates do. We've since repeated the recipe around the North Island. So, long days in the saddle don't faze me.
I've a few rides planned to get match fit -Akl -to the Cape & back, Akl - Taupo -via the East Cape, & hopefully a run to WLG & back -down the West side, & back up the east the next day. Also started getting the body a bit fitter -Winter padding needs to go.
I fully agree with the lights suggestions, & am likewise kitted out. Have converted the RT to HiD (Lo Beam) & LED (Hi) headlight, with 2 sets of LED "Cornering" (Beam & Spread) lights. The latter in the same power circuit as the fog lights.
Speed. I've fitted a Cruise Control to my beast. Set it for <105kph, & forget it for most corners indicating 65 & over. Biggest fatigue eliminator I've ever owned -it means I watch the road, not the speedo -& th reduced stress levels around speeding worries are huge! . Does wonders for the fuel economy also. At 400+KMs, I start watching for the next servo, (when the gauge says "sod-all left", & the pretty orange light comes on). I'm happy to 425KMs, start getting a little fretful at 440. But I've never run dry. Current calcs say I should be good for 460. I don't want to learn the hard way, mind.
I used to ride regularly with mates out of Christchurch 15+yrs ago, but when I left in 2000, I never found time to take up group riding again. The occasional solo jaunt, & rarer planned bike holiday have been it. Nth Is. is OK, but the Sth Is. is where my riding soul wants to be.
Planning a ride this tightly is a new thing for me, but bum-on-seat time worries me not. I appreciated the fatigue factor , & the need for knowing when to stop -& having somewhere to do it! I'll have a tent & bag with me, just in case.
Hydration & Nutrition -I do what you guys suggest already. Keeping the blood sugar up but not spiking it, is the aim.
My thanks to you PistonBlown, JMemonic and Racing Dave for your support & advice. All noted, & taken on board.
Look forward to meeting you all. I'll be piloting a maroon R1150RT, in all likelihood.
Cheers.
Distance Rider
440km+ between fill-ups - I'm so jealous. Mine has a stupidly small tank so warning light comes on at 220 and panicking at 240km. Most of my route planning is done around petrol stations as much as checkpoints and I've fitted panniers just so I can carry petrol cans.
Mine has pretty decent lights but I have modified the wiring so the low beam stays on when the high beam is engaged as that gives a better spread, the high beam is too narrow. Fortunately the wiring and lights are separate so heat is not an issue.
You're right the planning part, that's what makes it different from normal touring and, strangely, what made it addictive for me. The only problem I found was that I got too focused on the route, road and checkpoints at times. For example at the Coronet Peak checkpoint last year I rode to the top, took a photo of the bike against the concrete wall with the sign on it and rode back down not paying any attention to the glorious view from the top.
Hardcore Biker
The R1200GS Adventure's tank is rated at 33 litres, but with 5 seconds work (reach inside the tank cap's neck and hook out the rubber 'thing') it holds 38 litres. There's no need to have a 5 litre air gap above the fuel - better to have another 100km riding.
Providing I keep an eye on the speed (the GSA is not renowned for its aerodynamic smoothness, and becomes a thirsty beast above 120 km/h) then I expect to get to 700km without any fear of running dry. Mine will still cover 60km after the fuel count-down has reached zero.
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