Hiya folk,
I think you will be interested in a long ride I went for last weekend.
I'm going to do the Southern Cross Rally this year (any of you folk coming for it? I'd love to say hi). It's basically a LOOOOONG 5 day marathon ride around New Zealand. Day one starts in the West (Cape Egmont). On day two you sign in up north (Cape Reinga). On day three you sign in way out east (Cape Egmont). On day five, you finish off right at the south in Bluff.
I've been practising the North Island legs of this trip (love to do the south too, but not enough time). Personally, I think day 3 is going to be one of the toughest. The other twist in this rally is that you start from each check point in the afternoon, so lots of night riding is guaranteed. Check out more details here >>
www.rustynuts.co.nz<<
I would appreciate any tips or advice you have on anything you can think of, especially if you have done a few long rides!
This is basically a short write up on my practise ride for the thrid leg of the rally, covering East Cape. Of course, after Wellington, I'd take a ferry and contiue south, instead of coming back to Auckland. There is also a slightly different version on
my blog.
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The ride was down the east coast of NZ from Auckland --> East Cape --> Gisborne --> Napier --> Wellington --> and up through the center back to Auckland
Left Auckland early in the morning and headed over to East Cape.
Right near home, a s***h**d t**t*&@#%^ kid tried to ram his car into me thrice. I managed to escape unscathed and stopped at a service station about twenty minutes later to call the Police. It's a problem being on a bike, as it takes forever to park, and get out the mobile phone - and takes even longer when one is all bundled up for bad weather. I admit I did try to look into the car from way over in my lane, as the driver was fiddling with something under the dash (probably a stolen car), and was then drinking something from a can. I guess the lesson here is to
NEVER engage with anyone in anyway when you are on a bike, as you are the weaker party.
Anyway, after that incident, the ride to East Cape was quite nice. Some people on a quad bike were waving out to me near the Cape, so I waved back. But they were actually warning me about a group of cows being herded up the road! I pulled over to the side and then continued on my way. The last 15 kms to the Cape is gravel. Now, I normally do not mind gravel, but this gravel road is just horrible. It's very steeply cambered, with pebbles rather than fine gravel. The only decent place to ride in right in the center. The bike seems to be a lot steadier at a decent clip of about 60-70kms, but I just wasn't comfortable braking at that speed, so I ended up doing about 30-40kms, and even slower around turns. Add a whole herd of spooked stray cows and a horse or two to the mix, and it makes for lots of fun. Fortunately, the few vehicles on the road were very nice, moving to the side, and one even giving way to me.
I filled up at Te Araroa (town before the cape) with some bad quality 91 octane. There was a noticeable lack of power and the bike took longer to pick-up. I also had to change down more often. Unfortunately, this is one of only about 3 pumps in nearly 350 - 400 kms...
I filled up with 98 at Gisborne. Gisborne to Napier was a decent ride, and I refuelled just after Napier. It was also becoming dark at this time.
Napier on to Wellington was a tough ride. It was dark, the weather was stormy with strong winds, the rain was blowing sideways, and there were literally little waves on the road. To go straight, I was leaned over at quite an angle. It was quite an effort to keep going and I felt a bit like a rag doll in a dogs mouth, being shaken to bits! And it got worse on the wind swept side of the Rimutakas (mountain before Wellington). This road is really windy, and I ended up crawling over it's 30 odd kms. And I was certainly a bit scared. I got to Wellington late at night. Oh, and did I mention the wind????? I stopped to fill up at Dannevirke, and the bike on it's side-stand was actually shaking! And then, the darn motel I booked in Wellington was shut, and no one answered the phone or the door. I did find other (expensive) accommodation, and showered and slept.
I left fairly early the next morning, and decided to take the short route up the center of the north island, instead of the Surf Highway along the west. Well, I should have NOT changed the plan. I rode up SH1 till Taihape, where I found that the roads ahead were shut. One was shut due to flooding. The other was shut due to a lahar from the volcanic crater lake on Mt. Ruapehu. There was no way I was getting any further, and so I bedded down at a nice motel. I left the next morning for Auckland. It was quite chilly till the sun came out, but it was not raining. Later in the day, a hot pie and chips (at Ma Bakers in Cambridge) was very welcome
I must say - the Bonnie was very impressive. It did not skip a beat at all. It just went along, did exactly what I wanted it to do, and went where I pointed it. You really need to have a lot of confidence in a motorcycle when doing a ride like this, and I was certainly 100% satisfied.
On the way to East Cape - about an hour away...
Rest stop at Bulls, and ofcourse... it was raining
[ This message was edited by: zaqtronic on 2007-03-29 05:26 ]
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