Saturday, August 13, 2011

Just big kids at Heart.

The is something magical about a restless nights sleep, because you know when you do get up you are going riding.

There is something almost hypnotic as the wheels circle beneath you eating up the tarmac.

There is some thing heart warming when you are riding, and a biker waves, you are sharing a common bond, a bond non bikers not only don't understand but never will no matter how you explain it.

Their is something so very satisfying that after a great ride on some of the best roads our country has to offer, and a entertaining lunch, and sharing some great company, that you collapse into the chair on arrival home, knowing that today you have indeed lived.

I contacted Geoff James on Monday, after his arrival home from Thailand, "lets go riding on the weekend" my email said, "weather permitting of course".    So on Friday we  touched base again, and it was put in motion and we arranged to meet on Saturday morning in Thames.  Giving both of us a early solitary ride to our destination.  

For me I encountered a fair amount of heavy fog, seems to be the thing when I am meeting Geoff....I am sure there is a anagram in there some where.  Still I arrive in Thames nice and early, found a cafe, had a coffee and the sun was streaming on my back...lovely.



Cafe Rossi?

I arrived at our meeting point, still early by the way, and next minute Geoff is pulling up also.  Obviously some one else was eager to get out, or it  must have been all the Thai food!  Normal banter ensured, before we headed off to Whangamata for lunch.  I lead this part of the ride.  As always it was great fun, a fantastic piece of road.  It took a bit for me to get comfortable with the fact that I was still being "watched", but I got into the groove and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  At lunch we continued a healthy discussion about all sorts of things.  I will say this, when Geoff and I get together there seems to be no shortage of things to talk about.

Geoff lead from Whangamata through to Paeroa where we stopped out side the famous bottle.  One thing that is clearly obvious from riding behind Geoff, is that our riding styles are very similar, we both noticed it and both made practical observations about it.




From there we headed our separate ways, a great days riding almost complete...

But before I finish, while we were at the "bottle" a mother came over with her two kids.  The young boy wanted to sit on our bikes, which we both agreed to..  As I watched this young fellow sitting on my bike, twisting the throttle, making the brmmm  brmmm noises, I realised something.......Geoff and I , we are really just big kids at heart!





View Larger Map

16 comments:

  1. Nice ride report, and always great when you get to meet up for a ride. Never stop being kids! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Kari, Geoff and I have become great friends, and a mutual respect has devloped over the time we have known each other. And big kids we are....that much i can assure you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Damn right on all counts Roger! As Kari said, let's never grow up! An absolute pleasure riding with you mate, it's going to help us both and yeah, we're never short of things to talk about when we have a break!

    Oh, and our discussion of some occasional fast riding with my mates in the future. I think I can live with the speed aspect provided that I still meet the broad requirements of IAM. They're good riders and don't put the rest of the group at risk or under stress.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yea, we are just kids with big toys and you guys probably started the kid on the way to motorcycle life, isn't that just great :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh what a wonderful day! The skies were looking good and the sites were interesting. What is up with the bottle?

    I took an old friend out on a ride on Saturday. It was quite spirited. His low clearance had him scraping his left heel. Ground it right off. hahaha!!

    Glad you and Geoff were able to get together and just have some fun.

    ReplyDelete
  6. No matter what age, being young in spirit is all that matters. Absolutely nothing wrong with being big kids at heart, in fact, occasionally being childish is great fun as well....

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gary is right, 'young in spirit' is what we should be. Stay young, stay safe. :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. George: The young fella seemed to know about about bikes, I think he was on well his way.

    Lori: The Bottle is kind of a kiwi icon, will explain in more detail one day. It was indeed a lovely day.

    Gary: Thanks for stopping by, Loved your comment..."childish" ....kind of sums it up really.


    Ken: Nice to hear from you....I will always be young at heart.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Men... if the "kid's aspect" would always be that easy ;-)

    But when it comes to motorcycles I can relate to that little one sitting on the bike imitating the voice of the motor. Been there many times myself, even as a grown-up...

    Great you guys could hook up for a ride. Stay warm down there!

    ReplyDelete
  10. fabulous! i wish there was a picture of those kids :) i love the smiles when future bikers climb up onto a seat :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. Aye, no real need to grow up! I seen on the news that NZ was hit with some heavy snow recently. Were you guys out building snow men?
    You might be interested in my mate Ferg's blog, he lives up north in Caithness and his writing is awesome. Check it out here http://fergstallion.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nothing wrong with being a big kid a heart. Don't we all sit on our bikes in the garage occasionally and make broooom broooom noises?

    It was nice that you and Geoff got to meet up for another ride together. Thanks for letting us tag along.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Sonja: KIds , they are a way of giving you a fresh ot look onlife some times.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Mq01; Thansk for stopping by, and yes I have to agree with you. The look on my sond face when I take him riding is priceless.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Mike; You mad scotsman, yes it snowed in Auckland first time in 80 years, very strange, global warming my arse! Have started following the blog you put me onto, he seems like a talented writer so i aml looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Trobaritz; Thanks hun, it is always a pleasure to catch up with Geoff, he is a very intelligent and thoughful guy, I just enjot yaking with him heaps.

    Neat to ride with him a bit to, doesnt put pressure on my just enjoys the ride.

    ReplyDelete