Monday, January 30, 2012

East Cape Ride.

A swim to Washington...?

The weekend just was Auckland Anniversary weekend.  As such it was a long one, so Terry and I decided to join RATS (Riders Association of Triumph) for there weekend away to East Cape.  It had been a while since I had joined the guys for a ride.  They are a good bunch but as it turns out there was only 6 bikes.  Not that that bothered me.  

We set off from Auckland on Saturday morning with Dave leading us through a series of back roads to Tirau /Rotorua and then Whakatane.  We had several stops on the way, from Whakatane we headed through the gorge to Gisborne.   It is always a great ride through here, and with the weather playing nice it was a most enjoyable.   580kms for the day.




Come Sunday morning we are to head around the cape.  For some reason Dave's rear tyre was all but gone, after just 3000kms.  So he decided to head back to Whakatane and see if he could get a replacement.  The east cape is no place to be with a knackered rear tyre.

We all split up and took our own pace around the cape.  It is a majestic ride. Sparsely populated and stunning scenery.  terry and I stopped several times and regrouped with a couple of other riders .  The ride around is 320km from Gisborne to Opotike, I joke not when it estimate but during this 320km run you encounter at least 3000 corners......I didnt count them though, next time maybe. It is a great ride, but you need to keep your wits about you at all times.  I had one car do a U turn in front of me, a cow on the road, a horse, and un marked loose gravel.  Perhaps other more skilled riders can fang it around here, personally I am not confident doing here.  Safty to me comes first. This was enforced when we saw a rider in a ditch.  There were plenty of other bikes there so not needed to lend a hand, but it just re enforces the need to be careful.  And dont get me started on the Hawk with a death wish and tried to take my head off.......

I will say that my training with IAM has played a big part in how I "see" these situations and consequently deal with them.  Especially the U turning car, just 30 meters from the corner. Because of my postion and ability to see through the corner I saw it early and was able to take action.






Paradise.


On Monday we headed home.  I throughly enjoyed my three days away with Terry and a chance to ride yet more great roads.  Although I think Terry was getting over it a bit by Sunday afternoon.....left right, left right,left right...it does go on forever!



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21 comments:

  1. A fantastic bit of road! You've got some of my pictures...

    Try it in the dark sometime...

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    1. Thanks Andrew...., I am sure it is quite the experince in the dark!

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  2. Beautiful pictures! Thank you for sharing them though you may get inundated with tourists.

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    1. Thanks Richard, I am doing my best to promote us!

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  3. You are making me jealous here in tge UK, where it is cold and damp.....

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    1. Hi Nigel...I didnt mean to, oh hang maybe I did. lol

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  4. Breathtakingly gorgeous! Hard to stay on the road with the wonderful views??

    So you really think the Tail of the Dragon is going to be anything?? Hehe

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    1. Lori: I admit I was tapped on the shoulder a few times to keep focused! I shall keep an open mind as far as the"Dragon" is concerned.

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  5. Oh yeah. And I don't want to try Andrews suggestion of running that in the dark! :)

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    1. Day light: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzhHxdMZjAE

      A bit darker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqVFwmCfw0Q

      Hazards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b144vW-cDcY

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  6. Rog, your pics are stunning again. I can only imagine what the road might be like especially if one were to take it on a little cafe racer of the British marque. Thanks so much, this keeps me going while suffering from continuous rain and fog out here on the wild wet coast.

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    1. Thanks Sonja....I can imagine that things are a bit grotty there at the moment. Cafe racer....mmm..there is an idea.

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  7. What an awesome weekend away. Can't go wrong when riding with your Triumph mates.

    And such stunning views. You truly live in a beautiful area. Thanks for sharing the pics.

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    1. Thanks Trobaritz, I think I take for granted the scenery we have....sometimes you just get used to riding with it. Every now and then though I will stop and take it all in!

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  8. Roger:

    I think I would be far behind the group. I would be stopping at every corner, every viewpoint, every beach taking photos of everything. It's nice that the road follows the coast and you can see the water. Most of our roads are "inland"

    I'm getting tempted . . . I sat on a Daytona 675 recently and for a moment thought I was in NZ

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. Bob: I can see what you mean, it would take forever if you stopped everywhere to take pics. You just get used to it and keep riding.

      675 Daytona! Dangerous move, you might fall in love with it, they are certainly great bikes, and I still miss mine.

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  9. Those big birds need space to get altitude. Scary. Of course, I'm told they feed on rodents...perhaps it was a case of mistaken identity. You know that whole RATS thing.

    Great photos and thanks for the share.
    ~k

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    1. Keith: You cracked me up with this one, but you are probably right though.

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  10. Just beautiful photos. Looks so warm and nice!

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    1. Kari: It was warm and I agree very inviting, needed to push on though so no swim for us. Nest time maybe.

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