Medicine for the Soul.

It was a fine weekend and the sun was at last forecast to stay out for ALL of the weekend.  I had been itching to get away for some sort of road trip.  Perhaps my winter of discontent was finally over, in more ways than one any way.

I threw a few essentials into the bag Saturday morning, started it up , and then sat there.  Where to go? I had not really thought about it.  Suddenly I needed to decide.  I was overcome with a sense of loss again.  I was indecisive.  I was unsure what to do.   I was on my own, perhaps I should just go back inside, find a chair, it seems so much easier to do.  Everything has seemed so hard lately.

I was on the Sprint and I know I wanted fast flowing open road riding.   I wanted the thrill of searching for that perfect corner, that never ending sweeping left hander.  If I had to ride all weekend to find it....I sure as fuck was gonna..I needed something  to lift my spirit, I needed some medicine for the soul.  

South it was to central north Island.  Some roads I have ridden many times before others I would discover for the first time.  It was not important where I was going...it was important that I went.

The last few months for me have been tough.  Work stresses and family pressure coming close to breaking my spirit.  I needed to ride and it needed to be good.   I needed to know I could smile again.   My wounded heart needed more than a sticking plaster

I headed south on familiar roads, and as each km passed under the wheels of Beth I felt that sense of freedom, of being myself again.  The road become a blur of black seal, never ending and urging me forward.    It took half a  tank of gas before my head was clear, and my spirits began to lift.  But under my tinted visor  I was smiling.  This is why I ride.  This is what I love.  This is why I am passionate about biking.  This is what keeps me sane.  This helps put things in perspective for me.   

Through Te Kuiti then towards Benydayle, the triple was screaming at me, almost demanding more....'is that the best you got Roger"?   Can the sound of a triple engine screaming just below the red line have ever sounder so good.    How do you descibe to anyone the shear thrill and adrenalin rush when 'you get it right' , when you know you have executed the perfect corner and then do it again and again....and again, how do you describe that to any one.   There is no drug, or drink, or video game, food, theme park ride, or hard core  mind altering substance that can create this feeling....none.  

Onwards I went  searching for more, not ever wanting it to end, each km seemed to lift me.  I think I could of ridden to Wellington and back today.  

At some point I stopped, and I could feel myself getting emotional.    Yet there was a smile on my face....perhaps some where along that road I found some peace, I found my spirit again.  I found my heart.   Can motorcycling do this to some one?   For a small time anyway, the dark clouds had moved away giving way to bright sun and hope.

Triumphs All Rounder Duel Purpose.

I still manged some off road!

Dads & Daughters.

Clearly Taylor inherited her good looks from me!

A couple of weeks back Chillertek, that poor Australian cousin from Road to Nowhere fame informed us of the birth of his new daughter.

I commented on his blog about a great thread that is on Adventure Rider.

I have become some what disillusioned with the motorbike forums here in NZ, they were once good but now seem full of arrogant/wannabe opinionated dickheads.  I do find the Adventure Rider forum useful and interesting.  I follow a lot of the ride reports.

This particular thread now runs to 177 pages long and is a must if you are a Dad.  It has some great pics which I am sure you will all enjoy. So poor yourself a wine, click on the link, and enjoying one of the most heart warming and enjoyable threads I have come across for a long time.  Some of the pics and comments are just terrific and heart warming.   So for my poor  Australian cousin here is the link....

Dads & Daughters.

(Deep down we love the Aussie's....but I need to keep up appearances)

"It seemed.....

So Brandy, that well known and internationally famous blogger, vegetarian and long suffering, umm, I mean loving  wife of Brad...posted a pic of of some thing she had seen on Face book.  It had to do with porn and food...., it got me thinking about all the funny ones that do show up.  This one came up on my desktop a few weeks ago.  It made me laugh  as it seems to sum me up pretty well...........actually to well really!

Anyway, that aside I am eagerly awaiting the delivery of some farkles for Betty the Beemer.  Is it possible to add more stuff to that bike I hear you say?  Dam right it is.  This summer I am going to get into some real off road adventures which include obscure places/ great scenery...and cough cough..camping! ( As long as I can get a coffee close by).  So I am making some serious adjustments to the bike in preparation....after all it seems like a good idea.

I am also thinking of changing the name of my blog to "Rogers Rocky Road Adventures"...What do you reckon?  Change it or leave it?  

To Close for Comfort.

It was a nice day on Saturday and with Taylor out reeking havoc with her friends at the mall I put Nathan on the bike and headed for a ride out west.  I needed a ride and I wanted to familiarize myself with a few of the roads out west a bit more.  This is where most of our IAM rides are so it was a good opportunity to plot and plan a few routes.

I was enjoying the ride and had been working on my extreme positioning on corners.  About 5 kms from the Woodcocks road turn off and as I was entering a uphill right hander,  I had the bike positioned almost on the white line on the far left of the road.  It was here I first caught a glimpse of what I though was the rear end of a SUV ahead of me, it only took a fraction to realise that it was not the rear but the front and she was on my side of the road and coming straight towards me.

I aimed the bike for the gap between her and the side of the road (about 7 feet)..eventually we passed she had moved back towards her lane but it was one hell of a scary moment.

I firmly believed that if I had not done my IAM training then I probably would of been hugging the center line and the result would have been very different as I would of had to execute two changes of directions quickly to avoid her.

It took a lot of self control not to turn around and give chase.  I wanted to catch her and give her a piece of my mind.  She put not only myself but my son in danger.  Man was I pissed...

The rest of the ride was uneventful, Nathan seemed oblivious to the whole thing except to say "that the women was a bit close", a classic understatement if ever there was one.

The Winter of Discontent.

It has been one of those winters.  Hence the lack of blogging.

Wet, cold, bloody temperamental weather to be exact.  It is not as if it was any worse or better than years gone by, it just seemed that when it wanted to rain it did it on a Saturday and Sunday.

I have got out for a few rides.  A couple of IAM observer training runs, not much dirt riding and just the odd afternoon run when the sun comes out.  Sundays IAM ride was great and the weather did play it's part.  

Still spring has almost sprung and you can tell a definite warming of temperatures.  After last years "worse summer ever" could we be in for a golden one...who knows?  I gave up on the weather man years ago.

The highlight of the winter has been Taylor s football, her team won there league and once again Taylor played a big part scoring 27 of the teams 33 goals.....such a proud Dad! (Apparently I am quite vocal as well )

I enjoyed reading everyone's ride reports over the northern summer.  I am always amazed at the mileage the american bloggers cover on there trips....750miles in a day would be a real mission here in NZ. Yet you  guys seem to run them off as if it is an afternoon jaunt.

Trip of the Summer has to go George for his trip to Alaska....amazing pics/scenery/ what a great adventure for over a month.  The bears looked really cuddly to.....

The most entertaining has to go to Lori, you had me in stitches a few times.  Poor Oil burner....

It was great to see so many of you getting together for the Bloggers Convention, Wished I could of been there to regale you with copious kiwi tales.... well done Eric, it looks like you traveled the furthest!  It was neat to see many of you riding together for some of the way home as well....

I am looking forward to spring.  I am sure I will complete many miles this year, might have a go at camping and really getting off the beaten track, may consider hitting the South Island again and enjoy some of the great gravel roads they have down there..including Molesworth and Rainbow, both great adventure rides.  Generally I think I will go bush and do a bit of exploring..

I had the BMW in for a service yesterday, want ed to learn a bit so stayed and watched the technician work his magic.  It was interesting and I actually learnt some stuff...excellent!  Wished I had a hose and bucket though so I could of cleaned the hard to get to places.  So she is all ready to go for the summer.

Aussie....Canada?

Just wondering how you Aussies and Candians are doing at the olympics?

Aussie shouldnt feel to bad, lithuania only has one gold to....


You might need to revaluate you supposed finish of 5th on the table though.....

Oh look Steve, Dave, Jules.....NZ is 12th!  But you probably all ready know that......because every kiwi within a hundred mile radius is going to tell you!

IAM Observer Training Weekend.

Over the last few months several riders have passed there test for IAM and want to push on and become observers.  IAM here in New Zealand  is really beginning to grow.   It was becoming a pressing matter to get some of those who seek to become observers properly trained,  We have all been aware of the pressure Phil is under and all want to do our part to help relive that pressure and grow the club. But at the same time standards need to be maintained.

This weekend those who were keen to push on met in Thames for a full on and intensive training weekend.  The goal was to cover as much of the ground work and to be aware of the skills required to become observers. There is a lot to learn and it is a bit like starting out with IAM all over again.  Different skills are needed to properly access an associate and to make the correct observations and how to deal with that information.  I will blog my way through the process so there is no need for me to go over that here in this blog.

Morne's GSX r

At Thames witing the arrival of the others.

So Saturday morning arrived and I met Phil, Morne, John and Andy for the ride down to Thames.  It had been arranged to stay at Glens place just out side of Thames.  The ride was very very fresh and even with heated grips and three layers of thermals I could not say the word warm as my teeth were chattering.  2 degress in Thames when we arrived.  We met up with the others who had made there way from other areas, including that poor retired blogger from the Coromandel, Geoff.

Andy, Me, Phillip, Morne, John, Bruce, Geoff and Richard.

These pics supplied by Geoff James

Glenns place just outside of Thames was to be our home for the next two days.  Greeted with hot soup and home made muffins one could only wonder if it could become a permanent place of residence.  The hospitality that Glen and his wife Shirley displayed was just superb and you were made to feel right at home very quickly. Boots by the fire place and motorbike jackets strewn every where, yep home away from home.

After a some food it was in to the class room stuff.  it was excellent to get down to the nitty gritty of observer training.  We covered an array of topics from positioning when following, communication, righting reports, dealing with associates, knowing the road code, as well as Motorcycle Roadcraft.  I personal felt at the end of it I was far more prepared, and knew what was to be expected of me in an observer capacity.

Food glorious food!.  Pics supplied by John Hebrink.

On Sunday morning we were able to go out and put into practice some of what we had learnt.  Richard and I paired up and it was actually very hard to ride "bad" so as to give Richard some thing to observe.  DISCLAIMER...any videos that may circulate of me riding badly is because I was pretending to be a shit rider, and it is not in fact how I ride.!

Riding opposite lines to what I was used to so as to get a good view of Richard was not as hard as I first thought.  But man there is a lot going on, between observing the rider in front as well as concentrating on my own riding it was actually very exhausting.  Practicing positioning at intersections while it teamed down with rain in Thames also had it's challenges.

Back to Glens for yet more food and class room stuff before finally leaving for home in the rain about 4.00.

It was a very productive and enjoyable weekend.  I brought away a lot of information to work through but I sense a real feeling of excitement amongst the other guys as we progress through.  It is great to be a part of something which can only be good for motorcycling.  Even though we are all keen as to become observers there will be no cutting of corners or lowering of standards.  Exciting stuff.

I personally express my sincere thanks to Phillip and Morne for organizing and the teaching.  I know Phil was up all hours getting stuff done.  Also Glen and Shirley for the use of the wonderful home and an endless supply of excellent food.