Sunday, January 28, 2007

Ride with Ulysses

This was to be a long day. I left home at 9.00am and headed to Caltex Rimutaka to meet with Alan and John, who is a member of Ulysses. After fueling up we went up the road a few hundred metres to the meeting point for the ride.

I met Ron who is the coordinator for the Ulysses group and Steve who I had previously met on a couple of Kiwibiker rides. There were 5 other Ulysses members on the ride. A membership form was completed and I need to attend one more Ulysses event to qualify for membership.

We departed at 10.00am and did a quick blast over the hill to regroup in Featherston.
Then we were off to Masterton where we took the bypass and rode on to Eketahuna for the first stop. Alan and I topped up with fuel there and the group then headed up the highway to the Mangamaire turnoff and through Balance to Woodville where we had lunch at the Boots 'n Braces. The pace was quicker than I thought it would be.

The Return trip was via SH2 to Pahiatua where we diverted through Tane & Alfredton to Masterton then on to Martinborough for a Coffee. The last section through Gladstone was a spirted ride with Steve (Hayabusa) and me at the front, both enjoying the sweeping bends. We stopped at the Summit and Caltex for fuel on the way home. This trip added 410Kms and the bike has now done just over 3000kms.


Dennis and bike at lunch.














Alan and the Harley















Martinborough for refreshments and a much needed rest.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Just another week

I was away for the long weekend, so no bike ride. On Wednesday night I went on the Kiwibiker ride and we went over the the Tin Hutt Pub out of Featherston. It was a good ride over and the weather was great in Featherston although we could see a lot of heavy cloud back towards Wellington.

On the trip back it rained steadily through the Upper Hutt area but stopped raining my Johnsonville.

Thursday night Alan called by and I rode back around the inlet and Haywards with him.

On Friday evening I fitted a Ventura pack frame and have an RJays Explorer bag to go on it. The first test of this will be tomorrow (Sunday) when I go on a ride with the Ulysses group.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Back to the Kiwibiker Wednesday ride

This was my first ride with the group for 2007. I took the long way via Mana,the northern side of the inlet and Haywards Hill to get to the meeting point at the Duck Pond. We then rode back over Haywards and up to the lookout at the top of the Paekakariki Hill. Then back down to the Sandbar in Mana. It was a good turnout.

The bike has now done 2400kms.

BTW: I have fitted a detector of microwave and laser speed devices to the bike. Tested it yesterday with a trip up to the summit.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Ride with the 'Real' Riders

This was my first TRTNR (The Real Thursday Night Ride). I was first at the meeting spot and then Dreamer arrived on her new bike (Yamaha R6 in black). It looks great and so does Dreamer in her new leathers; I guess I shouldn't say that. By 6.30pm there were around 12 bikes and Mustang arrived on the Fatboy. We were the last to head off and were always going to be slower than the others. Note: 'Real' means fast and the tyre wear on most of the sports bikes indicated how very fast some rode their bikes.

We headed off to the Summit with myself, Dreamer and Mustang last to arrive. Mustang and I headed off to Featherston and when we returned to the summit all but three riders had gone back to the Hutt. Mustang headed home and I went to the Pool Room meeting spot. This is an ideal place to finish up as from the upstairs lounge the bikes can be watched where they are parked on the footpath across the street.

I will go on this ride again. It is different to the Wednesday ride with more space and freedom to ride my ride. My confidence on the bike and riding the corners has improved a lot; I am almost in the 'zone'.

A ride and photo shoot

I have been remiss and not posted for a while. Last Sunday (7th) while the household was having a sleep in I went for a ride up that Rimutakas and across to Martinborough. On the way back stopped at the summit where there where 16 bikes and their riders.


Tuesday the 9th took a ride around the Wellington bays so may daughter could take some photos of the bike. We got some good ones with one posted here.


The weather has cleared in Wellington so I am going for a ride and may check out who turns up at the Kiwibiker Thursday night real ride.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

First ride 2007

It has stopped raining and I can fit in a short ride. I called Alan and he was planning to go into WMC for parts on his bike and can fit in a ride prior to that.

My ride was to Alan's place in the Belmont hills and from there down to BP for fuel. From there we headed up State HW2 and across Haywards, around the eastern side of the inlet and up Postgate Drive to view a new subdivision called Aotea. From there we went down Whitford Brown to the motorway and into WMC. I left Alan looking for parts and headed home.

Practiced braking in the access road beside Raroa park. And then home.