Wheel alignment

Wednesday 19 July 2017

Trouble in Paradise

A while back, I made a post about the proactive measures being taken by the NZTA, the country's national highways agency to make one of the country's great motorcycling roads, the Coromandel Loop; safer for motorcyclists by involving them in the decision-making.  That post is HERE .  I then made a subsequent post with photos showing the damage to the Thames-Coromandel section of the Loop from some particularly nasty storms and this is the link: HERE .

Since then, there have been more temporary road closures caused by short duration heavy rains.  The problem is that the storms earlier in the year seriously weakened both the soil bond on the rock cliff faces and even opened cracks in the rock structures.  The result of this is that every time it rains, there's a good chance that previously weakened rocks, trees and clay are going to come down onto the road in many places and the road will be closed for several hours whilst the landslips are cleared. There is another route off the Coromandel Peninsula but from where we live, it adds between 1 - 1 1/2 hours to any journey so the normal preference is to stay home and wait for the road to be cleared unless the trip is absolutely necessary.

Big boulder fall near Thames
(source: Stuff news website)

Not what you want falling on your head whilst riding
(source: Stuff news website)

However, even with the coast road open, there's currently another hazard for motorcyclists.  The clean-up crews are still in fire-fighting mode getting rid of the slips and other materials which come off the cliff faces and haven't had time for any proper remedial work.  The normal drainage channels at the bottom of the cliffs have become blocked with silt.  What this means is that rainwater picks up clay from the cliffs and floods straight across the road in numerous places, often round blind bends. Wet clay has bugger-all grip and even with traction control on the most sensitive setting and care being exercised, I've had a few puckering moments in the trouser region.  Even when it's dry, the clay granules still present a potential sliding hazard.

What this means is that for riders, most of the initiatives which the NZTA roading authority was initiating on behalf of riders is pretty much on the back burner until a semblance of normality returns to this stretch of road which is likely to be months away.  No big deal in the scheme of things and no point in getting worked up about Mother Nature.  In the meantime, residents of the area can get regular updates of road closure status to their phones on an almost hourly basis or log directly onto the NZTA website to avoid getting turned around.  

Typical live on-line road hazard map for the Coromandel Peninsula

The inconvenience to motorcyclists is exceedingly small in the scale of things. The impact on local businesses which rely on tourist trade in particular are enormous when faced with road closures. Here's a link to a video and article which appeared today on a news website concerning the impact on business: LINK .  Sadly, events like this affects the economy of the whole region.  

Let's just hope that we get a decent run of fine weather as spring arrives and everyone can get back to normal for the main tourist season, as well as making my commute for IAM coaching to be a whole lot more pleasurable.  Getting clay off the bike after every ride is also getting a bit tedious!




10 comments:

  1. Andrew Thomson has left a new comment on your post "Trouble in Paradise":

    Bummer, Geoff. Better get a dual purpose bike too...

    BTW: we have a small (well, actually huge) but similar problem down here...

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    Replies
    1. Andrew,
      Reckon I'll have to fit adventure tyres to the GSX-S! Actually, I have to use the road tomorrow with a dire forecast. Think it's going to be the 4x4!

      Yeah, been watching the news about the Manawatu Gorge. Fair chance it will be closed for good. Still, your Tenere should get over a bit of dirt :-)

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  2. Wow both you guys have it rough at the moment. That Manawatu Gorge slip is huge, and it was a beaut ride along there too.

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  3. Hi Steve,
    It's been the wettest Autumn and Winter since we moved permanently to Coromandel in 2008. I'm not sure whether the total rainfall is any greater but the intensity of the storms while they last is a lot higher. Roll on Spring!

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  4. Clay can be such nasty stuff. Lets hope your weather improves so you can get out for some two wheel therapy. Breaking rainfall records is no fun, we did it this last fall and winter.

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  5. Hi Brandy, you're spot on with that, especially with sport-oriented tyres without big rain grooves. Funnily enough, I've just got back from the southern end of the road in question. Took the 4x4 because of yet another dire forecast for later on today. Even with moderate rain on the way down and back, there was an awful lot of clay being washed onto the road. Clean-up crews were hard at work trying to open up more drains but with the forecast, they will no doubt be beating a hasty retreat any time now. Wouldn't be surprised that with what is to come, we'll get cut off again. Still, we have powwer, food and a good selection of wine :-) .

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  6. Have been seeing on the weather network the rains have been heavy down there. Hope it clears up for you soon. We've had a lot of flooding this year as well in Eastern Ontario.

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  7. Hi Karen, nice to hear from you!
    So sorry to hear about your weather too. I'm sure that the world is suffering greater extremes than it used to. At the end of summer, we had huge cracks in the ground because it was so hot and dry! Dunedin, one of our south island cities; is suffering massive flooding today!

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  8. Hi Geoff, I'm a bit late to this, however, we are having the same sorts of issues on the Great Ocean Road. Significant amounts of money have been spent in reent time pinning rockfaces and netting other areas to prevent rockfalls landing on the road. Despite this, it is partially closed again at present. My hunch is that post WWI engineering and a road built with picks and shovels in the 1920's & 1930's is fundamentally flawed. Also, bushfires have denuded some sections which enhances water erosion. Relieved to hear that you have a good selection of wine for when you are cut off!

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  9. G'day Jules!
    You too eh? It seems that nowhere is safe from the more recent weather extremes. There's going to be a meeting on Monday when the district mayor, roading authority, businesses and public all get to voice their views. My sympathies are with the roading authority as they are really trying hard. It's just the topograpy which is the real culprit. At least we haven't had serious bushfires in our area for a good few years although there was one on the other side of the peninsula earlier in the year.

    Yep, we have a great supply of Aussie reds and Kiwi whites - all food of the Gods! :-)

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