A trip down Memory Lane

We left the UK for a life in New Zealand in 1975.  Leaving one's family and cherished friends wasn't something to be undertaken lightly, especially in those days which were well before emails, Skype, Zoom etc.  Nonetheless we managed to stay in touch and the occasional trip back to the UK also kept friendships alive.  Having said that, I guess that true friendships withstand the test of time irrespective of how often we see each other.  How often do we remark that it's like we've never been apart when we meet or speak to close friends we haven't seen for a long time?

One such close friend is UK-based Rick.  We grew up through our teen years together from a shared love of flying model aircraft.  Here's a photo of Rick and I with our free flight gliders in the 1960's.  By all means have a laugh at my woolly hat!

Yours truly and Rick, circa 1966

From our mid-teens, we also shared a love of motorcycles, avidly reading about them before actually getting our first bikes.  In Rick's case, it was a 200cc Triumph Tiger Cub and in mine, a 50cc Suzuki. We read the monthly Mototorcycle Mechanics magazine and others from cover to cover.  For topping the national exams at my school in English and Physics, my chosen book prize was "The Rolls Royce of Motorcycles"; about the Brough Superior.  At the same age as me, Rick still rides a Honda Fireblade and owns a number of classic vehicles so we've both maintained the passion about things automotive for at least 57 years.

We stay in regular touch and recent correspondence contains some lively reminiscences about our youth and whether time has corrupted some of our memories.  Then this week, a package arrived from Rick containing a copy of Motorcycle Mechanics from May 1964!  What a thrill it was to receive it because if there was a seminal moment in our youth, it was reading this particular issue way back in time. From memory, this issue was only a handful of months before getting our first motorcycles and reading about the superbike of that era, the mighty Triumph Bonneville; really got our hormones sloshing about.  Here's the cover.....

Motorcycle Mechanics magazine, May 1964

There's a lot of detailed reading to be done over the coming weeks but as well as awakening old memories, it's interesting to compare all sorts of things between then and now. Flitting through the pages, most of the magazine staff wore a collar and tie - how terribly formal!  In articles on how to maintain a bike, there was an obligatory white coat in most instances!  The other noticeable thing was a relative lack of objective data in many road tests.  Note the 120mph claim on the cover for the Bonneville for example.  Yet we swallowed it, hook, line and sinker!  Even so, the wide range of articles covering maintenance, road tests, equipment reviews etc provided a great introduction to what was to become a lifetime passion and route to personal freedom.

An initial perusal of the magazine has brought forth a few delights to share.  The first was a reader's letter on a hints and tips page. From C Yeo of Warmley:

"To seal inner tubes against slow punctures, first remove the valve and pump in about 2 tablespoons of milk, then spin the wheel and pump up.  I have found this a most effective cure".

Hmmm..... if it were today, Mr Yeo may find himself in trouble with the world's more litigous countries. Personally, I think that his hint is a subtle way of removing certain gullible riders from the gene pool.  Practical Darwinism at work.

The early 60's was a time when motorcyclists were transitioning from the traditional "pudding basin" helmets to a loose copy of those worn by jet fighter pilots.  Interestingly, there was a British Standard for testing, even in those days.  It consisted of a 10lb (4.5kg) block being dropped onto a helmet from 8ft (2.4 m).  There was an penetration test using a steel spike too.  No assessment of frontal and side impacts as full-face helmets were a fair way off.  Prices varied enormously at the time.  A basic Slazenger helmet was a little over 2 pounds and a top of the line Everoak Racemaster jet helmet was a shade under 5 pounds.

Oh dear.....

Motorcycle clothing was ridiculously cheap by today's standards but as with all items, it probably isn't a country mile away from today's prices when taken as a percentage of nett income.  The accompanying photo is for the Belstaff Trialmaster suit.  I had one of these suits.  It was devoid of armour but having hit the deck on the odd occasion whilst wearing it, its toughness and abrasion resistance was pretty good.  The advert says "treated for rot, fungus and water" which was no exaggeration of its performance and longevity.  The waxed cotton construction was hard wearing over a good number of years and because of the wax coating, a secondary layer consisting of road grime and squashed insects built up over the official one.  This might have been unsanitary but resistance to chemical, biological and nuclear weaponry could probably have been added to the list of its capabilities.

I don't recall seeing any motorcylists wearing waxed cotton jackets in recent times but in the UK at least, Belstaff seems to have found a fashion niche among "gentlemen farmers" and folk who attend TV-worthy cross-country horse events.  Green gumboots also appear to be the footwear of choice, probably even in high temperatures with not a drop of rain on the horizon.  But I digress....

A couple of adverts for accessories also caught my eye.  Whilst the early Japanese motorcycles generally came with "all the fruit", British bikes didn't generally have indicators and 6 volt electrical systems posed problems too, not the least being unable to see where you were going in the dark.  However, it was possible to buy aftermarket indicators for the princely sum of 5 pounds 7 shillings and sixpence.  With unreliable Lucas "Prince of Darkness" electrics, this may have been a bridge too far for the limited electrical output.  However, Lucas did offer a 12 volt conversion for some British models for between 7 and 15 pounds.  Perhaps they'd belatedly seen the writing on the wall with their Japanese competitors who had been initially dismissed as not being a threat.

Moving on to the price of bikes themselves, the 650cc Triumph Bonneville was priced at 320 pounds.  Arguably, the pinnacle of modern bike development at that time. 

The 250cc Ariel Arrow Super Sport cost 196 pounds.  With a pressed steel monocoque frame, it's a pity that they weren't developed further.  A friend had one and the handling was impressive.

The surprisingly competent Ariel Arrow

The mid-size 500cc Triumph Tiger 100 was 286 pounds.  I owned an earlier version and apart from irritating minor oil leaks and 6 volt electrics, they were really reliable.  The important feature of most bikes of that era was that they were easily maintained by the average owner with only a small number of special tools required for when more extensive work was required.

Power in hand.... tongue in cheek more likely!

Japanese bikes were just starting to make serious inroads into the market and 250's such as the Honda CB72 Super Dream and the Yamaha YDS2 were more than a match for most British 500's.  With the Yamaha priced at 257 pounds, it was cheaper than the 500 Triumph above with far more features.

Yamaha YDS2 with flashing indicators as standard!

The Japanese made tuning kits for their bikes freely available at modest cost even by the standards of the day. The following photo for a 250 Honda shows a high performance camshaft, head gasket and valves for a total of 5 pounds. Amazing!

Extra performance at a modest price

The magazine covers not only motorcycles but 3-wheelers too.  In post-war UK and many other countries too, family finances didn't always stretch to owning cars.  Three-wheelers could be driven on a motorcycle licence and were comparatively common on the roads in the 50's and 60's.  Unfortunately, most of them were fitted with underpowered small capacity motorcycle engines and were normally found holding up a long line of traffic on the open road or having expired en route to somewhere.  Some of the tales involving 3-wheelers deserve an article in their own right!

Prices weren't hugely more than for a bike like the Bonneville and offered extra carrying capacity and protection, even if performance was appalling.  The Fiat 500 undoubtedly offered the best value for money although it required a car licence.  I guess  that these types of vehicle provided the divergence opportunity for those who rode motorcycles for fun and those who needed them primarily for transport at a modest price.

It's a real thrill to have received the magazine from Rick and I'm looking forward to a thorough in-depth read over the coming week or two.  It represents the start of my motorcycling passion and has unlocked a lot of memories at the same time.

Doing a bit more future-proofing

It was 10 years ago to the month when I joined the Institute of Advanced Motorists as a means of upskilling and prolonging my riding career in a safe and fulfilling manner.  The blog has documented the road to being coached in Police Roadcraft, passing the IAM Advanced Test, then further training and tests to become an Observer (mentor) and an Examiner 4 years ago.  All that was due to well-known US motorcycle safety author David Hough emailing me in 2010 having seen an article I wrote and pricking my conscience.  Certainly a fantastic outcome and I've tried to pay it forward as thanks to all those people who put their time into making me a better rider.  A real win-win if ever there was one.  Made some wonderful lifelong friends too.  One of them and fellow IAM member, Tony, turned 57 a week ago and we celebrated his birthday with a 200 km brisk scamper round a biker nirvana on our doorstep; the northern Coromandel Loop.  Being a Monday with all the visitors having gone home, we virtually had the road to ourselves in warm, sunny conditions.  Absolute heaven!

Tony on his Yamaha MT10 SP and yours truly at Whitianga harbour

However, I'm 74 later this year and still love riding.  Whilst there are no concrete plans to stop, I'm becoming more comfortable with the idea of not riding as I've had such a great length of time on 2 wheels.  I'll be retiring as an active IAM member at year end, but will still ride socially, at least for a while. Whenever the time comes to stop doing something that has consumed a large part of our lives, I reckon it's really important to have a fall-back interest to keep us mentally and physically active. I have a reasonable range of other interests.  None of them would replace motorcycling on their own but the mix would probably be an acceptable substitute.  Annual international travel was also regular until early 2020  (Wuhan in July 2019!) but that's come to a grinding stop.

Competitive sailing was once a big thing in my life but that requires a high degree of physical fitness.  Not interested in just cruising. We have a runabout for sea fishing as it's something which Jennie and I can do together.  Unfortunately, it hasn't been in the water since last November due to weather, tides, other commitments and so on.  Note to ourselves - just make time and stop procrastinating!

Jennie and grandkids with the Stabicraft 1410 So-fish-ticated

 

Four-wheeled vehicles have always occupied a distant second place to bikes when it comes to fun but I've had the odd thought about a Lotus 7 replica as a motorcycle replacement.  However, whilst it's a nice thought, it probably wouldn't get used a whole lot and could be a pain to get in and out of  as we age more.  Probably not going to happen.  We have a 2005 RAV4 which we use for launching the boat and general towing duties or travelling on dirt roads around the peninsula.  It's bullet proof, owes us nothing and should serve its purpose for a few more years yet, albeit something that's not exciting, merely utilitarian.  Jennie has a 5 year old Honda Jazz RS which has only covered 30,000 km and is perfect for longer hauls in comfort, not to mention surprisingly good performance and handling.  Little point in replacing that either.

Pocket rocket - the Jazz RS

Real first world problem isn't it, so hardly a big deal in the scheme of things but nonetheless, having another fall-back interest is still an important issue to keep mind and body functional.  I can actually see an e-bike in my future. There are lots of hills in our vicinity and an e-bike would overcome the shortcomings of my 30 year old mountain bike and ageing body.  Also, Jennie has hinted at something that we could enjoy together and isn't so weather dependent (or on age, come to that!).  Our near-neighbours of a similar vintage have a 1950's MG TF classic car which they head off in regularly for an adventure somewhere.  The hint was that we might look at buying a classic car of some sort.  

Since that throwaway comment, I've quietly looked at what's available in NZ and have found very little with that emotional appeal which has been an important factor in buying my bikes.  Well, to qualify that statement; nothing much below where we would need to spend quite a bit of money to buy cars such as a good 60's Mustang or a more modern Cobra replica.  Not a show-stopper but probably unlikely in terms of guilt through spending part of the kid's inheritance!  However, there is one British car from the 60's that I've always liked which isn't ridiculously expensive and wouldn't mean massive amounts of time spent keeping it on the road.  

Followers of the UK TV comedies Mr Bean or Only Fools and Horses will remember the ghastly 3-wheel Reliant Robin vehicles which featured prominently in those programmes.  Mention the name Reliant and that's what will always spring to mind for most people.  However, they uncharacteristically produced a vehicle with exceptional performance for the time.  That car is the Reliant Scimitar GTE (or even the coupe version).  This is it.....

The Reliant Scimitar GTE (file photos)

1967 Scimitar Coupe (file photo)

With a fibreglass body and a number of UK Ford engine options including a 3 litre V6, it should be relatively reliable and easy to maintain.  The looks appeal to me but that's getting well ahead of things.  I now need to think a bit more seriously about whether a classic car is going to be of sufficient attraction to help keep mind and body active in the coming years.

I hope that this post hasn't been too boring.  The main purpose has been to articulate the thought processes of  "a person of a certain age" to stay mentally and physically stimulated in the future by having fall-back interests to replace the main passion of riding motorcycles for approaching 60 years.  Something that most of us will need to consider at some stage in life, even if motorcycling hasn't been the main passion.

The Occidental Tourist

Excuse the title which is a play on the award-winning book and subsequent movie "The Accidental Tourist".  The new title is perfect for my geographic origins and the fact that we've spent the last few days taking a break (a break from what, I hear you ask!) and  doing tourist stuff with friends from Wellington that we catch up with annually.  This year, it was in the Rotorua area.  We used to live not far from there many moons ago and had visited the various geothermal hotspots many times.  However, there were lots of fun things to do besides that, so no motorcycling adventures this time around and showcasing a bit of NZ instead.  Here are one or two of the multiple things we got up to.  Not a very PC thing to say, but nice to go sightseeing without being over-run by seething crowds!

Mamaku Railcruising

The rail line was closed to commercial traffic in 2001 and 10 years later, some entrepreneurs opened a 10 km stretch through native bush for a 90 minute return journey as a tourist enterprise.  Continuous improvement currently sees computer-controlled electric vehicles which trundle along at about 20 km/hr which is great for photo ops. It's not an all-action activity but allows people access to parts of the countryside which are not all that easy to reach.

Loading up

Ready for the off

 

Native forest - young Lancewood trees in the foreground

Lake Rotorua caldera - still geologically active

Not exactly a high speed thrill but great to see parts of the country that you wouldn't normally see.  The owners have plans to extend the line but I guess that will be down to the level of tourists over the next few years.

Redwoods eco tree walk

Part of the Whakarewarewa Forest includes a stand of Californian Redwoods covering some 6 Ha.  They're around 118 years old and up to 75 metres in height. Walkways are slung between the trees and can be traversed in both daylight and at night.  We did the night walk first and it really is a world class spectacle with all the superb lighting.  The photos really don't do it justice.

Access spiral

Suspended Walkway

Walkway at night

Another fantastic feature was clusters of suspended lights up to 2 metres tall, made by artist David Trubridge.  They looked sensational at night.

Light clusters at night

More light clusters

During daylight

More suspended walkway

It was great doing the tree walk in daylight but the night walk was truly breathtaking with ever-changing lights illuminating the trees and tree ferns below the canopy.  The best was saved for last with perhaps a couple of acres lit up by continuously moving points of light in green and red which smothered the ground, tree trunks and foliage.  It looked like luminous insects (or fairies if you prefer!) and we could have watched it for hours.  Nothing can replicate the real thing but at 7 mins 38 seconds on the following video, you can get a sense of it: 

Wingspan National Bird of Prey Centre

Established at Rotorua in 2002, Wingspan is heavily involved in the conservation and research involving birds of prey; rehabilitating, breeding and returning them to the wild.  The principal activity is centred around the NZ forest falcon, or Karearea in Maori. The Australasian Harrier Hawk and the small native Ruru owl are also cared for, as is the Australian Barn Owl which has also become established in small pockets in NZ.

Jennie with a native forest falcon

Who are you looking at, human?

A tasty bit of fresh chicken

In addition to more traditional methods of training the birds to hunt, Wingspan also uses a bird-shaped drone for them to attack. Seeing a falcon smack into the drone at speed was an incredible sight.

Wingspan member Heidi launching the drone

Falcon closing in on the drone

Contact!

Heidi with an Australian Barn Owl

Landing craft lake tour

There are multiple lakes in the Rotorua area, mostly filling old volcanic vents - more dormant than extinct!  We thought it would be nice to enjoy them in a genuine WW2 landing craft which has been modified for tourism.

Ex-WW2 landing craft built in 1944

   

View of the controls

The first lake visited was Okareka, which has houses scattered round the foreshore.  Good trout fishing and the photo below is of a house with a private beach and various toys - nice!  We were told that the Thai royal family also has a lodge on the lake which I guess could also be a bolt hole with all the recent unrest.  However, paying guests are apparently charged NZ$6000 per night for the privilege of staying there.  I hope that includes meals and use of the exotic water-borne toys they allegedly have there!

Private house at Lake Okareka

We were also amazed to see an air boat being retrieved from the lake.  Didn't know that there were any in NZ!  It's used by a contractor to spray Diquat, an aquatic herbicide used to kill hornwort, a non-native invasive weed species.

Airboat driving onto the trailer

Being inspected for weed

Landing craft on Lake Tarawera (file photo courtesy of Duck Tours)

With no overseas tourists, it's nice to indulge in a bit of tourism in our own country and support local tourist operators.  Also great to catch up with our Wellington-based friends whom we first met some years ago on a holiday in Rarotonga.  Great weather throughout although the 200+ km drive home was in torrential rain and gale force winds.  Dinner that evening was a makeshift affair as a tree had fallen on power lines not far from where we live so the BBQ on our deck was pressed into service.  The storm was abating but it was still as windy as heck and right on sunset, everything was bathed in an eerie light.  Made for a good photo though whilst I was cooking!

Aftermath of the storm from our front deck

 

The learning never stops....

There's a saying "Every day is a school day" which basically means that we never stop learning, no matter how old we are.  The first lesson was a week ago when we were having neighbours round for dinner.  I'd volunteered to make crostini to for a salmon and pesto entrée.  This involved cutting rings of French bread, brushing on garlic-flavoured olive oil and sticking them in the oven for 30 minutes to crisp up.  What could possibly go wrong?  Well, paying attention to what I was doing would have been helpful.  Instead of putting the rings on an oven-proof teflon sheet,  I stuck 'em on Jennie's prized pastry-rolling sheet which is definitely not teflon.  At the end of 30 minutes, it was nicely deformed and welded to the bars of the oven shelf it rested on.  They say that honesty is the best policy but it earned me a bollocking of some magnitude.  That's inevitable when you're married to an ex-primary school teacher but at least I wasn't made to stand in the corner. Jennie totally failed to see the strength of my argument that the crostini were fine so it didn't matter. She was pretty darned cross as she'd had it for years so I ordered a replacement online within the hour and it arrived 2 days later. Further recriminations avoided.

A new visor for my Shoei GT Air helmet arrived the other day.  Where we live presents a particular visibility problem.  The 50-odd km home is along the edge of a body of water called the Firth of Thames.  Late in the day, the sun's reflection off the water is horrendous and limits visibility on the twisty road - a genuine safety concern.  The internal drop down tinted visor on the GT Air helps but there's still a lot of light scatter.  An iridium-coated visor offered promise but at nearly NZ $200 for the genuine Shoei article, I wasn't prepared to take the risk.  However, a Chinese knock-off via AliExpress was available at 1/3 of the price including delivery which was worth trying.  Quality is absolutely fine and it's set up for a Pinlock anti-fog insert.  The gold iridium finish went well with the helmet livery and added a certain je ne sais quoi to my riding gear.  My mistake was mentioning it to Jennie who replied "It still won't turn you into a chick magnet".  Presumably, I was still in the dog box from the loss of her pastry sheet, sigh...  Anyway, it worked an absolute treat with little or no glare and being reflective rather than tinted all the way through, it can be used in relatively low light.  I must say that of all the Chinese products purchased in recent times, only once have we had a quality issue.

Nice bit of bling...

The next learning experience was with a slower form of transport, my 30+year old Diamondback mountain bike.  For some time, the crank bearings have been wearing quite badly and had recently started to make strange noises and occasionally semi-jamming .  Not wishing to be stranded somewhere, it was time to remedy the situation.  Special tool required to pull the crank arms off the hub, a tool which I didn't have of course.  Ditto for the special tool to pull the bearing covers.  There are a lot of advantages to living out in the countryside but shopping ain't one of them!  Two days waiting for an internet order to arrive.

The knackered bearing cassette

Removal of the bearings was straightforward with the tools and from what I could see, at least one or two of the balls had disintegrated. Time to order a complete replacement but first, a bit of reading about what were the key measurements needed to place an order.  Turned out that the exact part was no longer available but searching a UK mountain bike forum, someone had experienced the same problem and a respondent had listed a suitable upgrade.  Mercifully, this was available in NZ.  Another 2 days until it arrived.  A minor tweak of the gears and everything is better than it's been for years -  more great learning!

Last Sunday was official IAM duties and I'd been booked to take someone for a no-obligation IAM assessment ride to see if they were interested in officially joining and being mentored towards their Police Roadcraft Advanced Test.  The person in question was Barbara, riding a Yamaha MT-09 with a cool grey and flouro yellow paint job.  In her 60's, she was a latecomer to motorcycling although her partner David had been riding since his teens.  David was riding a Suzuki GSX-S1000 F with a nice red and black paint job.

Some nice hardware

Barbara had the view that as a relative latecomer to riding and with David being experienced, she'd better get serious about the quality of her training.  Getting her full licence was with an instructor who just happened to be Chief Examiner of IAM at the time which was a great start.  That was followed up with both her and David attending the California Superbike School track-based training and then the government-sponsored Ride Forever programme (HERE).  What a fantastic attitude to upskilling and David was also keen to upskill and correct any bad habits he may have picked up over the years.

Without going into tedious detail, we spent a couple of hours on expressway, city and challenging country environments assessing, debriefing and demonstrating.  Barbara's riding was really impressive, riding quickly with no apparent effort or showiness, which is the hallmark of an excellent road rider and both she and David will absolutely lap up the mentoring.  Over the last few years, there seems to have been a change in NZ where upskilling is no longer regarded as something negative.  There are still the one percenters and a few others who wear an inability to ride as a badge of honour but things are definitely changing.  It's certainly allowed me to safely extend my riding career for longer than I'd have imagined when I joined in 2011.

Yours truly and Barbara

Before heading off for the assessment ride, we met for coffee with other members and prospective members of the IAM team who were heading off on a social run.  A complete mix of bike types and ages which is a great sign.  There were even 3 KTM's - a 1290 GT, a 790 and a 390 plus a very nice Ducati Desert Sled (which I secretly lust after!)  Not a bad way of spending a sunny day, is it?

Some of the other hardware

Enjoying summer

 As previously mentioned, life in NZ has been close to normal since mid-2020 with the exception of on-going basic C-19 precautions and the odd community case which has been effectively dealt with.  From a motorcycling perspective, it's been business as usual with hot summer days and minimal rainfall - wonderful (apart from our garden suffering with the drought)!

Last Sunday was a scheduled get-together for the central north island region of the Institute of Advanced Motorists.  The format varies depending on who turns up.  Potential new members can have a 1:1 assessment, we can take existing members for a coaching session or simply go for a social ride.  It also happened to be the IAM national AGM in the south island and a number of our regional members were heading for that, so uncertain what we were going to do.

The meeting point was in the city of Hamilton, 160 km from where I live so it was up before sunrise to get ready for the 2 hour trip south. Staggering out of bed, this was the view from our deck to get the juices flowing in anticipation of a great day on two wheels.

Dawn over Coromandel Harbour

A bit of a mental debate about which jacket to wear .  The forecast was for 29 C later in the day which is a bit warm for my full leather suit.  Dawn temperature was 16 C, so the choice was to wear a mesh jacket with the liner removed - shouldn't be too cold even with wind chill.  Hmmm...... big mistake and wish that I'd packed a light wind-proof jacket as the temperature dropped to 11 degrees at one point as I rode inland to the south.  It certainly affected my concentration for a while but it soon warmed up as the sun rose.  Silly mistake not to be repeated!

A pleasant breakfast at a Hamilton cafe as others trickled in from around the central north island, including 3 potential new members from the Bay of Plenty.  One was a member of the Patriots NZ Defence Force motorcycle club on his Harley Davidson, plus partners on an MT-09 and a GSX-F 1000F.  Lovely to see ummm... "mature" riders on sporty hardware :-) ! Due to most of the mentoring team being down south at the AGM, the decision was made to make it a purely social ride through twisty Waikato province back roads out to the Nikau Caves cafe for lunch.

Breakfast at the Coffee Club - Chris, Libby, Ra, David, Barbara and Scott

Libby and Ra ready to roll

Scott, Chris, Barbara and David waiting for the photographer to pull finger and get on his bike

Chris, who was leading the ride had planned a really scenic but challenging route through back roads with minimal time on significant public highways - sheer magic!  I volunteered to be Tail End Charlie to keep an eye on things from the rear and connected to Chris by helmet to helmet comms.

Around 100 km of almost continuous bends!

The route was an absolute cracker and a smooth approach to attack the bends to make good progress rather than on and off the throttle and brakes - we would have been stuffed in no time!  The new riders in the group fitted in seamlessly and really enjoyed both the scenery and the riding.  The Harleys performed really well in the slower tight stuff despite their conservative geometry, using their low down torque and engine braking to good effect.  Of course, attitude and skill far outweigh what sort of bike you ride. The Duke 790 was in its element - it ain't called The Scalpel for nothing!

Biking heaven!

Arriving at the Nikau Caves cafe car park in high temperatures

Drone shot of the cafe (source: Google)

With plenty of space both indoor and outside, the Caves cafe has long been a popular destination for motoring and motorcycling groups.  This time, the Mercedes car club were there.  Good food, great company - what's not to like?

Lots of rehydrating and adding calories after a hot ride

Our region covers the best part of 50,000 sq km and the IAM members live at all 4 points of the compass within it.  The decision was made after lunch to return to the village of Te Kauwhata to fuel up and then go our separate ways home.  I still had a fair bit of fuel so would say my goodbyes when the rest stopped for gas and I'd stop closer to home.

Within 5 minutes of setting off from the cafe, my ride took a turn for the worse when I was stung twice on the back of the neck by a wasp.  It really hurt and a few choice expletives were sent over the comms airwaves.  Hard to keep up the concentration when it feels like someone has stuck a knife in your neck and 2 hours to get home for some antihistamine! Must add some to my medikit.  I always wear a tube scarf irrespective of weather since being stung years ago but this little sucker must have crawled into a gap between my scarf and the back of the helmet.

Being distracted by the pain, I forgot to gas up for the last leg of the journey where there's no fuel available.  Noticing a rapidly dropping gauge,  I started short shifting, wondering whether my mobile phone would work in the numerous black spots on that stretch of road if it was necessary to get Jennie to bring a can of gas.  All was well in the end, getting home with a splash of fuel still visible in the bottom of the tank.  Handy information for the future, knowing that the fuel gauge is fairly reliable and that I can squeeze nearly 300 km from a full tank if I can control my right wrist. All in all, a wonderful day out with just over 450 km covered on some superb roads.

Just to add a nice finale to the day, I got a call from a mate saying that at the AGM down south the previous day, I'd been awarded lifetime membership of IAM "for services rendered" in establishing the Central North Island chapter 4 years ago.  Incredibly moved and honoured to receive it although at the moment, it doesn't sit all that easily.  It feels wrong to be honoured for something which has had such an impact on the way I ride and which has lengthened my riding career by a good margin.  Paying it forward to help others is the least response, given the massive personal benefits.

Beauty and the beast