Hi AllFor those of you who are interested.......As I lay in bed in the dark, early hours of Sunday morning listening to the persistent, heavy rain belting down on the roof it’s fair to say I wasn’t really looking forward to the ride down to Marton to rendezvous with the other (fool) hardy members determined to go on June’s B.R.R’s ride but I’ve been reliably informed from a couple of the more “experienced” (read older) members, the organiser always has to turn up. So with that in mind I dragged my ass out of bed and was on the road by 7.30am in heavy rain thinking to myself that only Colin and I would be silly enough to go riding in this weather. The rain continued unabated until Waiouru but I could see a glimmer of hope on the horizon in the direction of our intended ride and by the time I hit Taihape the weather had improved markedly to the point that there was more blue sky than grey. As I pulled into Z Marton slightly late, as I was breath tested 3 times on route, I was pleasantly surprised to see 6 others waiting there including John C on his brand new V-Strom 650 and Neville P who we haven’t seen on a ride for a while and Martin G, a new member who has seen the light and traded his Fireblade in on a DR650. Welcome Martin.After the usual ride briefing we left Martin and headed towards our lunch destination in Taihape taking the usual convoluted way. We started headed east out of town until we turned off at Fern Flats Rd then headed north and because of the recent rain the tarmac was fairly wet and being back country roads there was a lot of lichen so care was required especially for those of us with knobblies. Not long after we reach the first short section of gravel at Turakina Valley Rd which was hard and fast and the road surface was more consistent to the point where the gravel was faster than the tarmac! All too soon we return to the sealed and on to the twisty Mangahoe Rd which has had a considerable amount of upgrade work done on it lately which has improved the surface, camber and flow of the road. After a short detour we head through Hunterville then a short burst up SH1 sees us turn north onto Aldworth Rd then onto the first serious gravel of the day at Watershed Rd. Watershed Rd is 35ks and is all you want from a gravel road with lots of twists and hill climbs and descents and on a good day you get some brilliant views of the Ruahine Ranges, today was not that day. Again the surface is hard and smooth and good progress is made. We continue north and eventually turn south at Mataroa onto Ridge Rd North for a short gravel detour and as the name suggests we climbing and although there has been some fresh gravel laid recently on some of the steepest sections it’s not deep and traction is not an issue. We turn north onto Pukenaua Rd and start our decent towards lunch and soon enough we are back on the sealed at SH1 and gassing up machines at Taihape and bodies at the very good and highly recommended “Soul Food Café”We leave Taihape at 1.15pm and initially head north on SH1 for a few Ks before we turn east on a no name gravel road which runs between SH1 and Spooners Hill Rd. I had never travelled it before and as it turned out neither had any of the others and what a sweet bit of gravel it was! We start heading south and make our way towards Moawhango Valley Rd and more sweet gravel which ends all too soon then we head west at Torere Rd and back to SH1.A short burst south sees us turn west to do the Manui Rd/Te Kapua Rd gravel loop and for me the highlight of the ride. Climbing for a time to start with then a long decent that terminates in the township of Mangaweka this 25k loop is surely some of the best fun you can have on two wheels and as we regrouped at Mangaweka I could see the wide grins on us all. Most of us had done it previously but in the opposite direction and as with any road it was as if we were riding it for the first time.As we turned south onto SH1 again the first spits of rain of the ride started and the dark clouds south looked ominous but as we turn onto Otara Rd and headed east the skies were blue and the rain that threatened did not eventuate.We cross the scenic Rangitikei river then we turn south on Mangamako Rd/Waipuru Rd/Lower Pakihikura Rd and the last gravel of the ride. Another 30ks of some of the best surfaces and terrain I have been on for a while with some long straights and some nice soft sections to help the backend slid round the hairpins nicely. Eventually we hit the road at Vinegar Hill and it’s a short blast into Hunterville via SH1 for a coffee and a quick debrief.From the grins on everyone’s faces I think we were all pleased with our decision to risk riding on what looked to be a crappy day but in fact turned out to be all but dry……or so I thought until I got to Taihape on my way home and the heavens opened and the temperature plummeted all the way back to National Park. The rain however could not dampen my spirit on what had been one of the most enjoyable B.R.R’s rides for a while. It's Gr82briding!