Been meaning to do the Hanmer loop – up the Molesworth and down the Rainbow – for sometime and finally got a round to it on the 30th of January. For anyone else contemplating it this year both roads are in great condition although there is a bit of water flowing in a couple of the fords on the Rainbow leg.
Sounds like you've had a good ride. This is still on my list of rides to do. Maybe next year. Feel free to post some pictures. Then I'll shift it to ride reports. Good post to start they year off with, after all it's about the riding. Happy new year.
a great ride (probably my favourite ride especically the top end of the Rainbow) – thanks for posting the info about road conditions – I'm planning on riding them both on Saturday 3/1 as part of the Dusty Butt 1000KM ride.
I did the Molesworth leg on 30th Dec with the group from Nelson. A great ride despite puncture and a couple of broken spokes. I have put some pictures on my Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/geckoracing/sets/Most of them were taken with a helmet cam mounted on the front indicator stalk
Just bad luck I think. It being the first day the road was open, the loose gravel wasn't only at the side of the road. There were little piles of marbles in some pretty unpredictable places.A couple of minutes before he came down, we had stopped to lift someone else's bike back onto the road and there was some talk about whether ABS should be on or off when riding on shingle. He said he had just tried out with ABS off but I think his 1200 has that brake boosting which must be very difficult to feather on the shingle. I was quite happy with my ABS on and mine (1150GS) doesn't have that unnecessary boosting.
Those were nice photo's , makes a person wonder why he would go to work, and not just do these rides, I believe that ride is only open for a couple of months of the year, is that correct ?Regards Les
