Lunch at Powerhouse, Karapiro

[Anonymous]

#3666

My ride with the group today didn't start too well. In fact I arrived at the start point too late and the group had gone. Apparently it was Jim's fault. He said “let's go before Rob gets here” (according to Tony). With no gingerbread crumbs to follow  I headed off south and zig-zagged around the North Waikato back-roads hoping to bump into the group. I tried to get myself inside Tony's mind to figure out where he might lead them, but instead of road names I kept getting stuff like  ..”That is a load of right wing crap”  ……  and …. “it's just another part of the right wing conspiracy”  ..  which I assumed meant that I should keep turning left. I found a few roads I had never been on before, and had quite an enjoyable time on my solo ride. I had a turn being RIC, and then TEC and I even stopped and marked a couple of corners. As it turned out I wasn't too far off the mark regarding the route, but I was 10 or 15 minutes behind the group. By the time I arrived at the Power House Cafe, the rest of the group were comfortably seated and awaiting their lunch. The staff did a pretty good job considering the cafe was quite busy and there were about 12 in our group, plus Bwucie who arrived shivering from from the Area Rep's meeting in Ohakune. The food and coffee was good and Jim passed his eggs. After lunch some of the group headed off home directly from Karapiro and the rest of us followed Tony for a few more hours of exploring some great Waikato roads. There were a few chilly showers around and the roads were wet most of the way in the afternoon, but we had some great riding and Tony set a cracking pace on his F650GS with knobbly tires. Jason's new bike started leaking again. In fact it leaked so much that at times I was getting it all over my visor and it covered the road. Luckily Alex spotted the problem and all was well. We ended up at the Pokeno ice-cream shops and we didn't have too much trouble with the ice-cream melting today. Thanks Tony for leading today and planning such an interesting route. I did around 470 kms door to door today so a good length run and great fun.

[Jim Young]

#15231

Thanks for leading the ride today Tony, had an enjoyable time, and I'm glad you said lets get away from the BP before that Rob fella turns up, he's a bit of a stirrer that one  ;D

[Anonymous]

#15232

Thanks to Tony, I have never zig-zagged so many times an still miss Cambridge! We came to temporary halt on the Tauwhare Rd at the Matangi turn off . I joked that a shout would cure the problem. Still fine at this stage we circled back to find French Pass Rd and Whitehall Rd. Tony you are forgiven taking us through Lifestylers Paradise and more, that is French Pass. As scheduled we all pulled into a Mobil Service Station an fuelled up. It bucketed down while we were under cover of the forecourt. Some of the riders were Barry, John the Foleys , The Barons, Jason, Jamie, Cameron The Cosbrooks ( one of whom was not getting her flashing RIGHT). And last you guessed it was  Big Breakfast Jim. Thanks Jim and Tony. Of the remaining 8 on 7 bikes to do Tony's Tiki Tour home, I was please to have joined them including Rob this time with plenty of petrol on board. Shiney side up Just a lucky day agaist the forcasts.

[Anonymous]

#15233

Thank you for taking the weight yesterday, Tony, and keeping the troops entertained in my absence.  That Rob is a multi-tasker, ain't he?  Glad that Unca Moose didn't hold up the run to help fix a broken Norton in French Pass like he did the last time I took him that way.Nobody has mentioned that the Powerhouse's level of service and standard of tucker is hugely improved from what it was in its previous incarnations: I guess that is a positive outcome of the World Rowing Championships.I really expected you guys to be gone by the time I arrived: my head was programmed to eat the other half of my Wairakei Crunchy bar, wipe the inside of my visor, and keep on trucking.  After having a kai with you, all the body wanted to do was have a moe, so I had to keep stopping and jumping up and down and jogging up and down the road to keep awake.  This is how I know I should have put my thermal liners in!  I had met a bunch of bikers tanking up at Wairakei, as was I, and they said the top of the Napier/Taupo was a bit hairy: I felt sorry for Derek Nowell-Usticke, who left the meeting at Ohakune having to go home over the Gentle Annie to his farm at the other side of it.  He would have been higher than any of us yesterday, and I just bet his Dakar would have been feeling the gusts.

[Anonymous]

#15234

Excellent ride thanks Tony. The weather was kind and it wasn't too uncomfortable to be honest. A great turnout and “goodonya” Rincewind for bringing Binky out for a long overdue run all the way from Albany to see us off safely. There were some terrific roads and big flash homes on the Lake Karapiro loop to enjoy. Again big thanks to Tony at the sharp end and Young Jim at the blunt, job well done guys. And of course to Uncamoose and AGD for putting on an impromptu BBQ  😉 to finish an excellent day.Cheers,Herr and Frau Baron

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