Just a quick report on the register ride to Omara's Restaurant. We met as advertised at the BP Papakura, where a bunch of people already waited. It was a bit difficult to pick them out amongst the other couple of hundred riders that had assembled prior to their ride to the Paeroa Street Races.6 bikes decided that the races weren't for them on such a brilliant day and headed for Coromandel, while the majority went to Paeroa races. As you can imagine the roads were infested with bikes, I wonder what these people usually do, because you rarely see that many on the road. We took the usual back roads to the coast and headed for Thames. As luck would have it we got mixed up with a bunch (flock, herd, gang?) of connoisseurs of American motorcycles, the problem was easily solved though, as we stopped and let them pass. Unfortunately it didn't take much to get caught up with them a few k's later. Just before Thames we met up with another couple on a 750 Honda Shadow who joined us for the ride. That Honda rider could have ridden circles around the American iron riders. Sorry, I am not a cruiser man, don't take it personal. Car traffic wasn't actually too bad and we made good progress. We managed to witness some interesting driving techniques, but eventually got past when we needed to. One lady driver, in a big white van kept a close eye on me in her right mirror, so I wasn't all that surprised when she smacked the left rear of her van into the roadside barrier. I wasn't even being the usual idiot on the bike, but just wanted to stay behind her until the out look at the top of the hill. Did I mention that the weather was fantastic? As much as I like watching the races, I prefer the hands on approach, especially on a perfect day like this.We made it to the restaurant and had a long lunch. The food was good, but the company was even better. Four bikes decided to carry on with the loop, occasionally stopping for the views. A quick fuel stop in Tairua and we were on our way again. Those LTs must have a huge tank, I thought :-).Over the Hill we went and onto the plains, with the intention of stopping again at the Pipiroa Country Kitchen, where we had spotted the other group earlier in the day (forgot to mention that , didn't I). The must have cleaned the place out, as it was closed when we got there. So we carried on.A bit later the LT peeled off at the turn off to Miranda and Gerda and I followed. A quick stop at Kaiaua for some shakes gave us back a bit of lost energy. The races must have ended by then, as there was a steady bike traffic and a lot of bikes parked out the front. The next stop was going to be home. There was a bit of fun to be had chasing other bikes and before we knew it we were in Kawakawa Bay, minus the LT. After a bit of a wait and a quick search we heard from Richard that he had seen the LT head towards Kaiaua. We found out later that the tank size on the LT is not quite as big as the owner thought, as pushing the thing seemed to daunting they decided to find a petrol station fast. You could have kept going in reverse Ingel 🙂 that's electric, isn't it?We managed to get home by 7pm, exhausted but happy, with enough time left for a BBQ. Pictures to follow, haven't got many, though.Alex
