Wet grey Sunday morning in the Wairarapa

[aegis4805]

#2159

Not heeding my wife’s concern I set off at 8am this morning for a quick gravel fix in the Wairarapa. As I left Upper Hutt, Transit still had the electronic sign up at Te Marua warning of high winds on the Rimutuka Hill which had been closed yesterday. Thinks …. “Am I being foolhardy? No not windy here at Te Marua…. I’ll just go to the summit for a recee” Apart from some mist and wet road surface, my travel over the Rimutukas was uneventful. The Wairarapa was pretty damp for much of the time I spent travelling from Featherston out through Martinborough and on past the Hinakura Community Hall where I hung a left to head out through what I refer to as Summerhill Station.I stopped only briefly for a couple of shots of the scenery which is astounding on a clear day. Today was too wet for much of the journey to be pulling the camera out. En route to Hinakura there was much evidence of Saturday’s stormy condition with broken tree branches and foliage on the road in many places.KSlider, Garry W and others were through this route last Sunday and KSlider warned me the gravel was quite deep in parts. The total gravel over this route is only about 25km but a lot of fun. The deep stuff beyond Hinakura lasted for about 10km of this distance. I was keen to see my bike felt with a Tourance tyre on the rear and a TCK80 on the front – most of the time I run TKC80’s front and rear but having a partly used Tourance from when I first bought the bike I thought I’d try to conserve the near new TKC80 I have for the next serious adventure ride. My verdict – this is a good tyre combination. The TCK on the front provides the necessary bite in deep gravel. Rear TKC is needed for serious adventure rides where mud and really soft surfaces can be encountered.All in all I head a great ride – the fact that it was solitary was not a bad thing – plenty of reflection time. I met other BMWOR members heading out for their ride to the Fell Museum at Featherston as I returned over the hill about 11am.The mandarin 1150GS (that I affectionately refer to as ‘rubber ducky’ feels like an old trusted friend and continues to put a grin on my face. IMHO they’re a great bike for NZ ‘all roads’ – shame they’re sealing so many of them Cheers Aslan

[Dave Ross]

#8249

The mandarin 1150GS (that I affectionately refer to as ‘rubber ducky’ feels like an old trusted friend and continues to put a grin on my face. IMHO they’re a great bike for NZ ‘all roads’ – shame they’re sealing so many of them Cheers Aslan

Sealing is a waste of tax payers money :-). I agree, a ride in the rain can be a satisfying experience, especially on gravel roads. I feel safer on those in the wet than I would on a sealed road.  Thanks for taking the time to write this up.Oh, I hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of linking your photos.

[aegis4805]

#8250

Hi Koko – aka Alex – thanks for linking the photos I was struggling to figure out how to do it.Trust all's good for you. Cheers S 

[2bjr]

#8251

Hi.I almost also bought some section on the Rimutaka Hill. Left hander, leaning nicely and then suddenly the wind pushing me more down.Interesting combination with the tyres. 😕Stay on top.

[aegis4805]

#8252

Hi.Interesting combination with the tyres. 😕

Hi Adventure Tharon - I understand your bemusement with the tyre combination. However, it does work. Quite a number of the folk who frequent the Adventure Rider ADV site use this combination on their GS'sHope you're enjoying Dunedin - cheers Aslan  😎

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