Dusty Butt Chronicles Part 4
For us the last day of the Dusty Butt started early again and as you can see from the video, we snuck out of town while it was still dark. It was a g...
17-02-2020 21:51
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Dusty Butt Chronicles Part 3
Day Two of the Dusty Butt started a little later than the first day as the planned distance for the day was a bit shorter than both days 1 and 3.
Col...
15-02-2020 21:49
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A break
...from the Dusty Chronicles as there is another wee event coming up soon and the Tenere needs some love before the off.
First up, spot the differenc...
13-02-2020 21:49
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Dusty Butt Chronicles Part 2
Day One of the big event and the alarms went off at 5am for an early start but lying in bed the wind was nearly drowning them out. Wandering around o...
12-02-2020 21:48
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Dusty Butt Chronicles Part 1
Ok, so I\'ve been home for a while and even back at work for a day so it\'s time to start my write-ups of our trip away to tackle the Dusty Butt - 1,4...
10-02-2020 21:53
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Quick Update
Just a very quick update from the road. The two WR\'s ate the Dusty Butt for brekkie with no issues. We did skip some sections (which I\'ll explain ...
03-02-2020 21:53
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Shake down
After all the fettling (and spending) it was time to give the WR a run and checkout the new gearing and tyres. A message from Oldbeer on Adventure Ri...
28-01-2020 21:52
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Mouse Maintenance
With the Dusty Butt not very far away at all, the WR has been getting a fair bit of care and attention - first all those farkles and now some actual m...
27-01-2020 21:50
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Just another KTM rider"
On Friday night Colin rang to tell me that he had a visitor. And he wasn\'t just some mate or random off the street but a bloke from Austria spending...
13-01-2020 21:51
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Farkle Season Part 5
Or should that be: the continued evolution of a long-distance, mile-munching, high performance endurance weapon"
With the prospect of shortly spendin...
08-01-2020 21:50
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Excitement builds...
2020 Dusty ButtCountdown
(function(d, s, id) { var js, pjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); ...
07-01-2020 21:52
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2019 Highlights
Wow, we\'re 6 days into the New Year as I write this and I\'ve only been on two rides so far. Perhaps I should have made some sort of New Years resol...
06-01-2020 21:51
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Out East again
With the return to work rapidly approaching Colin and I thought that we\'d better get in another quick ride. This time around we substituted the extr...
05-01-2020 21:52
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Starting the year on the right foot
Just prior to New Years, Colin had decided that we needed to get out on the little bikes - something about a conditioning ride for the Dusty Butt...
...
03-01-2020 21:49
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The last adventure for the year
I was just back from Xmas in the ?naki with all the rellies when my phone goes off and it?s some bloke called Colin inviting me on a two-day ride. He...
31-12-2019 21:49
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Happy New Year Tenere
Not sure if it really needed it...
But I did it anyway...
Too clean" Best do something about that......
31-12-2019 21:49
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Xmas - done and dusted
Yep, she\'s all over...
This year our tribe had Christmas at my sister\'s in the \'naki. I took the ute and dog up and somehow managed to find room ...
30-12-2019 21:50
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The ride before Christmas
Well, Merry Christmas...this blog has been a long time coming. Over a week ago Colin and I snuck in a little pre-Christmas ride and I got more than h...
30-12-2019 21:50
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2019 Coast to Coast
Saturday was this year\'s running of the Coast to Coast ride which raises money for our local rescue helicopter.
The one photo I took this year...
...
16-12-2019 21:49
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Shake down tag
So after all the farkles were fitted, on Sunday I had to take the little WR for a short ride to test them out.
I didn\'t bother strapping the bags on...
05-12-2019 21:48
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Farkle Season Part 4
Yeah, I decided to spin this one out a little ;)
Now for that smaller box...
Well, now that I had another endurance ride capable, long distance t...
04-12-2019 21:48
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Farkle Season Part 3
When will it end"
Box collecting expert...
So the WR was supposed to be some cheap fun. But unfortunately they even make farkles for little bikes...
03-12-2019 21:49
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An Entertaining Eastern Excursion
On Saturday I was once again persuaded that I needed more riding practice and after initially being a little discouraged by this comment on my abiliti...
25-11-2019 21:48
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2019 1KC
Early November always heralds the running of the NZDR 1KC - it\'s a 1,000km cruise that also happens to raise a little cash for Muscular Dystrophy - a...
11-11-2019 21:52
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Eating dust, flipping stones...
...and grinning like an idjit!
Yesterday was the day to park the farkling and get out on the Ten to enjoy Day 2 of summer.
Naturally, the motivating...
04-11-2019 21:49
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Farkle Season Part 2
Yes, the farkling continues...
I actually started this install before fitting the tail tidy but there were hold-ups...
This farkle was all about erg...
02-11-2019 21:50
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Farkle season"
So apparently winter is supposed to be when the farkling happens. Well, I guess I\'m running late. Better get started in earnest...
So this thing s...
01-11-2019 21:48
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Sunshine
It\'s a long weekend here but so far it\'s actually been a little grey and cool. After a day of pottering around home on Saturday I decided that I at...
27-10-2019 21:48
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A wee loop
On Saturday morning I received an important phone call. It went something like: "you need to go for a ride tomorrow to keep your hand in, can\'t go r...
14-10-2019 21:49
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Some prep...
With the Connie recently celebrating her twelfth birthday and the distance riding season about to kick off with a vengeance, it was time for a little ...
30-09-2019 21:50
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FRDC MC Ride #2
Yesterday was our second FRDC MC ride - just under 2 months since our first one, but somehow I managed to plan even better weather!
We met up in town...
23-09-2019 21:45
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Fordell Trail Ride
A few months ago I sniffed out an upcoming Trail Ride and after Colin and I had so much fun on our last one, I set to inviting all and sundry who I kn...
18-09-2019 21:51
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About time!
A well deserved World Championship after a few very unlucky years. Go Courtney!
...
11-09-2019 21:47
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Checking things out...
Last week I finally got the fork seals done on the Tenere and on Thursday someone suggested that they\'d need to be tested properly...
Look Ma, no ...
02-09-2019 21:45
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Well I'll be bashed!
Some time ago (around 85 days actually) and after scouring the internet for options, I pulled the trigger on a bash pad/skid plate for Mighty Mouse. ...
18-08-2019 21:45
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FRDC MC actually riding...
A little ago I put out a note at work to see if I could drum up some interest from the bike riders at work at getting together for the odd pootle. I ...
28-07-2019 21:49
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A long time ago...
Or perhaps it was last weekend...I went for a ride, and have only now gotten around to blogging it...
Anyway...
Last Sunday Colin came up on Judas l...
14-07-2019 21:47
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IBA Awesomeness
So, a few days ago the 2019 Iron Butt Rally finished and it\'s been really neat to watch all the posts on their Facebook page. There are also daily r...
03-07-2019 21:48
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Quiet weekend
This past weekend I pretty much stayed around home doing chores and wasting time on the internet...
The Tenere sorely needs a run but it also needs a...
02-07-2019 21:48
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Solstice Ride
So, as mentioned in the last blog, Chris was at it again, riding yet another Saddlesore 1000 for charity. This time around he had his wife Stella on ...
24-06-2019 21:50
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What the"
I don\'t usually post up too much about my planned rides (ok, maybe planning stuff for distance events) but tomorrow I am planning on going for a litt...
21-06-2019 21:46
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Two WR's Tackle a Trail ride
This post has been a while coming - I\'ve had some trouble with video quality after uploading to Youtube. If you look at the two videos you\'ll notic...
19-06-2019 21:47
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Gotta be blue...
...farkles that is.
Yep, another package from China arrived. That Mighty Mouse is getting pretty spoilt lately...
This time around it was some chea...
11-06-2019 21:52
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Kidnapped!
On Saturday I missed a call from Colin. Turns out he was having some bluetooth issues...
Three quarters of an hour later I heard a boxer coming up t...
10-06-2019 21:54
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Graveliciousness!
On Monday the Queen was much more useful than usual, as she is still with us we were able to take the day off work to celebrate her birthday which jus...
05-06-2019 21:56
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Mouse lube
Well, one of the inconsiderate things that Yamaha did when designing the WR was to forget to add a shaft drive. This means that poor old Mighty Mouse...
02-06-2019 21:49
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That valley again...
So this bloke I know was keen to get some more miles on his new KTM and this time around he\'d already decided that he wanted to go up the Whangaehu V...
26-05-2019 21:47
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Mighty Mouse in the Maungatuks
Yesterday I finally had the chance to ride the little WR in the mighty Maungatuks - a place that Colin had been promising would be fun and challenging...
19-05-2019 21:45
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Glutton for punishment
Every time I change a tyre I run into some little issue and end up saying "never again."
The easy bit...
But, the WR is only a little bike, how ha...
15-05-2019 21:50
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Figure of 8"
During the week a chap I know and do the odd ride with done gone and traded a bike in so had a new stead that needed blooding. And he\'d decided that...
12-05-2019 21:50
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Out with the old...
So, on getting home from the TT2000 the rear E-07+ on the Tenere was looking reasonably second hand and just prior to meeting the Aussie Invasion it d...
05-05-2019 21:51
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Getting dirty
I was up early on Anzac day so I could attend the Dawn Parade. This meant that by about 9am brekkie was a memory, the dog had been walked and I still...
27-04-2019 21:49
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The Zumo returns...
So the new 595 lives on either the Tenere or the Connie, but the old 550 still goes - what to do with it"
Well, while it does get used in the car (pr...
15-04-2019 21:57
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Zig Zagging
Only a short ride of around 90km this weekend. I\'d done a little maintenance job on the WR and thought that like a little like a Gurkha\'s kukri, th...
07-04-2019 21:49
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Bling!
Oh yeah baby!
Been waiting for this! Cheap at only a couple of grand eh"
Bring on next year!...
03-04-2019 21:51
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Aussie Invasion
What again!
For a while Glitch from AusTouring.com had been planning yet another trip over to The Land of the Long White Cloud and while I and a few ...
01-04-2019 21:51
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'leccy cool
So this was parked at work today:
Very practical little bike for farmers and around town. And built here in NZ!
It\'s...
28-03-2019 21:51
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A small celebration
Today, our local Spitfire (yes, we have one!) celebrated ten years of flying since her restoration and luckily I spotted the post on Facebook. As you...
18-03-2019 21:51
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Coming Home - Thursday
Thursday was the day that had seemed so far away a week ago and the day that we dreaded. Yep, it was the day we had to say goodbye to the South islan...
14-03-2019 21:47
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Coming Home - Wednesday
On Wednesday we stayed based in the Nelson/Tasman area with plans to do some exploring over the hill in Golden Bay.
Around nineish I road across to M...
13-03-2019 21:49
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Coming Home - Tuesday
After our rest day (only around 385km) we had slightly bigger plans for Tuesday. We had to be in Richmond/Motueka by the end of the day but we couldn...
12-03-2019 21:51
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Coming home - Monday
After our big weekend of riding a decent sleep (in a cold motel) followed by a later start was in order. We got away from the motel at around 10am an...
11-03-2019 21:50
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Takapari Road
While we were away down South, Colin and I had plenty of time to hatch plans for future rides. I was dead keen to get my first WR adventure done befo...
04-03-2019 21:49
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Meet Mighty Mouse
Ok, so before I disappeared off to take part in the TT2000 I did something foolish and bought another bike. Except it wasn\'t foolish - I needed anot...
03-03-2019 21:46
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#9 done and dusted
Yep, Colin and I have managed to wobble our way around the South Island and complete the required 2,000km and 100,000 points to qualify (subject to fi...
24-02-2019 21:47
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Water
Somebody told me I shouldn\'t wash the Tenere - it might shrink...
So yeah, Chillertek, I\'m working on the N + 1 thing...
And now there\'s...
20-02-2019 21:49
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Warming up
On Saturday I got a phone call with orders that I was riding on Sunday. Colin had a hankering for a trip up the Turakina Valley and had already told ...
12-02-2019 21:47
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Fresh ergs
So at just under 54,000km (that\'s 83,000km sooner than on the Connie), I\'ve been forced to invest in a new battery for the Tenere. I blame the prev...
08-02-2019 21:47
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Blog Comments V2
All righty then, I seem to have worked out my problem and can now comment from my new laptop...
It appears to be a Chrome extension called Ghostery (...
08-02-2019 21:47
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Blog Comments
Hi all
Yet again I seem to be having issues with Google/Blogger and blog comments. I\'ve yet to check on my other computer but on my new laptop I ca...
05-02-2019 21:49
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Hot on the Ridge
I didn\'t get a ride in on Saturday, so yesterday was the day and the Tenere was the bike. Leaving home I had great plans of a decent pootle to try o...
04-02-2019 21:49
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Blog Challenge
Fellow blogger Sonja has issued a challenge to post 10 photos taken in 2018 on specific topics. Geoff has already answered the challenge so now it\'...
29-01-2019 21:47
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Tar surfing
Last weekend Colin and I had a little TT planning session and he mentioned that we had better go riding this weekend. So, on Friday night he contacte...
27-01-2019 21:51
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That little stone...
The blighter in question
You may remember the little trouble maker above from my Four Points excursion. It successfully stopped the LHS radiator fan...
19-01-2019 21:49
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Dogs generally have good taste
This little story is currently doing the rounds of Concours FB pages and......
19-01-2019 21:49
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Tyre Wrangling
Man, how I hate it...wrestling Adv tyres on and off is a serious wrestle when done in my shed...
Anyway, got a wee ride coming up next months and the...
12-01-2019 21:47
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Zumo install #3
Yeah, that\'s right #3...
Except it\'s more like: the continued work of Heath Robinson.
I needed to get the GPS up higher on the Tenere as it was bl...
06-01-2019 21:47
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Chasing Chooks...
Gee, this holiday thing takes some getting used to...but I like it!
With Friday being my last official day of annual leave it would have been rude to...
05-01-2019 21:49
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2018 Highlights
Ok, so we\'re well into the New Year now (well, 3 days in) so it\'s time to take my yearly look back on the previous years riding.
Mileage-wise I bet...
03-01-2019 21:45
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Four Points
...and finally the write-up:
And I think that can be the last post of the year...Happy New Ye...
31-12-2018 21:50
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Chasing Bunnies
Yesterday, instead of watching bikes racing, I decided to ride one instead. I also decided to give the new GPS a tryout by loading up a route and fol...
28-12-2018 21:46
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Suzuki Series Round 3
Oh yes, the Cemetery Circuit!
It\'s been a few years since I last went across to Whanganui but this year I was dead keen. Christmas Day had absolute...
26-12-2018 21:45
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Zumo install #2
Thanks to E-Bay (cheaper), a second cradle for the Zumo turned up just before Xmas. So Xmas Eve seemed like the right day to install it on the Connie...
25-12-2018 21:46
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Merry Xmas to me...
Well, the box actually arrived a few weeks ago and yes, it\'s a farkle and I\'ve only just got around to blogging about it as the farkling process is ...
24-12-2018 21:44
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Zumo install #1
Right, time to get my hands dirty...
Annoyingly, though unsurprisingly, the Zumo only came with one motorcycle mount/cradle so that has meant buying ...
24-12-2018 21:44
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Suzuki series Round 2
Yesterday was round two of the Suzuki summer racing series, run at Manfield just a week after round one in Taupo. It was a pearler of a day and a goo...
17-12-2018 21:56
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Quick tag
And not much of a pootle so just a quick post...
Very warm out there and the wind sucked!
Old tag on Old West Road
New tag somewhere else......
02-12-2018 21:49
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GPS woes
Ok, so the poor old Zumo has been having a few issues of late and I now fear that she is fading fast and may have to be retired ?
While the route wor...
13-11-2018 21:51
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2018 1KC
This Saturday there was a pretty decent excuse for a wee ride - the NZDR\'s 1KC. That\'s a quick 1,000km jaunt around the North Island that John runs...
12-11-2018 21:50
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Friday night ride
Last night was the first Friday night ride of the year and while I don\'t normally manage to get to many of them the weather forecast for the weekend ...
03-11-2018 21:46
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Bad influence"
Maybe...
Two years ago I ran into Steve at the Houhora checkpoint on the Four Points. He was riding his V-Strom and I was on the Tenere. After havi...
12-10-2018 21:47
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It begins...
Might just add a few more to that number...
Nicer the further North I went today.
Somewhere...
Not freezing today either...
And finally, ...
05-10-2018 21:44
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Anti-clockwise
A wee while ago Colin F and I went on a little trip taking in the Napier-Taihape road and on Saturday another Colin got in touch suggesting another ri...
11-09-2018 21:44
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Wandering around Whanganui
This weekend was another Adv ride planned by Phreaky Phil and it was nice to see that after a week of rain (nice for a change) he had included a fine ...
27-08-2018 21:49
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Finishing it off
On Saturday a chap posted on Facebook asking if there was anyone keen for a gravel ride on Sunday. Pretty short notice but I decided that I could rea...
20-08-2018 21:44
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How could I forget...
...the Forgotten Highway.
This last weekend the weather decided to sort itself out and gave us two perfect days - coolish but sunny, calm and not wet...
13-08-2018 21:46
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Comments"
Yeah, I love \'em but some idiot did something to make them stop publishing - wasn\'t even getting email reminders about them. No idea what but I\'ve...
12-08-2018 21:44
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Eleven years ago...
This happened...
And now...
Only 29 years to go until my registration costs drop - by then she should have rolled over the 1/2 a million km ma...
07-08-2018 21:52
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Man Grips
So Saturday\'s ride was a bit chilly at times and my poor old hot grips were given the workout of their (long) life. I\'ve talked before of my undyin...
18-07-2018 21:48
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Chilly Mountain ride
Saturday was a fantastic day in Palmy and with Sunday supposed to be bringing a change in the weather then I needed to use Saturday for my important b...
15-07-2018 21:44
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