Mud bath, hail and snow

KiwiBiker.co.nz has introduced me to like minded adventure riders who know the roads. Online they have user names which get used in person. So I changed the clumsy mouthful wideboyracer to The Tourist. Last Saturday I joined up with 11 of them including Transalper, Plug, Ghost Lemura and FarQueue to ride through the Lees Valley and off into a secret farm location which is usually unaccessible.

The weather was wet, and we were going to high ground. Wrapping my feet in silver tape won't keep out the water so I got some plastic bags from the Mobil garage and slipped them over my socks and taped around the ankles.

Most of the riders had small 250cc machines capable of riding through all sorts of rought terrain. What do they know that I do not? Then some BMW F650s turned up so that made me feel a little less ill at ease. At least I had new tyres the day before, designed to get extra grip, especially in gravel.



We arrived at the farm land over sweeping gravel roads through amazing hills. I was too focused on the riding to notice much more. The little bikes were storming through the bends. I had to concentrate on getting every corner right to keep anywhere near them. Then we arrived at the service station before the hill climb.

Then the going got tough. The roads turned to tracks turned to mud. The hail started as we made our way higher into view of the snow. Summer started officially 2 weeks ago. But New Zealand is a place of extremes. You can ski and surf in the same day if you wish. Mountains can turn on you at any time. I would never have attempted this ride alone for fear of getting stuck in mud and having to heave out the lump of a bike I ride. With the back up of a few other riders you get the confidence to really go into the wilderness and know you get into too much trouble.

Which is a good thing. My new tyres are great in the gravel (running down to 15psi for extra grip) and even in the mud they did well. In the mud on a slope with rocks.. different story, as the video footage will show. Despite a few near stationary sideways moments and some helping hands, I think the Africa Twin did remarkably well. (OK, so that is a veiled attempt at humility... in the hands of a lesser rider this bike would have caused major problems, but I managed to keep it upright and muscle it through where F650s came unstuck).

Then came the river crossing. Most had made it through. It was up to mid thigh height at least and flowing fast. Again, no one would attempt this alone but with support it is always possible. This is real adventure riding. The way to cross a fast flow is by going upstream and attacking it at 45 degrees to allow the current to help push you. I was one of the last 4 to face the crossing. Carl, with the helmet cam, decided to cross quickly to get a good angle on The Tourist getting wet. In his haste he entered the water at 45 degrees against the current and suddenly stopped dead in the middle. He looked across, I seem to recall seeing his eyes wide with realisation as he gently fell to the right. The CR230 disappeared under the surface, then so did he.

The camera equipment is watertight so the footage of the sub aqua antics is available in the gallery. After draining the cyclinder the CR230 was back up and running. Now it was my turn to cross the water. With an audience of self confident gloaters who had already crossed, I gunned the revs and splashed through. The adrenaline rush meant I was probably going to fast for the front wheel to keep grip and as I exited the bike just fell left. But I was through. Cheers went up, hands helped right the bike, and we moved on. Staying dry had long since been neglected.

After crossing a few more hilltops, we returned to the shearing shed and I decided it was time to go. I zoomed out of the farmstead with Ghost Lemur on a CR250 and Paul on a 1978 XT500 and went home muddy tired but triumphant. Definitely time for new boots.