What a great way to finish November! Out and about with a group of like minded souls who happen to enjoy motorcycles. And soulful it was with brilliant weather putting everyone in the right frame of mind to soak up some great riding roads through some wonderful Rangitikei countryside. Along for the somewhat spiritual experience were the usual congregation on their mobile pews with a couple of new parishioners. It was great to see Alvin and Tricia Falkner turn up on Alvins Triumph 600 with Alvins reputation as a keen road racer in the eighties preceding him. Tricia promised to turn up next time on her ZZR 400, so we will be looking forward to seeing that. Also along for the ride was Brian on his TT600, Paul on the mighty Guzzi 850, Kenny on the BMW, Michael on the FZR, Bruce on the RZ350, Paul with the Waterbus, Dion on the RG400, Kim giving the RGV250 its first outing, Rich on the ever reliable T500, Ian with his GS450, Bruce with his VFR 750, Sir Al on his Viffer 800 and yours truly on the XJ750.
The destination for the morning ride (pilgrimage?) was to Hunterville via a few backroads and up to Vinegar Hill and back home via even more backroads that run next to State Highway One and back through Halcombe, Mt Stewart and then home. Our first stop was at Cheltenham Cross Rd where the pipes from Paul Ds GT750 were putting out the last wafts of smoke after a good blow out on the run up to the top of the hill. The GT750 pipes have often been described as laser gun pipes. They actually looked more like a Magnum forty four after firing off a full round! For those of us who haven't quite got around to fixing our old strokers languishing in our garages, riding through the trail of smoke was almost a religious experience. The congregation then made its way up towards the 'mount', ie Vinegar Hill and a left turn at the top on to State highway one for the run into Hunterville. We parked up outside our usual haunt where we 'broke bread' which was washed down with a range beverages.
After being spiritually and gastronomically revived we made our way out of town in a westerly direction where we very quickly turned south to follow back roads that ran parallel to State Highway One and we were soon down to the turn off to Halcombe. After waving goodbye to Alvin and Tricia we were greeted by one of our countries esteemed Traffic Safety Officers who luckily for some seemed more interested in an SUV with a trailer on it. The run through to Halcombe then Mount Biggs saw us stopping for the last time. As the congregation began to disperse as we got closer to town one began to reflect on what was a great Sunday morning. For some of us these rides feed our hearts and souls. Its not just the wonderful communion you experience as you ride through the countryside, but the comrady that comes with being a part of a very special congregation.
Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Gary + The Blue Haze Crew
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