One Last Ride!

Here we are in the middle of the lockdown all because of some measly but nasty little life form with the salubrious name of COVID-19. Looking back now, going out for a ride was something we took for granted and our last ride together is probably our freshest memory and maybe our choice of destination was a portend of things to come? Where did we end up? The Woolshed Cafe!
Seven of us met at Manawatu Motorcycles. It was good too that Warren had a weekend off from driving his milk trucks out on his XJ900 and nice to see Paul D bringing out the H1 for another run. Dave R had his Guzzi out with his CB750 at home in need of some TLC. Bruce S had the GS750 out for a run and Rich out with his Vstrom filling in for his T500 that is getting closer to being back on the road. Gary A had his BMW out for a spin with yours truly on the XJ750. After some toing and froing a route and destination had us on the road heading around one of our popular circuits out to our first stop at Stanway via Colyton and Makino road. It is a route many of us enjoy on a beautiful autumn day and in particular the view north from our first stop at Stanway. To the north you look across a small plain to Mount Ruapehu and to the east/south the Ruahine and Tararuas. Having soaked up the scenery we were soon on our way making the descent towards the Rangitikei river and following it down to Ohakea.
Our usual tendency is at the end of Wilsons Road to hang a left and head towards Sanson, but this time we hung a right and then made our way around the back of the Air Force base to eventually come out just south of our destination on State Highway One. The place was really busy with a nearly full carpark. This seems to be a popular destination for families and friends to celebrate occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries and luckily for us we managed to get a long table that accommodated all of us. Much of the conversation was naturally around two things. Motorcycles and Coronavirus. Whilst the shut down certainly looked inevitable a common strategy for this time was going to be inside and outside jobs according to the weather. Minor and major motorcycle maintenance jobs were also discussed at length, but all dependent on consumables and parts to hand. How are things working out?
It looks as though our late winter/spring will see a few projects out on the road or racetrack. There are some stories of snatched circuits around near deserted streets and for those still at work, long way commutes from work to home. For some of us a growing lists of Motorcycle consumables and parts to buy as small projects transform into big projects. Whilst we are all 'penned' in at the moment let's hope we haven't been 'fleeced' by anyone and that sooner rather than later we can once again return to The Woolshed Cafe to celebrate a positive new normal.