With the Winter Solstice just a couple of days behind us the weather gods were certainly kind to us for our end of month ride The 9:30 gathering certainly saw some blue sky off to the West and plenty of wind whistling towards us from the east and a lovely bank of clouds parked up on the other side of Ruahine and Tararua Ranges. Those who had come up from Levin said the Manawatu River was very high and the Opiki route was closed due to flooding, so no zigzagging around the countryside to the south. So exit stage west was an easy choice to make and with Sir Al taking the lead on his Kawasaki H2 eleven of us followed along behind him as we headed out to Ashhurst. There was some evidence of rain and still plenty of wind but we were soon heading away from the ranges as we climbed up Valley Road and headed off towards the sunshine in a westerly direction.
Colyton soon passed by and we skirted around the outskirts of Feilding as we hooked up with Makino Rd and made our way to the Stanway Hall for a stop. After a brief stop it was off to one of our favourite cafes, The Rusty Radiator for a pie and a cuppa. On a nice day the cafe has certainly become a real 'destination' for motorcyclists and other vehicle enthusiasts around the Manawatu/Rangitikei and beyond. With Stu having a catch up with the guy next door over his hot rod pick up truck and the two older gentleman out for a cruise in there 1950s Mercedes and was a great place to spend an hour shooting the breeze.
It was good to have a few older and more modern Classic Japanese bikes joining this melee of vehicles as well. The support crew were on a variety of predominantly European modern machinery and it is always great to see sir Al and Paul D giving there H2's a bit of time on the road and Warren had his Suzuki RG400 Walter Wolf enjoying a bit of a workout. If we apply the 15 years or older VJMC classic qualification then Stuart on his 2007 Kawasaki KLE500 qualifies as does Gary A on his 2000 Honda VFR800 50th anniversary model. Also well and truely in the classic camp was Roger on his Moto Guzzi V50.
All in all a great 'run around the block' in what ended up being some magnificent weather. Nice having Stuart B along for a run and meeting Mark V at the Rusty Radiator and lets hope for more of the same for next
