Maungakotukutuku Trails
Last updated: Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:44:00 GMT
The sun was shining, the skies were clear and everyone else was at work, so what else would I do with a spare Wednesday morning?
After working a couple of half days at the weekend, and with a couple more coming up the next weekend, I decided I'd treat myself to a day in lieu, and a little bit of a jaunt on the DR200. Forgive the crappy quality of the photographs, and forgive me if they're in the wrong order -- I took a real digital camera, but it was too much hassle getting it out of the bag every time I stopped, so I was reduced to using the camera on my Nokia 2630. It's not great, and it names the saved images badly, resulting in loss of order. Anyhoo, fun was had.
I was tempted to disappear off into the Little Akatarawa, (as it's called on my map, but it's signposted "Tararua Park" when you get to the entrance.) But that's pretty quiet, usually. Why waste a week-day, when I could get into the reputedly crowded Maungakotukutukus while everyone else was at work? I set about the patented Chris Reece trail ride preparation routine -- namely a dose of strenuous or potentiality injurous activity, followed by a late night drinking way too much. Ideal!
In the morning, suitably hungover, nauseous and tired, I pulled the rear-view mirrors off, topped off the tank and dropped the tyre pressure to 14psi. Then, a ten mile blat up the Kapiti coast from our shack to the Waterfall Road. From there, a twisty little ride up Maungakotukutuku Road, with the view down to the coast, and Kapiti Island, getting better with each turn.
At the "Mungatook" entrance to the Akatarawa Park, over the ford and then a scramble up Perham's Road, which turns into wide, easy gravel to the Whakatikei Road. Sun still shining, hangover starting to clear. It's taken this long for me to remember all of the basic points of off-road riding: sit forward, brace your arms over the bars and muscle the bike into turns; don't lean inside the corner, make the bike lean over; relax for God's sake. To this point, I've been gripping the bars so hard that my fingers are going numb. It's hard to believe that four years ago I was riding gravel roads like this at more than 45mph, on a crusty old Bombardier that bounced like a rusty bedstead.
The first of half a dozen river crossings. Pick your route, trust the bike, keep the throttle nice and steady. Some of these just pop out of nowhere -- terrain often dictates that immediately before and after a crossing, the road has been fairly closely following the path of the river, but the crossing is going to be at right angles to the flow, for obvious reasons. They're made much worse for the lamer off-road rider like myself by stopping to take photos. Setting off with a three metre one in one rock slope down to a river immediately ahead requries confidence that only a hangover can bring.
Why do people call these Bridgestone TWs "DeathWings"? Oh, I see. There's a been a lot of rain recently, and where the sun hasn't beaten the water into steaming submission, it's muddy. The Pram Track is slippery, and these TrailWings don't seem to have much grip when they're full of mud. Oh, down I go. Time to stop for a breather, and some much-needed Red Bull. This is the heaviest-going part of the ride. But the DR200 is pleased to go where I tell it, and is capable of traversing anything I'm brave enough to point it at.
Ah, sunshine. Out the other side, and it's all downhill from here, literally. The final slope down to the end of the Pram track, at the bottom of the valley, is a bit of a surprise. Once again, keep your confidence, don't be scared to build a little speed up, and the DR just goes where it's told. From here on out, a pleasant ride out down the beautiful Karapoti Gorge on occasionally whoopy gravel track. The biggest danger here is distraction by scenery. Most dangerous when combined with the odd metre cube of concrete dumped in the middle of the track. Eyes front!
Back on black! I decided to avoid the ride home via state highways and choose to zip north, up the Akatarawa road. Tens of kilometres of twisty, which 14psi tyres make "interesting." I stop at the top for another Red Bull, and then down the north side and into Waikanae. A quick stop here for some air in the tyres, buy a couple of Chupa-Chups for the kids, then zip home down SH1.
Yes, the boy's smiling now, but he'll be cleaning that bike for hours. No supper until he does!
A fun morning out, and I was back in time for lunch. Knackered, but sated. I really need to think about getting something slightly nobblier, tyre-wise, and I'm looking forward to my Keintech jet kit arriving. Hopefully, with some more practice, my skills will be slightly less pathetic this time next year. Kudos to the little DR200, and three cheers for Red Bull.