Where did you ride today?

All my pictures are looking alike... but how nice can Omaha get?

Tom

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Well we are heading for winter here in Godzone, and the riding days are meant to be getting fewer, but I managed to get out on both Saturday (300km on my VFR) and Sunday (on the mighty ST). To top that off we had a public holiday on Monday (Queen's Birthday) so I got to watch the MotoGP races from Catalunya from the couch.

Sunday's forecast was pretty rubbish around my Auckland home, but looked decent further south so that's where I went, and ended up covering just under 600km. I replaced the front tyre during the week so I now have a matching pair of PR5GTs, and the bike is steering in such a surefooted yet agile manner. I love new tyre time! The weather was very cooperative and I rode out from under impending showers into sunny but cool weather; I was glad of the heated grips as it dropped to 9C at one point through the Pureora Forest. My general trajectory was south along the Waikato River (which is broken up into a string of hydro lakes/dams), and I crossed three dams at Karapiro, Arapuni and Whakamaru, which was my most southerly point, before taking the sweeping road back to Te Kuiti, and then home northwards via my favourite SH22. The heavens opened about 40 minutes from home but I can report that a combination of the ST1300 and Alpinestars riding gear kept me warm and dry, and the Michelin tyres did their thing nicely too.

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On the shores of Lake Waikare; the pink water is a result of dairy farm run-off and resulting algal bloom...

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At Arapuni Village; the adjacent lake is the home track for most of NZ's dominating rowers and kayakers.

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Some nice autumn colour, at Whakamaru.
 
Ran out to pick up a birthday present for one of the grand kids today. With the price of gas getting to be 75% higher than it was last year... or more... riding on 2 wheels is more and more the default mode of transport. Of course, I've always considered riding before taking the cage unless there was no way to strap on the bike what I need to carry... like my sliding compound miter saw with its stand. Gas tank was more than half gone so I knew the end of the ride today would be at the gas station. And with daily increases being the norm it was a good idea anyway before tomorrow's increase is added to the price.

Anyway, my grandson likes to create stop-action movies with his Avengers characters and Godzilla/King Kong stuff and needed one of those "helping hands" clamp/stands to do these. Harbor Freight has the smaller ones that can be combined to make bigger ones for half the price of buying a purpose made big one so I tacked on 43 miles to the odometer today riding all the country roads I could yet still get to HF for what I needed. Then I filled the tank just before getting back home. Calculated that the last tank was 54 mpg over 154.8 miles.
 
Took the ST to Road America. 225 miles round trip. Met my Son there to watch the Indy Car race. Fantastic atmosphere. Some vintage racers on display.D508933C-8033-4555-B01E-1BDBF895474C.jpeg258275B0-DCD4-4DFD-B082-A0C82BC195CA.jpeg9AEA99D4-A4B3-498B-98E7-4BC959CC8D98.jpegB0344FAD-9270-4A54-9858-5A0CE4FD8651.jpeg6727DCA6-BBB6-48C2-800F-2D4A4C77D387.jpeg03BCDD55-90B5-4AF2-879D-8763D75378DE.jpeg5C1F837B-F54B-4792-841B-12E5EAD765D1.jpeg258275B0-DCD4-4DFD-B082-A0C82BC195CA.jpeg9AEA99D4-A4B3-498B-98E7-4BC959CC8D98.jpegB0344FAD-9270-4A54-9858-5A0CE4FD8651.jpeg6727DCA6-BBB6-48C2-800F-2D4A4C77D387.jpeg03BCDD55-90B5-4AF2-879D-8763D75378DE.jpeg6D3EE7E1-A9A7-4239-816B-B74EDB3042E4.jpeg98E674DE-8ACF-429D-8087-A48E7A978B95.jpeg
 
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I can't compete with those fab motor pics, but on my customary trip on my VFR1200X Crosstourer to my riverside bike cafe I did enjoy a very nice hotdog.

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Now for the less interesting photos!

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I was hanging out for a ride and the forecast was so-so for Saturday and rubbish (wet) for Sunday. Getting through all the domestic chores took too long on Saturday and by the time I could gear up, it was raining. I don't mind riding in the rain, but I don't seek it out, so Saturday was out. Sunday was a surprise, possibly for our forecasters as well; started foggy then turned clear and by midday the roads were dry and the sun was out. I had a narrow 3 hour window to pack in as much riding as I could, and actually managed just on 300km, so I guess that is job done! Actually this was the worst fuel economy I've seen on my 1300 as I was riding in a "brisk and spirited" manner (but never fast!), 15 km/L. I think the picture captures the weather, the roads and a cool bike. IMG_3137.JPG
 
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