No Pedalling Required! - A Wander On The Honda

The old mountain bike has been parked up for a little while and i`ve been enjoying getting out on the dirt bike again. Believe me its a heap easier! I`ve grown up with dirt bikes doing a bitta motocross etc in me younger days and being a farm boy generally riding everyday. So me and a couple of mates planned a weekend away, staying at a good country pub with plenty of riding, boozing and sport watching planned (what more can you ask for?). We decided to trip up to Owhango (between Ohakune and Taumaranui) and ride the 42 Traverse and surrounding tracks. We left early friday morning with 3 Honda`s in tow and arrived at the lovely Owhango at around midday. We sorted our room out then kitted up for a afternoon of dusty hot riding.

Having ridden up there before I pretty much knew the area fairly well and we set out cruising through the awesome native bush. The track is in great condition, almost like its groomed for riding, just flows beautifully! We passed a few groups of mountain bikers then stopped at about the half way mark at the river crossing and had a splash and a bit of a feed, can`t beat the crystal clear waters in the bush! We carried on through to the other side and detoured back through a more challenging overgrown track, which was a heap of fun apart from being about 20 degrees too hot.

On the return trip i upped the pace a bit as all i could think about was the cold Speights we had back in our room. Got back about 7ish and straight away downed a few coldies and moseyed on over to the pub for a good pub feed. Spent the evening trying to drink the pub dry and watching the cricket with a brief switch to the 7`s from time to time, the beers were flowing and then the bourbons came out round after round. Without a worry in the world, we finally retired about 2am (i think), waking up to a thumping head ache and my mouth so dry i was spitting dust. It was gonna be a long day!!

Went down the street to the only other shop in town and tryed unsuccessfully to down a coffee, i knew there was some reason i did`nt drink much anymore!I managed to compose myself after a couple of spits and a few hours later and jumped back on the bikes again. The noise of the bikes the constant jarring, bumping the intense heat and dust is definately no hang over cure it was bloody hard work!

We went deep in the bush and sussed out a couple of waterfalls and stumbled upon a mud track, but after a couple of hours i just wanted to lay down in the cool of the bush and die. Luckily i was`nt the only one that was crook, so we decided to call it a day and headed back.

All in all it was an enjoyable little trip with beautiful native bush, crystal clear rivers, views to die for, great tracks, great pub food, but don`t talk to me about alcohol!

Fully Recovered Goldie