Raglan with Tony Kay today, 15 bikes, wow good turn out for a winters day. We left Z Bombay at 10:00am and headed up to Bombay and wiggled our way along the ridge before turning onto the old State Highway 2 via Lyons Road. We kept going East, getting further and further away from Raglan on the West coast, prompting many of us to wonder if RIC had forgotten the advertised destination point, namely Raglan. But no, he chose to take this circuitous route along some pretty scenic roads to take us all on some roads several of us, me included, had not travelled. Well done Tony. Even if some amongst us were hanging out for coffee!
We had our first comfort stop/regroup at the toilets down by the river in Ngaruawahia. From there we carried on to Waingnaro, passed the hot springs and joined up with the road to Raglan. Lunch in Raglan was a pretty fragmented affair as always, we picked our chosen fare, bakery, cafe or pub, take your pick. All are well served in Raglan as we know. We met at the petrol station at top of the hill as you leave Raglan for the homeward leg. We got a bit split up here as some chose not to wait for the group and made their way home independently. We pretty much reversed the route taken on our way home, save for the comfort stop by the river in Ngaruawahia. We all pulled off the Expressway at the Gull station at Hampton Downs, some chose to top up their fuel tanks to save a few bucks, other chose not to. We got back on the motorway and headed for home. No aftermatch coffee today, most of us wanted to get home a little earlier. Thanks Tony for a great day and a couple of new roads for this seasoned traveller. 330Km's for me door to door.
