Mid Winter Rally 2024
New Plymouth

Thursday 21st September I was looking up at the mountain and admiring its beautiful thick snow, shining in the brilliant sunshine. There were clear blue skies, and not a cloud in sight. I was also listening to the weather report telling me of a rain bomb due on Saturday. It’s hard to find the positive side of this.

The depression that followed was not only the weather. However, rescue was at hand.

We are lucky in this area to have Club member Bruce Jamieson who owns school buses, and Peter who has his bus licence.  Plan B was being formed.

Rain was expected Friday, but everyone arrived dry. That was a bonus.  

We had chosen a new venue for our rally.  The Auto Lodge had great accommodation with a bar and restaurant on site. Their event manager was extremely helpful, and had assisted us organise rooms and meals for the weekend.

Saturday dawned WET.  The heavy rain had arrived. Our ride around country roads will have to wait for another day. Instead we all boarded the bus and headed off on our “Bike ride in a Bus”. 

Actually, this turned out to be lots of fun. It was social, and people got to chat, share a few laughs, and meet the new members who had joined us for the first time.

We made a visit to Euro Bike. They are wholesalers of bike parts and accessories who distribute merchandise to shops around the country. Not usually open to the public, we were allowed to look, try on and purchase goods. A light morning tea was served.

Then back on the bus and off to lunch. The Kaponga Hotel is growing in popularity due to its location for a great bike ride, and good food.  They were expecting 25 bikes – not a bus.  A yummy buffet lunch with hot food and sweet nibbles was quickly demolished. 

It was another hour’s drive on the bus back to New Plymouth and the Auto Lodge.

In the evening we enjoyed dinner at the same venue. This was followed by a very interesting talk by Rodney O’Connor.  He is the current owner, CEO and manager of Euro Bike where we had visited in the morning. The business had been started by his father.  Rodney was a former design engineer at Triumph and a test rider at KTM.  He had some very interesting stories to tell about both companies, and his employment there. He also talked about how motorcycles handle and travel at various speeds etc.  I am sure most people found him very interesting.

For the return home on Sunday, there was a cloudy but fine day.  I understand everyone got home dry. 

A great weekend. My thanks to Peter for all his help. Thanks too for the bus from Bruce.

Janis Moore