Rotorua Ramblings. Ulysses Club of New Zealand Rotorua Branch. FEBRUARY 2015 issue 20 EDITORIAL CO ORDINATOR S COMMENTS

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1 Ulysses Club of New Zealand Rotorua Branch Rotorua Ramblings FEBRUARY issue 20 To open Branch website, click onto: EDITORIAL Only 3 weeks in this month has nearly caught me out with the Newsletter - I thought I had another week! From time to time we all see some terrible driving on our roads. Going to Gisborne last Saturday was no exception. RIC Peter on three occasions had to take emergency action to miss cars turning directly in front of him - being missed by less than a metre each time. I wonder if the terrible driving we see is getting worse as time goes by? I think it might be? Some drivers have absolutely no idea of where other road users are in relation to where they are and what their next move might be. Please note the later meeting start time of 7.30pm for our next Branch meeting. Keep the rubber on the road. Tony B. #2436 Next Branch Meeting Sunday 22 February at 7.30pm CO ORDINATOR S COMMENTS It has been only 3 weeks since our last Branch Meeting so in other words a very short month. Yet we managed to squeeze in 2 good rides. The impromptu run to Maketu for lunch and returning via Matata (for an ice cream) and Awakeri in excellent weather conditions and of course the ride to Gisborne for an overnighter last weekend. We were met in Opotiki by 2 riders from Gisborne and we were welcomed by other members of the Gisborne Branch having a drink and dinner at the Fishing Club. All in all a great weekend although the weather in Gisborne let us down a bit and we could feel the temperature rising when we got closer to Opotiki on our way back home. No doubt our Runs Coordinator Mal aka Axle is or has been planning some rides for the coming month and as long as the weather Gods are kind to us we will again be enjoying these runs. Hopefully we will see most of our active members at our weekly coffee meet at the Lakefront and at the monthly Branch Meeting this Sunday at the usual place starting Below is the Rotorua group with the Gisborne members who joined us on Saturday night at the Gisborne Sports Fishing Club. See w r i t e - u p on next page. Ride safe Peter V #8136

2 GISBORNE OVERNIGHTER Two trikes and two bikes left Lakeside Café after coffee on Saturday 14 February. The weather forecast was light showers at Gisborne on Saturday and showers on Sunday. What the hell, we are motorcyclists and rain will not put us off!! Many were at the Lakefront to wave us Goodbye. First stop was Opotiki for lunch, right on the dot of noon. To our surprise, Nigel and Andrew from the Gisborne Ulysses Club turned up to guide us into Gisborne - a very nice gesture? Only thing was that our road speed and Nigel s were quite a bit different, so after a few kilometres Nigel disappeared into the dust! With a bit of doubt as to which motel we were booked into, it was decided that the Waikanae Beach Motel was a bit further up the road and was not the Waikanae Beach Holiday Park as some had thought!. The Waikanae Beach Motel was very nice with the owner, Marg Candy, being very polite, helpful, and, - just a good sort. A shuttle bus it was to the Gisborne Sports Fishing Club for dinner. As no one in our group were going to be riding or driving, we were all able to partake in their ales and Gisborne wines and very tasty and drinkable they were. We were then joined for dinner by some of the Gisborne Ulysses members. Those being: Coordinator Chris Cameron & Shane, Ian & Deirdre, Jude & Rex and Jim McMillan. Thank you guys, we enjoyed your company. Another shuttle back to our motel. This time the shuttle having electronic opening and closing doors once we were in, we were there until we paid the driver and he then released the doors! Hope Peter was reimbursed? Sunday morning, after breakfast, we left Gisborne in light rain until just on the outskirts of the city when we could see more and more blue sky further ahead. This time Ian & Deirdre rode to Opotiki with us. This was a kind gesture appreciated by all Rotorua riders. By the time we reached Te Karaka we were in brilliant sunshine which stayed this way for the rest of our trip. Lunch again at Opotiki and this time having to say, Goodbye to Ian & Deirdre who would then turn around and head back home to Gisborne. At our lunch stop we decided to take the Ohope/Whakatane route home and once again was, and always is, a very interesting, scenic ride. We arrived back in Rotorua, mid-afternoon Sunday, after having a great weekend ride. Thank you Peter & Lynne, Hartley and Jack for your friendship and help. Kind wishes, Tony & Marlene LAKESIDE CAFÉ & CRAFTS On the Lakefront, Memorial Drive, Rotorua. Where we meet every Saturday morning at 10:30am Our hosts: Colin & Norma Craig Rotorua Branch Committee Co-ordinator: Peter van der Maat pemaint@xtra.co.nz Secretary: Bruce Quedley bruce@quedley.com Treasurer: Hartley Gray hartleyandteri@gmail.com Newsletter: Tony Baker tbaker@wave.co.nz Committee: Bruce Roe, Graeme van Praagh, Mal (Axle) Bain, Jan Matthews, plus the above.

3 NOAH THINGERTOO SAYS :- Happy wishes to the couple amongst you who have just celebrated a wedding anniversary of 53 years! I hear that the rides this month were beauties long may the camaraderie amongst you continue. Where is the banner that was meant to fly at the Lakefront Café when you are in attendance on Saturday mornings? Going past I see bikes and trikes, but no flag! Lost, or lazy? Happy March birthdays to Pisces Rodney Runciman, and Arians Dave Badcock and Mike Tizard. Who is doing a Sod s Opera act at the final Okataina fling? How about the triker who went on 2 wheels (mountain bike) with disastrous consequences? I must be out of touch I hear absolute silence, and no names, about who is putting themselves forward for the next committee at your AGM on 26 April. I will be around and about outside the Tauranga AGM venue (and the motel) to pick up scuttlebutt and innuendo. If you get disgraceful, you will gain your fame in this column. Enjoy and beware! Rodney Runciman 18 March Mike Tizard 25 March Dave Badcock 29 March Sheriff Bruce: I only take gold coins for fines FOR SALE Top-of-the-range Nazran, Cordura motorcycle jacket. Needs a new inside liner zip. It has a front closure with zip, domes and velcro. It is a size L Again, top of the range Nazram Cordura motorcycle pants. Worn a couple of times. In very good condition. Has knee protector inserts. Size is XL. Selling on behalf. Contact Tony Baker:

4 MAKETU FOR LUNCH Eight of us met at Lakeside Café on Sunday morning 8 February without a cloud in the sky. Out past the Whakatane Highway, over highway 33 to Paengaroa, through the short cut (Wilson s Rd south) over highway 2, onto Wilson s Rd North and into Maketu. Most had fresh Fish & Chips while one couple had a messy burger each, while others were sensible enough to bring their own healthy salad lunch. After a lazy lunch it was back in the saddle and off to Matata for one of their popular, large ice creams. These larger than usual ice creams were well received as it was a hot day with very little breeze blowing through our layers of motorcycle gear. Muzz and Philippe left the group at this stage to head off back to Rotorua through the Manewehae Rd while the rest of us carried on towards Whakatane turning off Thornton Rd onto H/W 2 heading to Awakeri for fuel. Over the Rotomas and back into Rotorua. Thank you guys and girls for a great day s ride. Tony & Marlene

5 News Flash Back in mid-1998, a friend (I had a few, even back then) visited the Guggenheim Museum in New York to inspect a History of Motorcycling display. He brought me back a fridge magnet, aren t I lucky, and also a Time magazine that included the following article that came out of that museum display: Bikes mean a lot of things, but the main one is raw unprotected speed, and there is little point in owning one unless you are prepared to go somewhat out on the edge. Biking requires a special degree of both abandonment and focus, onscrolling storyline of concentration on intersecting factors that your average car driver is muffled from: road surface, camber, radius of curve, angle of attack, and lean. It connotes a unique mixture of aggression and vulnerability, and to have owned a fast bike is, in some degree, to be inoculated against the status envy that goes with the plushier forms of motoring. In essence, bikes aren t respectable, and at heart, you wouldn t want them if they were. I published this article in the September 1998 Rotorua Branch magazine, with the byline true to my own thoughts. I still subscribe to these ideas 17 years on. Here s hoping you all get the same jollies from your time away from your 4-wheeler made of tin and glass. As Oscar Wilde said, The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Aaron Slight, in the forward to The Biker s Bible says, Take Care and be Cool. Then good advice on page 108 of The Biker s Bible is, Keep Breathing! Thank you Flash for this article Helmet saves David's son after car stops and then pulls into his son's path My son had just moved to Des Moines from our home in Pella, Iowa. On May 19, 2004, at 6:14 P M, I was driving my pickup, loaded with my son s belongings, while he was following about one city block behind me on his bright yellow Yamaha motorcycle. As I drove, I would periodically look back to see my son. I was traveling at 60 MPH, so I know how fast my son was going. We were on Highway 163 when a female driver pulled out in front of him. My son's motorcycle struck the back of her vehicle, causing it and my son to tumble down the highway at 60 MPH. This is what happened. As we approached the Prairie City exit, I saw a vehicle with a young female driver stop for the stop sign. I had traveled about one-half mile further when I looked in my rear view mirror for my son, but I didn't see him. I continued a little further when I met a volunteer fireman driving by with his blue lights on. At this point, I still could not see my son and I knew something was wrong, so I turned around to look for him. As I approached the Prairie City exit, I saw the emergency lights of the ambulance, rescue, and fire trucks around this intersection. I pulled up to the scene and could see my son's legs sticking out on the ground behind the ambulance. I can't tell you all the horrible thoughts that were going through my mind when I saw this. I had just had knee surgery a little over a week before, but I never felt a thing as I ran across the median to my son. When I got to my son, the paramedics had traction on his neck and were preparing him for transport to the hospital. When I looked at my son, I could see he was looking back at me, and at that moment, I then knew he would be OK. My son was taken to the Pella Regional Heath Center and was treated for his injuries. He had numerous X rays and examinations. Thank God the only injuries he received were severe abrasions, bruises, and minor cuts. My son stayed the night in the hospital just for observation to make sure there were no complications. On that day, my son was wearing a full-face, DOT-approved motorcycle helmet, and leather gloves, along with blue jeans, T-shirt, and shoes. There is no doubt that God was there for my son that day, but also after examining his helmet, I knew that it had saved his life. The back of the helmet had been crushed in; and if my son hadn't been wearing it, that would have been my son's head. The gloves he was wearing had been worn through over all the knuckles. My son now knows that if he had been wearing his leather coat he would not have had the severe abrasions, bruises, and cuts. I can't say enough about the importance of wearing helmets and all the other protective gear. I am a motorcycle rider myself for personal pleasure, and I am a motorcycle officer for the City of Pella. My hope is that by sharing my son's story, it may help save lives. Wearing a helmet is a responsible choice. David O

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7 Rotorua Branch Runs List DATE DESTINATION MEET TIME IN-CHARGE 26 Dec April. Waikato Branch, The Northern Odyssey Will be given a map of approx. 1,000 kms of North Island roads. 26 Dec. 27 April David Coy. See Ulyssian page February Valley Rally. Waihi Thames Branch 32 Julian Rd, Whangamata Marlene: February Classic Bike Racing at Hampton Downs Feb. Mayhem in February Wanganui Branch Mangatepopo Camp, SH February Rotorua Branch Meeting St John Rooms, Pererika St, Rotorua 7.30pm Darryl & Lorraine Greeks, Phone: Peter V 22 February Paeroa Motorcycle Races Meet at Lakeside Café 9am Stuart 22 February Auckland Helicopter Ride. 1 March Cambridge to Hamilton Toy Run Depart Lakeside Café 9:30am Pete V Sunday 8 March Rotorua Poker Run Lakeside Café 10.00am Tony B April, National Rally & AGM Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, Tauranga P.O. Box 160, Tauranga 3140 Sunday 26 April Rotorua Branch AGM St John Rooms, Pererika St, Rotorua. 7:30pm Peter van der Maat June Okataina Rally. All Rotorua members to help during the weekend. What is a "poker run"? WATCH THIS SPACE ULYSSES POKER RUN The event will actually have little to do with poker, beyond using the hand-rankings to score the event. You don't need to know a great deal about poker to take part, other than what beats what in the scoring - and even that will be done for participants by the organisers. Essentially a poker run is an excuse to meet up, travel, and have a good time at the stops. Participants will meet at the Rotorua Lakeside Café, and pick up details of their route and the stops they need to make. Each participant is given a score card which will be filled in as they progress along the route. At each designated stop, the participants draw a card at random. The card drawn or dealt is recorded on each participant's score card, and the winner of the event is the participant who makes the best five card poker hand at the end of the event.