2018 TT2000 - Day 2
Day two of my trip was to get me down to Christchurch where the TT was starting. I had deliberately crossed the straits the day before to give me the whole day to take in the Molesworth on my way South. This ended out being a pretty good idea as the cyclone had brought down some more slips on SH1 near Kaikoura - again.
My plans had also included inviting Al along as he now lives in Picton and is always keen for some good gravel exploring. We agreed to meet up in Blenheim and when I got to the gas station there he was, raring to go!
Caffeine levels setFor my second trip down the Molesworth I'd decided to try out Taylor Pass for the route over into the Awatere Valley. This saved a trip down SH1 to Seddon and got us onto gravel that little bit sooner.
There had been a lot of rain in the night and we both wondered what the road would be like but it turned out to be completely fine. The first ford on Taylor Pass was reasonably deep and flowing quite quickly too - the Tenere wheel spun and slithered around a little clambering out the other side. The rest of the road was mint.
Now on Awatere Valley Road we were on and off gravel for a bit and even had some traffic to pass in places.
And, of course we had to stop at the bridge for a picture stop and to chat to some tourists and their driver.
I led for the next little bit and was enjoying some really fast gravel when I noticed a reasonably large puddle up ahead. I braked fairly h...
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