Well, what can I say - it's been wet, fairly damn wet.  It seems like every day we have at least some rain - if not a thunder storm or periods torrential downpour.  Not dry at all, pretty wet.

Anyway, enough complaining eh"  Today was the best day of the weekend weather wise, so it was the day to get out on the Tenere and go exploring.

Leaving home around 10:30, I took a quick cruise over to Feilding to drop something off before going in search of gravel.  The idea percolating in me was to ride Ridge Road - and that was about it.  I hadn't even really given much thought on which direction and on the where to afterwards.  So, I just rode.

Leaving Feilding I made my way towards Vinegar Hill but then turned off to Beaconsfield to cross over towards the Pohangina Valley.  I got a little taste of gravel on Levette Line and then hit the tar again to Kimbolton and Apiti.
There were plenty of wet bits of tar to test out the rubber and the odd kamikaze on a push bike but then after turning onto Ridge Road I saw just one car all the way through to Pohangina.

The gravel was a little tricky underfoot as it was reasonably deep in places but soft underneath.  The bike would often surf around a bit (particularly when braking) and I didn't break too many speed records that's for sure.  The Valley was just as stunning as on my last trip though.

Note the track the bike is leaving on the road even at slow speed 
I wonder why it's so...