FASITUA CAME
TO MEET AT
WHATAWHATA
At 2am I wake up. I hear banging and
scratching sounds. Dammit! They are after
my bike! I get up and creep out to the curtain.
There’s a bunch of guys in the carpark. Shit.
Then I realise that they are all road workers
of some kind, with orange vests and bags of
tools. It’s pretty clear they’re the night shift
who have all arrived at their accommodation.
I sleep the rest of the night, ‘Jack’ safely in the
room.
Having the windows and doors closed tight
on a hot night with no aircon made for a
damned stuffy motel unit. Coupled with
vague petrol and oil smells from my room-
mate Jack, the owners weren’t going to love
me. I got up and checked out the surrounding
area.
There was no owner, and no one up. Good. I
shoved open the doors and slipped the bike
back outside. They’d never know. Unless they
happen to read Kiwi Rider.
I suspected that I may have over-thought the
situation. Maybe I was tired. But just maybe
my good instincts warned me, and I stayed
out of difficulty and no one was hurt. All the
same I was pleased to leave town and head
north.
Just out of town I caught up with a Ducati
rider, whom I followed for a number of
kilometres. He was a good rider, nice lines
round all the sweeping bends of the river,
and touring solidly over fantastic country,
but I tired of the 80km/h he stuck with. I
passed him, he nodded and indicated that
I should lead, and then followed my pace
and we rode single file, turn for turn, all the
way to National Park. After my travels I had
forgotten how much fun it is to ride with
other people.
I made a call to the DRT.
The Dirty Rotten Thespians are a group of
Auckland actors who love to ride and we have
a strong, tight-knit group. A couple of the
riders had mentioned that they may come
out to meet me, and one particular rider,
Fasitua Amosa was free in the afternoon and
left town after work, riding south to meet me
at Whatawhata.
KIWI RIDER 89