Piston Blown

Copied from:  New-Zealand-s-TT2000-in-2022 Some here will know that I’m an iron butt nut and of all the rides I do the definite highlight of my year is the annual TT2000. This year there was writeup in a local paper that will gives a good background of what is involved: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300...ndurance-rally Though the minimum is 2,000km in the 48 hours I ended up doing 2,824km in 45 hours during the event and 3,572km in total. US iron butt riders will be saying that’s not 1000 miles in 24 hours, that’s true and we do have events like that here, but the TT2000 takes place on twisting single lane roads, even gravel tracks, not multi-lane highways. Despite this I have previously done 3278km (2037 miles) in the 48 hours, so it is possible (just). The checkpoints this year where all schools with under 100 pupils, this made sure they were in nice out of the way places, though does mean the photos are not the most exciting views of NZ. There were also five mystery checkpoi...

 Copied from:  Tt2000 2016 - Blogs - Kiwi Biker forums So for those who don’t already know the rules are simple. There’s various checkpoints, worth between 1000 and 5000 points, dotted around the South Island. They give you a t-shirt at the start and when you get to one of the checkpoints you have to take a photo of the bike, the landmark and the t-shirt to prove you were there. The target is a minimum 2000km (1243 miles) and 50,000 points by the time you get to the finish point 48 hours later. The TT2000 is very much about setting your own targets through, in my case I had just two: Pick a route that involved road’s I’d never ridden before or really enjoyed riding (i.e. bendy) Points are less important but want to score more than 72,000 points (my previous year’s results). There were two start points, one in Dunedin and the other in Picton; I’d plumbed for Picton. There’s about 50 of us at the start point, I’m the only Spyder rider and so I field the usual questions (and insu...

I like to think strong-willed, tenacious, resistant.  Loved ones have said pig-headed, obstinate, recalcitrant. Whatever words you use one of the ways this shows up is my complete unwillingness, once I’m riding, to stop.  I begrudgingly accept petrol stops, though always pushed to the last opportunity.  I'm happy with checkpoints, but approach them as something to complete with minimum delay. This trait played its usual tricks at this year’s TT2000 - but previous TT’s have also taught me compromise is always needed and this year was no exception. For those who are not familiar with the TT2000 then the idea is to do a minimum of 2000km in 48hrs (midday Friday to midday Sunday). This sounds relatively easy for those living in countries with multi-lane highways until you realise the sorts of roads involved - narrow, twisty, some of them gravel. There are multiple checkpoints, some optional some not, and you have to plan the best route you can to score enough points to qu...