There are many problems to do with Covid-19, but a small and selfish benefit is that Aucklanders are stuck in the big city, leaving all the tourist destinations of the upper North Island free for others. A friend extolled the joy of going around Coromandel without aggressive drivers (not necessarily Aucklanders, but, well, actually, yes, Aucklanders) roaring up behind motorbikes. There is a fundamentally different road use between motorcyclists and car drivers. Motorcyclists have to go slowly into corners because, if you are going too fast, you either ride off the road or into incoming traffic. Motorbikes have brakes on the front and the back tyres, and the front tyres are the most effective. (This is not because of technology, but physics; the brake on the dragging tyre behind is far less effective than on the leading tyre in front. As a motorcyclist once explained to me; if you had a wheelbarrow with a jammed wheel, would you push it or pull it? A brake on the dragging wheel is useful, but not very effective.) Unfortunately, the brake on the leading front wheel can also cause problems when turning and heading into a curve at an angle.
As a result, motorcyclists go into curves slowly and carefully. But once the motorcyclist reaches the apex of the curve and the open road is visible, then there is the power to accelerate. By contrast, a modern car (eg, since the 1980s) has four brakes, often operated with ABS, and the driver makes no decision on front or back brakes. The four brakes mean the vehicle is unlikely to slide and of course there is no angle to the tarmac. So just when a motorcyclist is slowing for a curve, a car driver is maintaining the same speed. A small nudge on the back of a motorcycle is devastating, unlikely a nudge to the back of a car.
So, Coromandel. Beautiful, more beautiful than the last time I was out, as the weather was better. Although I had my heated grips, I did not need them. I rode out to Paeroa, then Waihi, then went around the Peninsula anti-clockwise. My first break was in the Karangahaka Gorge. The cafe was a little Bohemian, but charming and it had lovely views of the river and, across the road, walkers were heading off to tramp out kilometres. I enjoyed my coffee and a date, apple and oat cake. Very healthy.
Refreshed, I rode on to Waihi and Whangamata. Some lovely roads and scenery.
(While checking something else, I saw that two motorcyclists were involved in serious crashes in the areas I was in, at about the same time.)
In Whitianga I struggled to find a decent looking cafe, but did so eventually. I was able to order a calamari and chorizo dish, perhaps two of my favourite items. The chorizo was New Zealand style, so just a kind of sausage, but the calamari was good. By this stage, I was feeling that I had treated myself too much for Sunday. The ride up and over the Peninsula was fun. As my teaching colleague had said, the lack of Aucklanders meant that there was far less traffic, and so there was less need to look behind to see if a car was going to shunt one off the road.
On the road to Whitianga.
The road around the Coromandel is Route 25, and I guess the marketing department of the Ministry of Transport thought long and hard before coming up with "Stay Alive on Route 25." I would prefer something more positive, perhaps bringing tourists in, rather than making them fearful.
When I have previously travelled on this route, it has been quite wintry, so it was enjoyable to take off a layer and to feel comfortable. The views are spectacular, the road is lovely, and the curves, inclines and declines, set a challenging and entertaining ride. In the far distance I could see the miasma of Covid-19 over Auckland City, but I was able to ride on with my own thoughts and enjoyment of the road.
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