​Entries for the 2015 North Island 1,600 closed on Friday 25 September.

Who has entered this year?
Thanks to all of the 50 riders who have registered for this year’s North Island 1,600. Twenty-two of those are riders who completed the first-ever North Island 1,600 in 2014. There are two women riding – the other 48 are all handicapped with a Y chromosome. Ten are aiming to get Iron Butt Association recognition for this ride.

So where are all these riders from?

• Auckland = 7
• Bay of Plenty = 10
• Hawke’s Bay = 1
• Manawatu-Wanganui = 11
• Taranaki = 3
• Waikato = 3
• Wellington = 12
• South Island = 3

And what are they riding?

• BMW = 11
• Ducati = 3
• Honda = 11
• Hyosung = 1
• Kawasaki = 4
• KTM = 2
• Suzuki = 12
• Triumph = 1
• Yamaha = 5

Reminder: Photo checkpoints
This year’s event will comprise both manned and photo checkpoints, so riders will need to either bring a camera or have a phone or similar device with a camera built in. The photo checkpoints will either be under street lights, on lighted service station forecourts or able to be easily illuminated by a motorcycle headlight so that a flash isn’t needed. Photo ideas for each checkpoint are outlined in the Rider’s Guide which will be issued from 7:00pm on Friday 9 October when the route is officially revealed.

Even the manned checkpoints will require photos to be taken. In these cases an identifying image, such as the fuel station’s sign or even a photo of or with one of the Marshalls will do the trick. If you’re riding in a group, you can appoint one person to take all of the photos – but remind the designated photographer that all bikes or riders need to be clearly visible in each shot.

Event HQ staff will check each returning rider to see that they have the required photos in order to validate that the route has set has been completed. This validation will also allow riders to get their participation endorsed by the US Iron Butt Association. Remember that without the right photos, the HQ staff won’t be able to validate that a minimum of 1,609 kilometres have been ridden – bike odometers aren’t always reliable and the IBA doesn’t accept GPS tracking data.

Scrutineering at Turangi HQ
Scrutineering can be done at Turangi HQ from midday on Friday until midday on Saturday. If your bike hasn’t been approved prior to the official start time, then you cannot officially complete this event. Scrutineering is not aimed at telling you that your bike is safe to ride. Part of the check will ensure that your bike has a current rego and WOF. A close check should locate any obvious faults which, in the scrutineers’ opinion, make your bike unlikely to safely complete this event. Given these criteria, we strongly recommend that you get your bike thoroughly checked before setting out for Turangi. The closest bike shop is at Taupo.

The Weather Gods
The Organising Group makes no guarantees for, and has no control over the weather. As the promotional material says “We ride in all weathers”. So come prepared for the worst. As well as torrential rain, also prepare for cold weather riding. As well as unseasonal cold weather systems capable of blowing sleet and snow around, remember that this is a 24-hour ride and early morning frosts in some areas are also a possibility. Practice using your wet weather gear too (says one person who made the mistake of buying a onesie rain suit for a past 1,600km event and struggled to get into it and out of it every time he needed a wee or to locate his wallet to buy fuel and food).

Roll on Saturday 10 October!
Start day is nearly upon us. To all of this year’s riders, we’re looking forward to meeting you at Turangi. All other interested Distance Riders will need to keep your eyes on our website and Facebook page for updates and ride reports.

• Mike Angell
• John Maroulis
• James Riley
• Brett Sangster

There are only TWO DAYS to go until registrations close for this year’s North Island 1,600. Registrations officially close at close of play on Friday 25 September.

The reason for the time between the closing date and the start is to provide time for badges, patches and T-shirts to be produced.

Keen to ride? You’ll need to enter. There are online and PDF forms available at http://www.distanceriders.org.nz/the-north-island-1600.html.

If you’re using the online form, please check that there are no reminders to complete required fields before you quit the page. When the form has been sent, it will disappear, being replaced by a confirmation message. If you quit the page before you see that, then the form will not be sent.

You can also download the PDF version of the entry form which you can either post to us at P O Box 29017, Ngaio, Wellington; or scan and email to us at [email protected]. Riders using the online forms will need to provide a signature at the pre-start registration. Please familiarise yourself with this event’s terms and conditions published on the web page.

Become an Iron Butter!
For the first time this year’s route meets the North American Iron Butt Association’s requirements for a SS1000 (Saddle Sore 1000). If you are interested, you will need to complete the ride and submit your photos. Because the IBA charges a fee, we will have to do the same. This means that an extra $55.00 will be needed. For this you will get an IBA patch, certificate, and membership of the esteemed IBA.

To keep costs down we will order the certificates and patches after the ride. These will be sent from the USA, so they will take a few weeks to arrive. More details about the IBA can be found at www.ironbutt.com or on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Butt_Association

Entries please!
We have received over 40 entries so far. If you are entering and want to be part of a group of mates, could you please let us know who those other riders may be so we can make sure you’re all in the same starting group. Please share this email with your riding mates.

If you’ve registered and haven’t paid, we’d appreciate that too please. If you have expressed interest but are yet to do fill out and send us a form (and pay your fees), then get cracking! Friday 25 September is only TWO DAYS away.

Event-specific T-shirts are also available. As too is accommodation at the Turangi Kiwi Holiday Park. The details and prices are all outlined on the event registration form. Details can be found on our website here http://www.distanceriders.org.nz/the-north-island-1600.html

Two days to go!
Please send us those completed entry forms, and get yourselves bike fit in readiness for a chance to ride on some of the North Island’s best motorcycling roads in the company of other elite riders.
-        Mike Angell
-        John Maroulis
-        James Riley
-        Brett Sangster

Summer is drawing closer and, as the days lengthen and warm up, it’s time to start thinking about spending some quality time with one’s motorcycle and riding buddies.

Saturday 7 November is another date for Distance Riders to add to their calendars. This date will see the running of this year’s 1KC Rides – longhand for the 1,000km Cruises.

There are two 1KC rides this year. One starts and finishes in Wellington. The other starts and finishes in Hamilton.

Unlike October’s North Island 1,600 rally, the 1KC allows pillions to participate. The entry fee is $20.00 per person. That covers the cost of an event badge, with the balance going to support Muscular Dystrophy.

So what are these routes that event promoters have been raving about for the past few months?

2015 1KC Southern Route
Departs: Caltex Rimutaka, Upper Hutt.

Check-in opens from 6:30am – 7:00am. Depart when you're ready.

There’s also an organised start from Masterton and Manawatu riders start early to restart from Wellington then finish back at Palmerston North. Details for these other start points will be advised.

This year’s route is about 1,016km via: (* denotes a digital picture is required and ? are mystery locations to be announced later)

Rimutakas – Masterton – Alfredton* – Pahiatua – Manawatu Gorge – Rangiwahia* – Tihoi* – Taupo – Puketapu* – ?* – Elsthorpe – Waipukurau – ?* – Wimbledon – Woodville* – Parrot ‘n Jigger Petone.

Refreshments and meals will be available at the P’nJ to enjoy over the trading of lies.

2015 1KC Northern Route
Departs: Waikato Commerce Club, Collingwood St, Hamilton.

Check-in opens from 6:30am – 7:00am. Depart when you're ready.

This year’s route is about 1,015km via: (* denotes a digital picture is required)

Hamilton – Tauranga – Kiwi360* – Whakatane – Te Araroa – Tokomaru Bay* – Gisborne – Ormond* – Opotiki – Taneatua – Lake Rotoehu* – Putaruru – Te Kawa – Otorohanga* – Hamilton Commerce Club

Refreshments and meals will be available at the Hamilton Commerce Club to enjoy over the trading of lies.

What you get for your entry fee
Entry Fee: $20.00 per person ($40.00 in total for riders with pillions).

To guarantee receiving a Year Bar, your entry must be in by 20 October 2015

Badges and certificates will be awarded after scrutineers have checked Check-Point photo evidence at the completion of the ride.

As an informal ride, you and your bike are your responsibility to ensure both are capable of completing the course. There is no recovery vehicle organised.

A register of riders will be kept to ensure everyone returns.

There are spot prizes funded by Protecta Insurance, which has also made a generous donation to the Muscular Dystrophy coffers.

1KC rides are not a race and should be easily doable at a sedate pace with stops. Enjoy the ride!

The ride will go ahead rain, hail or shine – probably – or pending the Wednesday/Thursday before’s weather forecast.

Get your entries in!
Get more information about the ride and complete or download the event entry form here:
http://www.distanceriders.org.nz/the...e-the-1kc.html

Remember the close date for this year’s 1KC rides is Tuesday 20 October. This is to allow enough time for the production of badges and year bars.

There’s only one week to go until registrations close for this year’s North Island 1,600. Close of play on Friday 25 September is when registrations officially close.

Keen to ride in this amazing iconic event? You’ll need to enter. There are online and PDF forms available at http://www.distanceriders.org.nz/the-north-island-1600.html. Bring some riding mates along as well.

If you’re using the online form, please check that there are no reminders to complete required fields before you quit the page. When the form has been sent, it will disappear, being replaced by a confirmation message. If you quit the page before you see that, then the form will not be sent.

You can also download the PDF version of the entry form which you can either post to us at P O Box 29017, Ngaio, Wellington; or scan and email to us at [email protected]. Riders using the online forms will need to provide a signature at the pre-start registration. Please familiarise yourself with this event’s terms and conditions published on the web page.

Official start on 10 October
The official start will be at 1:00pm on Saturday 10 October.

If you are riding in this year’s event, then you should also be thinking about preparing yourself and your steed of choice for some serious saddle time. There’s some information on our website that may be useful for this task http://www.distanceriders.org.nz/preparing-for-distance-rides.html

Please pass these details onto your networks of interested mates.

Remember that our scrutineers will be taking an active interest in the roadworthiness of all competing machines, and if they aren’t happy with what they see, then riders won’t be able to start until any concerns are remedied. Given that the closest bike shop is in Taupo and the start time is 1:00pm on a Saturday, it’s best not to take any chances.

Have you got an Iron Butt?
For the first time this year’s route meets the North American Iron Butt Association’s requirements for a SS1000 (Saddle Sore 1000). If you are interested, you will need to complete the ride and submit your photos. Because the IBA charges a fee, we will have to do the same. This means that an extra $55.00 will be needed. For this you will get an IBA patch, certificate, and membership of the esteemed IBA.

To keep costs down we will order the certificates and patches after the ride. These will be sent from the USA, so they will take a few weeks to arrive. More details about the IBA can be found at www.ironbutt.com or on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Butt_Association

Starting and finishing at Turangi
The start and finish will be at the Turangi Kiwi Holiday Park, as is a tradition for these sorts of events. The final details of the route will be unveiled at 7:00pm on Friday 9 October.

Entries please!
We have received over 40 entries (including a few strong expressions of interest) so far. If you are entering and want to be part of a group of mates, could you please let us know who those other riders may be so we can make sure you’re all in the same starting group.

If you’ve registered and haven’t paid, we’d appreciate that too please. If you have expressed interest but are yet to do fill out and send us a form (and pay your fees), then get cracking! Friday 25 September will be here in one week’s time.

Your registration fee will provide successful riders with a certificate, patch and badge, and an after ride dinner. If you rode in last year’s event and didn’t reclaim your $25.00 rebate, then that will be deducted from your entry fee for this year’s ride. If you are one of those riders and can’t compete this year, then please let us know your bank account details so that we can refund your $25.00.

Event-specific T-shirts are also available. As too is accommodation at the Turangi Kiwi Holiday Park. The details and prices are all outlined on the event registration form. Details can be found on our website here http://www.distanceriders.org.nz/the-north-island-1600.html

Two weeks to go until registrations close for this year’s North Island 1,600. That’s right, close of play on Friday 25 September is when the hammer will fall.

The official start will be at 1:00pm on Saturday 10 October. The time between the entry close-off and the start is so that the Organising Group can get all of the badges, patches and T-shirt made, organise the catering and all those other matters that are dependent on the numbers of registered riders.

You should also be thinking about preparing yourself and your steed of choice for some serious saddle time. There’s some information on our website that may be useful for this task http://www.distanceriders.org.nz/preparing-for-distance-rides.html

Remember that our scrutineers will be taking an active interest in the roadworthiness of all competing machines, and if they aren’t happy with what they see, then riders won’t be able to start until any concerns are remedied. Given that the closest bike shop is in Taupo and the start time is 1:00pm on a Saturday, it’s best not to take any chances.

We'll share the route on 9 October!
It’s hard to hype up a secret route, other than to say those three magic words that distance riders love to hear: “Corners, corners, corners!” Remember that we don’t ride on unsealed roads, other than those that may have stretches of roadworks. That doesn’t mean that returning bikes won’t need a wash…

We’ve had enquiries from some GPS devotees as to whether waypoints and checkpoint information can be made available to help with programming tasks. The answer is yes. But we won’t be providing a downloadable route map. Participating riders should still take some responsibility for managing their ride.

For the first time this year’s route meets the North American Iron Butt Association’s requirements for a SS1000 (Saddle Sore 1000). If you are interested, you will need to complete the ride and submit your photos. Because the IBA charges a fee, we will have to do the same. This means that an extra $55.00 will be needed. For this you will get an IBA patch, certificate, and membership of the esteemed IBA. In our last newsletter we advised that that cost was $48.00 but forgot about the exchange rate difference between the NZ$ and the US$. Sorry about that.

To keep costs down we will order the certificates and patches after the ride. These will be sent from the USA, so they will take a few weeks to arrive. More details about the IBA can be found at www.ironbutt.com or on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Butt_Association

Starting and finishing at Turangi
The start and finish will be at the Turangi Kiwi Holiday Park, as is a tradition for these sorts of events. The final details of the route will be unveiled at 7:00pm on Friday 9 October.

If you’re keen, then please go to our website http://www.distanceriders.org.nz/the-north-island-1600.html and either fill out the online form, or download the PDF version which you can either post to us at P O Box 29017, Ngaio, Wellington; or scan and email to us at [email protected]. Riders using the online forms will need to provide a signature at the pre-start registration. Please familiarise yourself with this event’s terms and conditions published on the web page.

Please pass these details onto your networks of interested mates.

Entries please!
We have received nearly 40 entries (including a few strong expressions of interest) so far. If you are entering and want to be part of a group of mates, could you please let us know who those other riders may be so we can make sure you’re all in the same starting group. If you’ve registered and haven’t paid, we’d appreciate that too please. If you have expressed interest but are yet to do fill out and send us a form (and pay your fees), then get cracking! Friday 25 September will be around soon enough.

Remember that your registration fee will provide successful riders with a certificate, patch and badge. If you rode in last year’s event and didn’t reclaim your $25.00 rebate, then that will be deducted from your entry fee for this year’s ride. If you are one of those riders and can’t compete this year, then please let us know your bank account details so that we can refund your $25.00.

Event-specific T-shirts are also available. As too is accommodation at the Turangi Kiwi Holiday Park. The details and prices are all outlined on the event registration form. Details can be found on our website here http://www.distanceriders.org.nz/the-north-island-1600.html

Non-riding volunteers
Thanks to everybody who has graciously agreed to give up their time to help with this year’s event. That includes the team at Turangi HQ and four manned checkpoints around the North Island. This event can’t happen without you, so thanks heaps. We hope you’ll enjoy the weekend as much as the riders will.

Thanks everybody!
We’re really looking forward to this year’s ride and hope that you are too. Get that leave booked, send us those completed entry forms, and get yourselves bike fit in readiness for a chance to ride on some of the North Island’s best motorcycling roads in the company of other elite riders.

• Mike Angell
  
• John Maroulis
  
• James Riley
  
• Brett Sangster
  

Housekeeping stuff
Our mailing list is now well over 300 people, which is why we’ve migrated to Mailchimp. This change will also allow us to better meet our members’ information needs.