Scooters take to road for cash

FUND RAISER: Terena Currey is organising the third Central Plateau Scooter Challenge. PICTURE: PAUL BROOKS

The Central Plateau Scooter Challenge is on again and this year the proceeds will benefit Hospice Wanganui.
This is the third of the biennial cross-country events in which 49cc machines battle the terrain and the elements to carry their riders safely from Wanganui to Taupo, raising funds and awareness for their cause along the way.
The ride is scheduled for Saturday, March 21, leaving Trafalgar Square car park at 7.30am. Riders are instructed to meet there at 6.30 for briefing and safety check. The convoy will then proceed to Bulls and follow SH1 up the centre of the island to Taupo.
Organiser Terena Currey says that with the odd breakdown (mechanical only, it is hoped) "we'll have a tail-end Charlie, a van supplied by Terry Minnell, with a trailer provided by Joe Lett Ltd". Terena's dad, Rex Payne, will be driving the van, following the slow-moving stream of step-through scooters.
"I'm quite happy for the guys who have the lovely Vespas that go up to 250cc to join us," says Terena. "They came with us last time. It's not a race; you can't go past the lead vehicle." Out in front again this year is the Brittons pilot car, but Adrian Flett, who usually drives it, will be completing the trip on a scooter, she says.
H&A Print has offered Terena the use of its 50cc work vehicle. She's contacted retired television weather man Jim Hickey and offered him the use of her own scooter. If he takes her up on it she'll drive the H&A car.
"Anndion Lodge is back on board with a really great prize," she says. "They've done a weekend for two." How to win the prize? Just raise the most money.
Scooter Survival, run by ACC, has provided spot prizes for the event. They can be won at any time on the journey.
Last time 68 riders toook part and Terena is hoping to at least match that.
The average speed between Wanganui and Taupo is slow, about 35-40kph. "That's why we've picked SH1. It's got a wide berm so there's plenty of space to let everybody else go through. The Brittons guys will know where the trucks are so they can warn them the scooters are ahead."
If you don't feel you can ride the full journey yourself, says Terena, you can register as part of a tag team (being one bike and two or more riders, with a maximum of four).
The last Central Plateau Scooter Challenge raised $30,000 for child cancer.
¦For more information go to the website, www.centralplateauscooter challenge.co.nz, which includes registration and how to go about setting up your own web page for fundraising. Or contact Terena, 021 204 5591.