Photo : Todd Sutherland
Taking a moment to re-group with riding mates
doesn ’ t really need to be done – it ’ s just ready to go . Wearing courier bags rammed with tape , pigtails , standards and arrows , we rode some of the weekend ’ s trails , adjusting markers , adding more arrows , taping off tracks and routes to make sure the routes were obvious and nobody would take a wrong turn that might lead off a cliff or , heaven forbid , into the live firing area where unexploded ordnance is left exactly as it is – unexploded . Every rider has a ride safety briefing which shows them what they might see , and not to touch anything no matter how shiny or interesting it is . Four hours of riding and marking later we arrive back in camp and grab a volunteer ’ s lunch pack each . We ’ ve ridden some great trails and had them completely to ourselves as these tracks don ’ t open until the Saturday . As I ’ m tucking into my sandwich , Sam ’ s dad , Dave Greenslade , who ’ s been instrumental in keeping good relations with the Army , having served himself , ( he knows these training grounds like the back of his hand ) assigns us both to his crew for the afternoon . It turns out our ‘ mission ’ is going to be a long range one , I ’ m told to take water , food and warm clothing – we ’ ll be gone until early evening . We ’ ll be checking tracks on the way out to the fuel dump , refilling
Army food to feed an army
Volunteers ready to go
KIWI RIDER 59