Te Wharua Station way out back a bit of attention from people wanting a closer look at the Chinese rally machine. There were also exotic bikes floating around the carpark too, which always gets people talking. The riders themselves were just as varied. The average age was probably well over 50, with plenty of riders in their 60s and 70s still happily tackling gravel roads and muddy conditions, along with a few younger riders mixed through the field too. It was good to see that adventure riding is still attracting people of all ages, and proof that you certainly don’ t have to be young to enjoy a long day on gravel roads. I was riding my own little Honda CRF300 Rally, and once again it proved you really don’ t need a giant adventure bike to enjoy this sort of riding. In fact, when the roads get slippery or muddy, a smaller bike mostly makes life easier.
That’ s one thing the Kiwi Rider 350 seems to get right. The ride is designed so everybody can get through without having to tackle stupidly difficult terrain. Some organised rides can get a bit too hard out, where riders end up battling through sections they really shouldn’ t be on. This one’ s more about enjoying the ride, seeing some amazing country, and getting everybody home smiling at the end of the day.
AT LEAST RAIN KEPT THE DUST DOWN Rain it did. Coming down fairly heavily at the start and then on and off for most of the day. The upside was there was no dust at all, which actually made the riding pretty pleasant in a strange sort of way. The downside was that, in some of the deeper valleys, parts of the road got pretty muddy where there had been
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