The Sun Gods were smiling on us on the Monday morning thankfully. Even the main route on day one was huge and quite technical, as well as passing though some spectacular scenery. We headed off down a gravel river track; very rocky and dusty; a hair-raising start as it was very hard to keep the bike straight. We passed a lot of riders already mending punctures. From there we entered the Black Forest and this is where I realised how well the KTM handles two up, and how relaxed Karen is as a pillion. Heath and Karen set the pace, and I think we surprised a few riders with our speed two-up. The views are stunning up there and just stretch for miles. We rode on to have lunch at Omarama, and then on to Broken Hut track. Along a bit further, we got our first taste of water crossings. I wasn’ t sure what to expect, but seeing Chris Birch standing midway across helping the bikes was reassuring so, rather than over think it, I just ploughed on through. It was a huge feeling of success! Day one finished up at Alexandra for the night. The riders’ briefing was quite late that night, as the KTM team were kept busy assisting riders who hadn’ t realised how technical some routes would be. I felt very proud to have made it through the day’ s riding.

Karen had enjoyed the first day so much that we agreed to give three out of the four‘ break out’ routes a go, but would miss out the Serpentine Hut section based on the advice from Jo who had designed the routes. The Nelson riders were re-grouping after B. O. 2, when Paul, the last rider, caught up and passed us heading toward the tricky Serpentine Church route. We all laughed; if he wants to do B. O. 3, then we’ ll all give it go! As we opened and then shut the first gate, we asked Paul why he’ d not stayed on the main route. He replied that he thought he was on the main route – he was colour blind and had mis-read the markers! It was well worth the risk of wiping out in the very slippery, boggy trail as this