and I’ m already looking forward to next year. The weather was the classic NZ four seasons. Getting on the bike Friday morning, it was much warmer than I’ d expected. Putting up tents in the afternoon, the sun came out and I started to overheat. The wind had starting to pick up by then and a couple of tents escaped their owners by flying across the paddock. The wind was a big feature of the weekend. This meant when it rained, it was driven through lots of tents. My own was well past its prime and got pretty wet inside but it’ s not my first rodeo … so I managed to keep everything dry enough to be comfortable. The temperature dropped significantly after arriving, and all day Saturday it felt like the rain was cold enough to be sleet. In the end it did become sleet, long enough for a couple of snowballs to be thrown. Hanging out with the Brown Brothers crew was a pleasure. They brought a diverse range of toys including Ag bikes, a dirt drift trike, a Blackbird dirt drag trike and a Blackbird dirt drag bike. Once their trailer was parked, a farm bike circuit was made in the gully next to us. Riding this was so much fun, that day or night we were just doing laps, laughing. We had a great crew of people who had been brought together by KR’ s editor. It was fantastically diverse, from those new to bikes, Cold Kiwi veterans, bike industry stalwarts and those who ride just for the love of it. Sitting around a fire sharing stories, experiences and riding bikes with these guys was a real privilege. On top of that, each day finished with a bang in the marquee bar with a rock band blasting out the tunes. Good times. IAN GANDERTON

106 KIWI RIDER