We met up with KTM's Rosie
Lalonde who welcomed us with
enthusiasm and made us feel
at home. Our next destination:
Christchurch.
>DAYS 7-11:
THE RALLY
With about 150 riders partici-
pating, the Summit to Sea KTM
Adventure Rallye is
a sizable
event.
The first day of the rally was
a day loop out of Dunedin. The
ride featured a main trail with
four or five "breakout" trails that
were rated by 1-5 chilis, one chili
being easy, five being hard. This
chili rating was used throughout
the ride and could be adjusted
depending on weather.
The next day took us on a
wide variety of terrain featuring
grassy trails, gravel roads and
rocky uphills.
I asked Chris what makes New
Zealand such an ADV mecca.
"We're very fortunate here," he
answered. "There're a lot of pos-
sibilities for off-road riding. The
best
thing about New Zealand
riding is the diversity of terrain,
it changes quickly. There's a
little bit of the whole world all
smashed into one country."
We headed on to Lake Tekapo
for a night, with its picturesque
snow-capped mountains the
backdrop for our next day.
Freezing temperatures overnight
and an early start made for
some frozen fingers at the first
photo stop, and I had trouble
turning the dials on my camera!
The last half of the rally was
based out of the city of Christ
-
church, and day four started out
TRAVEL FEATURE I NEW ZEALAND ADVENTURE: SUMMIT TO SEA
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