Picture Perfect

 Here are more photos from the ride the first day:

The dirt roads are everything from dirt to deep gravel and everything in between. 40mm tires were ideal for the variety of terrain we encountered. This skilled off-road rider flies on the dirt; it was tricky to get this shot. 

From wide open agricultural rolling hills to untouched wilds of the areas near Raglan, the terrain kept changing throughout the ride. The only thing that was constant were the hills. But the hills were easy to enjoy since the descents were always fun, fast and they quickly awaited the rider on the other side of each hill.

What a tremendous sunset found over the ocean on the east coast of New Zealand. It was no easy task to get near the ocean (the route kept zigzagging us closer and then further away from it in taunting manner), but there were many wonderful views of it from far above. We had ~15 miles in the perfect dark, too. No photos from that portion, we were very tired and just wanting to make the best time possible. Water was also quite low. We'd started with 4 full bottles and 2 1/2 liters of water in a Camelback and it was just enough to get us home.

I will mention what it's like riding and driving on the other side of the road in a future post...it's not easy!

For more (much better than mine) photos & words from the trip, visit: http://newzealandtraverse.tumblr.com.