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Chopper Bike Ride 2025

  • Thank you - mission accomplished

      12 May 2025
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    Thank you to everyone for your support on the ride.

    We made it into Invercargill on Friday night just after 5pm.

    The ride started off as expected in the dark at 6am from the new Queenstown branch. The first two hours were pretty rainy and wet. Looking back, I didn’t mind it too much at the time and enjoyed traversing a road (also known as The Devil's Staircase) on my bike that I have driven many times before.

    Our first stop was Five Rivers, and everyone was pretty cold and wet. I found a nice place by the fire next to a few other Westpac folks, and after a bit of food, we were off again to Mossburn for our first school visit.

    From there, the weather was almost perfect. We were pretty lucky in that regard as just a few hours earlier the region had received some record-setting rain.

    Lunch was at the Nightcaps school, and we had two more school visits before we made it to Invercargill.

    There was one especially memorable moment where I passed Richie M on the way up a hill, but then he gave me a quizzical look as he passed me back on the downhill.

    The best part of the ride was meeting some awesome riders before and during the event. This included a 76-year-old rider doing his 8th ride, Jon Bridges (who is a fellow Midwesterner), some new Westpac folks (including the CFO), and some friends I will continue to ride with in Invercargill.

    I’ve posted some more photos from the day on my page.

    It was an unforgettable day for such a good cause.

    Thank you again for your support.

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  • Heading for Queenstown

      8 May 2025
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    And we are off…the easy part of the journey is the shuttle ride from Invercargill to Queenstown.

    I left work a bit early (thank you Raquel and team for helping make this happen) and joined all the fellow riders to load up our bikes and gear for the journey north.

    Beautiful sunny autumn day leaving Invercargill. Strong breezes from the north and west but a nice warm temperature. If it held that would be ideal riding weather for tomorrow.

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