Rugby stars, ball gown in fundraiser ride

More than 70 riders battled "four seasons" yesterday for a good cause.

The group left Queenstown at about 5.30am and rode for about 250km until they arrived in Invercargill 12 hours later, as part of the 12th Westpac Chopper Appeal Bike Ride to raise funds for the Lakes District Air Rescue Trust.

Among them was former All Blacks Richie McCaw, Mils Muliaina and Jimmy Cowan.

The trio got a lot of attention from the local children as all of them wanted to take a photo and speak to them.

The former captain said he was happy to take part in such a great cause.

"Yeah, the first time for this ride — it was a lot of fun," McCaw said.

"It was a cold start, a bit of snow around but we got through that. It was amazing experience, stopping off at a couple of schools and having people out and about, to wishing us to keep us going, was brilliant. It was a great day."

When asked what was harder to battle — the long ride or a rival team in a rugby field, he joked:

"At least when you’re in a bike there is no-one trying to stop you."

While McCaw and his mates were getting a lot of flashes, another rider attracted some attention — 17-year-old Kennedy Taylor was looking stunning in the middle of the crowd with her ball gown.

"I biked from Queenstown to Lumsden and then my mum picked me up, then I got ready and I have my ball tonight."

She said she could not miss any of those events because it was such a good crew and she really wanted to be part of both the ride and her school celebration.

"I will rest tomorrow."

She is the daughter of Westpac regional manager Phil Taylor, who has taken part in all of the appeal’s rides.

"All the energy is because of the cause. It’s an amazing cause with the rescue choppers [which] obviously saves lives.

"So it’s pretty easy to go out and raise money for them."

To date, the events had raised $754,000 and they were on track to have a record of $110,000 this year.