Touring NZ

Christmas this year, as it turned out, was a time to ride…and what a great way to finish the year!

The Maori Tennis tournament is held in Hamilton between Christmas and New Year and last year I didn’t go because I needed to paint the house, but this year I needed to do my duty and support Ann by taking her to this event….not because I love Tennis, but, it is in the Waikato.

After a cruisy Christmas morning, we took the opportunity to visit her parents in Moumahaki, ...

This weekend I once again enjoyed one of my favorite annual rides, the Musclar Dystrophy (MDA) Run. The ride entails taking presents to children suffering with MD, from Wellington to Napier on Friday, across to Waitara on Saturday and back to Wellington on Sunday and there are several factors that contribute towards creating an epic adventure each year…
1. Firstly, we have Santa…or at least the world’s best facsimile…Red Fred! He eats, sleeps, Ho Ho’s and Hugs out his part, doling out ...

With this year being the fourth C1KC, planning for the event is a bit easier as, after organising a new route, most of the stuff just needs to be regurgitated and tweeked, but that doesn’t stop us making plenty of mistakes though….which we do try to learn from.

After deciding that a foray into the East was in order, the route fell into place, notices were placed on forums and emails sent to subscribed riders who had previously registered or completed the run and then it was back to ...

Life is a struggle….and that’s why we divert our attention from the daily grind by taking up sports and hobbies….but sometimes that can be a struggle too! The 24th Grand Challenge (my 5th) was one of those times, but I persevered and finished.

I’ve done relatively little riding over the past year, partly due to weather, but mainly just circumstances because weather isn’t really a problem when one has a good bike and gear. Anyway, over the last year I’ve only done 20,000Kms instead ...

I lay around for awhile, mentally running the day’s route through my mind and finally gave-up and got-up to shower and pack. As I went to drop the key at the office, there was Lance so we chatted for a bit before I went to check-in for the ride.

The first section was to Takaka and back and this was more unsampled road for me, from Mot’ onwards. I was a little slow getting ready so we were about 5 minutes late getting away, but then, others were still arriving to check-in. This proved ...

3 Strikes for the TT2000 and we were ‘In’!
Strike 1 – We got to do a 1,000Km ride
Strike 2 – We got to do 2 of them back to back
Strike 3 – It was in the South Island and we were due for a treat!

Sailings were organised and accommodation was booked for Christchurch and Nelson, tyres were good, the bike is always ready for a decent ride, we decided that a Bronze Flyer would suffice so we could approach the ride in a more relaxed manner and come Friday at 0725, ...

What an awsome day! Great weather, great route, great bike and great mates!

After Grub’s tragedy on this ride last year and the problems encountered with nearly half the field not completing, we had to go back to the drawing board to address our route setting along with other improvements to make the day easier to run. Fortunately there are a few groups out there organising events like this and they had some pretty good ideas for us to borrow.

With a prescription for ...

Attached Thumbnails