Category: Bike Tour

Pre-dawn rain was in the forecast, and packing up camp while it’s raining is something we literally haven’t done in years because it sucks so much. But it was supposed to clear out by 7 or 8am at the latest, so hopefully we could keep that streak going by either staying in the tent or…

In this sleepy town of less than 200 people, the midnight peace and quiet was bludgeoned away by the thumping roar of a helicopter, circling closer until it had to be low and directly overhead, before shooting off again to wherever it came from. I groggily recalled that yesterday as we were exiting the high…

All of the thru-hikers who ordered dinner last night were like us, counting on the Lodge to provide breakfast. Somehow we were lucky enough to be the first who Jack asked for an order from, though ordering the “big breakfast” made our wait longer than others. This morning “the chef” (presumably the guy who designed…

Today, we ride. Ride for ruin and the world’s ending! Oh wait, no, hopefully not all that, but we ride into the heart of the horse-nation of Rohan, to find Theoden, son of Thengel, within his Golden Hall at Edoras. Except, Theoden died a hero at the end of “The Return of the King”, and…

For much of our southward journey on the South Island we were on the same roads as the Tour Aotearoa, the 3000km bikepacking route defined by the Kennett Brothers. It’s similar to an Adventure Cycling route in the United States: a well-mapped and well-described route that anyone can ride at any time. But it also…