I’ve always been one for a challenge, hence the 100 mile cycle when first meeting James. James however, much preferred a quick smash round on the mountain bike, or hours spent trying to perfect a front tap jump hop *thing* on a trials bike (I broke my shoulder bunny-hopping up an inch of pavement, so jumping on a bike just isn’t a thing)

However, in 2018 when recovering from a serios brain trauma following a mountain biking crash James met hundreds of riders who were taking part in the Tour Aotearoa 2018. Cycling from Cape Reinga (the very north of the North Island of New Zealand) through to Bluff, (the very south of the South Island) and the seed was planted. How the seed stuck, as at this point in time James could barely remember his name, I’m not so sure…

James sold it as a ‘month long cruise down the two Islands’ however, at this point I think he may be lying… It looks pretty intense!

We then applied, were accepted, donated some money to charity in lieu of an entry fee and requested the time off work.

We had started our adventure in March, but due to the COVID pandemic turned around to return home after reaching half way point and spent 33 days in Level 4 lockdown. Now with the Christmas break upon us we’re off on our merry way once more, this time with a vague plan to cycle back up the east coast once we’ve reached Bluff, because yaknow, you can never have too much cycling…!

Image courtesy of Tour Aotearoa