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Tour Aotearoa 2025 Round Up

1 June, 2025

Covered By: Kirsten Cluley

An Uncanny Odyssey

On what other bikepacking adventure would you find yourself:

1. Riding along a 90km stretch of sandy beach?

2. Visiting a 2,500 year old tree, that stands a 50m tall?

3. Being extracted from the side of a muddy river by a jet boat, deep in the jungle?

4. Ascending a Victorian elevator (bike and all) in a seaside town?

5. Cycling through gold fields and a Wild West themed village?

and...

6. Taking a steamboat across a glacier-carved lake?

This is an bike packing odyssey like no other, with a juxtaposition of some of New Zealand's most breath taking scenery, along side some very unusual places. These uncanny Kiwi treasures had me questioning my fatigue levels and delirium, more than once!

The route felt like a rite of passage, having moved to New Zealand six month earlier. For many riders the Tour Aotearoa is a four to six week excursion, to explore and immerse themselves in the islands' charms. I had just two weeks to make my down, before I need to be back at work in Christchurch!

You can catch up on this years event and learn more about the Brevet format and the other riders.

The Rig and Route

I didn't have a choice of bikes. I had stepped off the plane from Canada with my one and only Mason Raw steel hardtail in toe, after completing the . I rocked pretty much the exact same set up, minus the bear spray and bear bell, as well as ditching my long sleeved thermal. This turned out to be a massive mistake, not because there were bears... (thankfully that trauma was behind me), but because the sun in NZ is ferocious and covering up is the only way to avoid the UV exposure. I was also minus my rear tyre insert (which I had to part with in Grants, New Mexico) after my tubeless set up failed. I'd managed to get a cheap deal on a replacement front tyre, a second hand cycle cross Kenda in Vancouver, on my way over. I also said goodbye to a very old friend, my Berghaus puffa, it had been with me through thick and thin, replaced with a NZ Kathmandu staple. My pair of Rapha Cargo shorts and a Universal Colours jersey also had done their time.

Bike: Sensor blue Mason Raw, RockShox SID front fork, Shimano GRX group set, Kenda tyre (front), Vittoria Mezcal (back).

Key items of kit: Profile Design aero bars, Anker battery packs, Gore lightweight waterproof jacket and Black Diamond waterproof trousers, Apidura frame, saddle, and top tube bags with Straight Cut feed bags and Lomo handle bar bag, Kennett Brothers' guide books.

Frame type: Hardtail - Front Suspension

Frame material: Steel

Handlebar Type: Flat

Wheel size: 29"

Tyre width: 2.35″

Electronic shifting: No

With over 50% of this route sealed roads, making up for approximately 1/3 of the ride time, I'd say personally a rigid frame, or at best some narrower tyres might have made things more enjoyable. However, that said, I was able to send those chunky downhill sections and single track. So much so, that I ripped my tyre wall on the Maungatapu track into Nelson. So, it's always a weigh up of pros and cons. I am a massive advocate of aero bars, whether it's just to change hand position on some cruisy gravel, beast a road section, tuck under a head wind, bungie some snacks to, or leverage on a hike-a-bike - all wins to me. I'd ride them to commute if I wasn't so vain.

Cape Reinga Lighthouse

90 Mile Beach

Actually only 88km or 55 miles, 90 Mile Beach is said to have been measured by riders on horse back, who took three days to cross. They believed they were capable of riding 30 miles a day and therefore the beach must be 90 miles long (although erosion is a possible theory, this area of beach actually experiences more accretion, so maybe it will be 90 miles long one day yet!) Either way, I'm not sure of another bikepacking event which includes so much sand as a surface type, please get in touch if you know of any others?

After leaving Cape Reinga Lighthouse early on Saturday morning with the first wave of riders we cycled along the paved road that weaved its way south from the headland. We soon turned off east onto a gravel track, which led through sandy dunes which towered high beside us and followed a river bed down towards the beach. It was windy when we reached the shore of the Tasman Sea.

For .. hours we battled the headwinds of up to...km/hour. By chance I joined the beach at the same time as a group of about 6 other riders and i knew I had to hold on, if not wate all my energy on day one.