Alps to Ocean Cycle Trail

This is a ride which starts at Mt Cook in the South Island and ends up At Oamaru on the east coast. The ride features some of the best South Island high country. There are sections of the ride which could be done on their own if you have limited time. We started in Twizel and rode up to Mt Cook and stayed there overnight. The ride up to Mt Cook started off very well until we got to the first point on Lake Pukaki. We then headed into what could be only described as a fierce gale and its strength was such that we did not move when going downhill without pedalling.

My ride video:
Alps to Ocean New Zealand

We returned to Twizel on the same road that we went up and did not do the helicopter ride to get to the other side of Lake Pukaki which is the official route of the Alps to Ocean ride.

The next day involved going to the Lake Ohau lodge which included a track alongside Lake Ohau which was excellent.

The South Island high county is very inspiring with big hills and mountains everywhere. There was a climb out of the Lake Ohau lodge and a downhill which is very enjoyable although rocky in parts and best done on a mountain bike.

Cycling around the Manawatu

In November 2019 I did a series of rides in the Manawatu from Cheltenham which is a very small town with a population of only 66 but with a hotel. Cheltenham is only 12.9 kilometres from Feilding which is 20 kilometres from Palmerston North.

We stayed at the hotel and did local rides each day and this type of cycle touring can be described as a hub tour. The rides we did included both tarmac and also shingle surfaces on demanding backcountry roads with lots of uphills.
One of the main advantages of a hub tour ride is that you do not have to put up your tent each night and breakfasts and dinners can be catered for in the hotel. We found that the Cheltenham hotel is well set up to cater for cycling groups.
These are the three routes that we did from Cheltenham:

Cheltenham East 

Route:

 ·  Turn right onto Coulters Line -6.1 km

·  Turn right to stay on Coulters Line - 11.7 km

·  Turn right onto Ridge Rd -14.0 km

·  Turn left onto Branch Rd -14.9 km

·  Turn right onto Finnis Rd - 21.9 km

 Ridge road as the name suggests runs along the ridge is shingle and is a hard but an interesting ride.


Cheltenham North 

This route includes a visit to Kimbolton and Apiti and then a return along and old friend Ridge Road. All in all a hard day but includes great scenery.

Route:

·  Turn left onto Haynes Line - 3.4 km

·  Turn slight right onto Levett Line - 7.0 km

·  Turn left onto McBeth Road - 11.3 km

·  Turn left onto Flyger Street -20.4 km

   Cheltenham West

 This route incorporates a visit to Feilding.

Route

·   Turn left onto Mckays Line - 3.1 km

·  Turn left onto Makino Rd - 6.2 km

·  Turn left onto Reid Line W - 13.9 km

·  Turn right onto Pharazyn St - 15.2 km

·  Turn left onto North St - 17.0 km

Tour of Wairarapa

I recently completed a 9-day tour of the Wairarapa which had some very interesting rides incorporated in it. Some of the ride highlights included:

•  Ride to Featherston and then over the Rimutuka Rail Trail and then back to Lake Ferry. We got a ride to the western side of the Rimutuka Rail trail so that we could return back over the rail trail.
• Lake Ferry to Cape Palliser and back 
• Lake Ferry to Martinborough
• Martinborough to Masterton climbing Admirals Hill.
• Masterton to Riversdale
• Riversdale to Castlepoint.
• Castlepoint back to Masterton. 

 The highlights for me included the ride from Lake Ferry out to Cape Palliser and the ride over the Admirals hill returning from Martinborough to Masterton. Admirals Hill is a gem. It was a reasonably hard ride but very scenic especially on such a brilliant day.

Wairarapa Tour maps and Images

As a member of the Auckland Cycle Touring Association I take advantage of the expertise of the members in designing really interesting cycling rides with like minded cyclists all at a budget cost.