Cycling NZ

trails and wayz I

....there are numerous fabulous cycling trails throughout NZ, many of them listed in the Kennett Bros' bible "Classic NZ Mountain Bike Rides" and in DOC-brochures. Singletrails, 4WD tracks, gravel roads, varying difficulties, sth for everyone. Rural Maps will help find your way. The tricky part is to connect these rides:

Either you've got a car (buy a >300.000 km-magic-machine from a backpacker or rent one) - easy. Or rely on public transport, i.e. rely on the bus driver's good will. The bus driver decides if he'll take the bike or not in the minute the bus leaves, depending on available space, the bike's mud cover and the bus driver's morning coffee - a little less flexible. Or you try hitching with your bike, why, in other parts of the world there are people hitching around with fridges!

Or you simply cycle wherever you wanna go - time consuming.

Roads might pass through beautiful, hilly landscapes. But beware of local drivers! Kiwis are wonderful people, as long as they aren't sitting behind a steering wheel (hm okay, there might be exceptions). Teens start driving at the age of 15, with someone sitting beside them who should give them instructions. Only after 6 months of papa's driving lessons they'll have to do a test and eventually get their driving license. After 6 months of chasing oversea cyclists!! And then there are logging trucks that don't care too much about any weaker road users. And then there are sheep. Many. With unpredictable reactions.

By the way, it's far from being common to have a shoulder along the road. And you'll see your tires fading away from day to day due to a rough road cover.

A cycling path along the whole length of NZ is planned, from North to South. Realisation might take a couple of years but - great! :-)