I haven't seen anyone mention the Tour Aotearoa on the forum and after lots of surfing I think
this might be the next project for me after the TD.
The first running of this end to end race of New Zealand is planned for 2016 and it looks pretty special

http://touraotearoa.blogspot.co.nz

I am planning to go over to this. A few others have mentioned it as well.

Yep, I'm sorely tempted by it too.

If you are interested drop Jonathan Kennett an email and ask him to put your name on the list for up to date information as they have mentioned only taking 100 people and I think it will be over subscribed.

The Tour Aotearoa I would imagine to be a big undertaking. New Zealand is a slightly larger country than the UK but only has a population of 4.5 million people which is less than Scotland at 5.3 million and a whole lot less than the UK at 64 million. Climate ranges from sub tropical in the north to cooler in the south and alpine in the mountains. Weather conditions can change rapidly if fronts move up from the south pole. I think you will need to know your stuff and be well prepared with the right gear before contemplating something like this. Wish I could give it a go .

How much worse than a winter in Scotland can it be

Chicken Legs wrote:How much worse than a winter in Scotland can it be

.

Steve Makin tweeted this morning to say this event was filling up fast. Anybody seriously interested should contact organisers on the link ^ there that Chickenlegs posted.

My helmet is in the ring for it. Speculating whether I can squeeze in the Stagecoach 400 on the way home. And Hawaii. To much time to dream me thinks.

I am definitely in for this one, just starting to think when will be the best time to book flights

I put my name down for this a while ago. Never been to New Zealand and this gives me a great reason to go. I agree with Ray it could be incredibly tough but I like the idea that it's specifically not a race and we'd be frowned upon if we ride through the night. It means I'll see more of the country in the day light and will enjoy the experience more. I'll try not to hang about though as I can't take the $%*s out of work by being off for a whole month however tempting that is.

I've got my name down too. It's going to be quite a test - I'm going to make my mind up finally once I've done the HTR as I picked up a few injuries on it last year and want to see if the distance was the cause. If so, sadly I'll have to pull out

Good to see there are a few up for it.

My long range estimate would be ~3 weeks of about 150km per day. Despite some tough sections I think there are some easier bits to balance that out. I don't know that for a fact though.

Will have a look at booking flights in the spring to take possible advantage of better prices.

This has been on my radar since Blackhound mentioned it (last year?).

Alas, negotiations at home have broken down as we've got a second sprog due at the start of April, so heading out to NZ for a month on my own was always looking a bit selfish!

Good luck all who do make it to the start line. Here's hoping it's such a success they run it again in 2018.

Congratulations Paul on another sprog, pity you will have to miss the ride through.

was speaking to Jonathon Kennet last week, he already has 180 enquiries and is capping the event at 100 so if you are serious about this then you'd better confirm with him now

I was going to do it but realised that after my difficult kiwi brevet I should leave the place to people who are going to do this event justice

its a beautiful country with amazing riding, better for touring at my own pace now

just reading back through the comments

Tom, dont kid yourself, it will be a race, we started last Saturday at 45kph for the first hour !

and the first guy back averaged around 290ks per day, thats racing ;-)

Jonathan Kennett is calling for entries and has had 200 people show an interest and only
100 entries are being accepted so if you want to go to NZ get on it very soon

Chicken Legs wrote:Jonathan Kennett is calling for entries and has had 200 people show an interest and only
100 entries are being accepted so if you want to go to NZ get on it very soon

I'm now in two minds about it. 1800km out of 3000km is on the road, so it's not the MTB ride I had expected it was going to be.

I have now had my entry accepted by Jonathan as the only permission I needed was from Herself.

Need to work things out with a travel agent but I am considering flying via USA and doing the Stagecoach 400 on my way home. Unsure of practicalities of stop-overs in LA though. I have seen recent adverts regarding free stops in Iceland but mid April sounds a bit early for there.

Blackhound wrote:Unsure of practicalities of stop-overs in LA though.

I hear there is some very exciting riding to be had in certain parts of LA...

LA is safer than it was:

http://i.imgur.com/7z6WswF.jpg

If you can transfer through San Francisco there's supposed to be some good riding there..

Yes Wotsits but LA is closer to the Stagecoach 400 start. SF is a possibility if I forego S400 or the price dictates.

I'm hoping to be in the SF area sometime this summer myself. If you do decide to travel that way & know any info on riding in the area i'd be interested. Started compliing a bit of info myself & it looks a good area to ride

from recent experience, give yourself at least two weeks in NZ to get over the jet lag and acclimate to the temperatures, going from here at -5 to Auckland at +35 was quite a shock

and getting to the start line isn't going to a piece of cake unless you can organise a lift