The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

New Zealand S Island Off Road Highlights 2023

February 10th to February 25th

Ride Coordinator: Grant McAlister
Report by: Holly Miller

Kia Ora! While New Zealand is a long flight from the US, it’s truly worth it. New Zealand is just a jaw dropping gorgeous country that is lush and green and full of huge mountains and deep fjords and lakes. The South Island specifically is truly a place to indulge in nature. To take advantage of this beauty, New Zealand has a rich history of tramping and hut to hut hikes. Recently, they started creating off road bike trails. Hello! There are more than 10 cycle trails that range from the 124 mile Great Taste Trail (to enjoy the tropical Northern part of the South Island) to the Alps 2 Ocean 196 mile trail through glacial lakes, the fun swoopy West Coast Wilderness trail which is 83 miles long, the Otago Central Rail Trail that is 94 miles long (and just glorious in a lovely forest) to the newest Lake Dunstan Cycle Trail with cantilevers and a suspension bridge. All of these are just waiting for a gravel or ebike. and did I mention it’s summer in the Southern hemisphere so we got some wonderful warm rides in while folks at home were Zwifting or making snow angels. 

Our fearless leader Grant and the amazing NZ Bicycle Tours picked out the best parts of each trail and created a 14 day off road route. While this included many shuttles to trailheads and thus some complicated logistics, it made the riding just spectacular. 

It was definitely a challenging tour as gravel is inherently more difficult than road. The trail surface varied from champagne gravel paths to freshly laid thick rolling marbles to packed logging roads to single track. Some gravel skills definitely are required but I love gravel - no cars to worry about and the variety just makes it so darn interesting. I personally rode 477 miles and 24,266’ climbing over 12 days for an average 40 miles and 2,022’/day. There were some shorter and longer options for those inclined.

The hotels were generally 3 -4 star hotels with several right on the trail. Most breakfasts were provided by our hosts  - muesli with yogurt or milk and eggs with toast being the norm. My favorite part was the fresh fruit! The hosts were particularly accommodating for special diets.The food in NZ is generally amazing with quite a nightly variety that didn’t get repetitive.

All in all, I loved the tour and highly recommend it. The scenery alone was worth it but the variety of trails really kept you guessing and it was just fun to see what was around the next corner!