Ride for MMN 2022 – Te Tauihu Traverse





On 27 Feb 2022 I embarked on a 1130km self-supported bike-packing ride around Te Tauihu, the Top of the South Island of New Zealand. Following a figure of eight route that started and finished in the village of Hope, the ride took in a mix of gravel roads, singletrack, high mountain passes, beech forest and coastal stretches. It involved ab a total of 15,190m of climbing.
I completed the ride in eleven days, spending an average of 7 hours of cycling each day. My longest day involved riding 165km in just under 10 hours. Having never ridden more than 4 hours in a day until last July, the fact I now consider that a short day must mean I got something in my training right!




During the ride I was blessed with amazing weather which meant my rain jacket only saw the light of day on one occasion and that I got to see this amazing part of NZ in almost perfect conditions. I was also able to stay in some truly remarkable locations, especially camping around the Marlborough Sounds.
The ride was not without its challenging moments, be it some savage 20% hike a bike sections of 4WD track, some serious cross and head winds in the Awatere Valley and some fairly punishing climbs. However I came through the ride pretty unscathed despite getting a knee niggle on day 2 and some back pain on some of the tougher climbs in the first half of the trip and a rather painful backside at the end of the last few days. After a few days rest the only real impact has been an increase in the weakness in my hand affected by MMN. Clearly I hammered my immune system a bit more than usual, but after my regular IVIG treatment I recovered well.




Ride for MMN 2022 – The Route


| Date | Stage | Distance |
| 27 Feb | Hope to Okiwi Bay | 97km |
| 28 Feb | Okiwi Bay to Havelock | 75km |
| 1 Mar | Havelock to Rarangi | 78km |
| 2 Mar | Rarangi to Cape Campbell | 86km |
| 3 Mar | Cape Campbell to St Arnaud | 169km |
| 4 Mar | St Arnaud to Murchison | 74km |
| 5 Mar | Murchison to Reefton | 121km |
| 6 Mar | Reefton to Blackball | 84km |
| 7 Mar | Blackball to Westport | 124km |
| 8 Mar | Westport to Murchison | 103km |
| 9 Mar | Murchison to Hope | 142km |
