Northland retirees on tandem e-bike raise $5000 for Bald Angels Trust

Ruth and Cliff Mail, pictured in Mackenzie Country, are having many adventures on their bike ride around New Zealand for the Bald Angels charity.

The Northland retirees riding 7500km around Aotearoa on a tandem e-bike for charity are back in Kerikeri recharging their batteries before embarking on the last leg of their adventure.

Cliff Mail, 72, and his wife Ruth, also 72, set out on their epic journey from Kerikeri on October 12 to raise awareness and funds for the Bald Angels Charitable Trust.

They reached Invercargill on December 16 and flew home to Kerikeri, where they have been recouping for a few weeks.

Cliff said they have so far pedalled 4358km of their unsupported circuit of the country and raised over $5000 in donations via Givealittle.

Cliff – who has been penning exceptional updates on his website The Angel Tandem: Adventures on the wrong side of 60 - said the pair had been “lucky with the weather” and had met lots of interesting people along the way.

“We found the tandem attracts people wherever we stop, someone will come over and talk to us.

“They would come over and ask us what we were doing.

“Being a couple of older people with a tandem was interesting to people.”

The two septuagenarians, both avid cyclists, decided to embark on the ride last year.

Along the way, they are visiting lighthouses because they symbolise hope and “that is what we hope to deliver to some vulnerable children in Tai Tokerau”.

Cliff and Ruth Mail tackle a narrow road along the East Cape.

The Mails are staying in a mix of accommodations, including high country stations, backpackers, campsites, farm stays and, when there’s nothing else, their tent.

Cliff said the first two months of the trip, along the eastern side of New Zealand, had already provided many adventures.

Large truck and trailer units on narrow state highways caused a few anxious moments, Ruth got a touch of food poisoning in Whangārei, and they both caught Covid near Invercargill.

Wind in the South Island was so strong at one point, that Cliff and his friend Rod Brown, who replaced Ruth for a brief stint on the bike, were blown off the tandem.

The man who rescued them from the roadside ran a local community radio station and invited the Mails to go on air to talk about their trip and the Bald Angels.

Kerikeri residents Ruth and Cliff Mail are two months into their bike trip around Aotearoa. Photo / Jenny Ling

Overall, the couple have been encouraged by the “kindness of people we came across,” Cliff said.

“It’s good to see the community spirit that was alive and well in the smaller towns.

“Particularly some towns that don’t have a great reputation like Ōpōtiki and Wairoa, the people were extremely friendly.

“At a cafe in Matamata someone asked what we were doing and they spontaneously said, ‘We’ll shout you lunch’.”

Ruth at a scenic spot on Wards Pass in Marlborough.

Another friendly local in Paparoa, Northland “when he found out what we were doing, he gave us a $5 note then ran to his vehicle and came back with some change and said ‘have my coffee money as well’.

“We tend to have this view of the world as not a very friendly place, but we found everyone was extremely friendly to us,” Cliff said.

The Mails will fly back to Invercargill on January 20 to resume their fundraising bike ride up the western side of the country. They aim to complete the trip by mid-March.

“It’s been an amazing experience and it’s not over,” Cliff said.

Donations can be made via Givealittle.

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with roading, lifestyle, business, and animal welfare issues.