MOST people know Phil Keoghan as the host of The Amazing Race, but this week he's putting in the leg work in Northland's own amazing race.
The Kiwi cycling enthusiast - and host of a US reality TV show that has bickering contestants racing around the globe - is among the
hundreds of cyclists taking part in the four-day Twin Coast Cycle Challenge.
Mr Keoghan said it was just his second road race. His first was the 200km K2 cycle race around the Coromandel Peninsula.
"My wife signed us up for this," he joked.
The Keoghans' cycle team Now - short for No Opportunity Wasted, from a TV series and book co-authored by Mr Keoghan - is made up of friends from the United States and his wife Louise, who is also a keen cyclist.
More than 450 cyclists take part in the four-day, 350km event. The tour started in Whangarei yesterday with the first leg taking the riders to Dargaville. Today the lycra-clad legion heads north to Opononi on a notoriously hilly 80km leg; tomorrow they head east via Kaikohe to Paihia; and on Sunday they return to Whangarei.
For some it's a serious road race, but for others - like the Fat Boy team - it's more about having fun. Team member Brian Eunson, from Maungakaramea, said cycling was the easy part.
"It's the socialising that's hard," he said.
Fellow Fat Boy member Elaine Babe, of Waiotira, agreed.
"We ride straight to the pub then I try to control them."
Results of Day One
Tokoroa's Justin Kerr was the first to finish the Whangarei to Dargaville leg on the first day, narrowly ahead of Roman Eden and Willow Alexander in a sprint finish.
The first Northlander home was Lee Johnstone, who was in eighth place on the line.
Caption: AMAZING TIME: Phil Keoghan, centre, is taking part in an entirely different race this week. With him are team mates, from left, Julie Guthrie, Louise Keoghan Ben Cornell and Murray Arthur.
