Massive mission accomplished

"Some really difficult times, some really great times".

That remark by Phil Gibbs was a fitting summation of the experiences of the four cyclists who picked up the gauntlet and joined an elite group of two-wheeled aficionados who can claim to have cycled from the bottom of New Zealand to the top.

The quartet - made up of Gibbs and Far North Flash cycling club stablemate, Colin Horsfall, along with Nigel Farthing from Hamilton and Art Schwencke from Auckland - completed their objective in 19 back-to-back days, leaving the Bluff on December 29 to eventually arrive at Cape Reinga on January 17.

Along the way, they were joined by various local club cyclists who had heard of the journey through the grapevine and "spread the good news of cycling and living in the Far North", noted Gibbs who came up with the concept last year before putting the word out through his social networks to gauge other interest. With the touring party sorted, "We just got together and planned the route through the island on Google Maps."

While the cyclists averaged an estimated 115 to 120km each day, with two support drivers forming part of the entourage, Gibbs said they certainly weren't helped by the weather for the first half of their Tour de New Zealand.

"Felt like we picked the wrong week!" he said of the adverse winds the quartet faced, literally, during the entire South Island leg.

"The whole way right from our first day, 158 kilometres. That was a long hot day!" However, Gibbs did give the impression that the struggle was the blessing when he said one of his personal highlights was "the grind" from Kaikoura to Blenheim.

"Hardest head-winds [we met]. Lots of hills lots of heat, [we'd] come around a corner hoping for a respite from the wind and there wasn't one, and there's a big brown wall ahead of you you've got to climb. Just felt absolutely smashed at the end of that day."

But it certainly was not a case of being head-down the whole way thus missing the natural beauty they were riding by.

"We all felt like a tourist in our own country, if we saw somewhere we wanted to go we'd stop, places that we had been before in a car that were like we had never been there before. Awesome scenery. A great trip. Some really difficult times, some really great times. Now we can join the few that have taken the time to do it."

With Art, an accomplished endurance cyclist, being the only truly fit rider at the start, the tourists had to make some adjustments along the way, such as arranging alternative accommodation on the rare occasion when it became apparent they wouldn't reach their chosen destination.

While Horsfall was forced to miss the last four or so days of the South Island leg of the tour after his electronic derailleur packed up, he described the ride from his perspective as a "monumental task of epic proportions" having only returned to cycling the year before after a few years' layoff.

"At 71 and having had a knee replacement op only six months before, messing about like this with guys 20 years younger than me certainly made the pace at times rather hot."

More information on the four riders' journey, including images and videos can be found on the Far North Flash Facebook page.