Wheels turn faster with sniff of home

ON THE ROAD: Carey Vivian, of Queenstown, (left) and former Masterton man Kevin Calvert, of Auckland, are cycling the country to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

After 17 days of cycling, the "smell of home" feels good to ex-Masterton man Kevin Calvert.

Mr Calvert, a former Wairarapa Times-Age reporter, is cycling the length of the North Island with his brother-in-law Carey Vivian, half of it off-road on mountain bikes.

The pair are raising money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association NZ.

Mr Vivian's father, who lives in New Plymouth, was diagnosed with the disease three years ago.

Mr Vivian will carry on the charity ride through the South Island, past his home town of Queenstown and on to Bluff, while Mr Calvert will finish in Wellington.

The pair started at Cape Reinga on February 1 and have been riding 7-10 hours a day. Their goal is to raise $50,000 towards care for those with Motor Neurone Disease, and they are about halfway to that goal.

Enjoying their "rest day" in Masterton on Tuesday, the pair stayed with Mr Calvert's Carterton aunt before tackling the Rimutaka Rail Trail yesterday .

Mr Calvert, a One News journalist based in Auckland, said his brother-in-law had been planning this for two years, and spoke to him about this "crazy bike ride".

"I started out planning to go from Cape Reinga to Auckland, just taking two weeks off in February.

"Carey said, well, you know, if you go for two weeks, you'd have gotten this far.

"Take another week, go through to Wellington."

Mr Calvert said the "clincher" for him was coming through his "beloved" home province.

"You get that sniff of home and between Eketahuna and Masterton I flew."

He said he had never been a big bike rider and can recall, as a youngster, biking from Masterton to Carterton and thinking that was "huge".

Being off-road, the pair carry everything, including tents.

"We've had really generous support along the way," said Mr Calvert.

"On the Timber Trail, between Mangakino and Taumarunui, we met a cycling group on a package tour.

"They said, we have got one spare tent - with a mattress."

Mr Calvert was sporting a fading black eye and scabbed nose from one crash, on the Mountain to the Sea cycle trail.

"It was on the Bridge to Nowhere - in the middle of nowhere. I was going downhill too fast, had a little bit of a crash."

Mr Vivian said he will be joined by friends when he starts down the South Island. He hopes to finish the ride on March 10.

-To donate to the cause, visit www.raceagainsttime.co.nz.