This April, the first annual Tour of New Zealand cycle ride takes to the road. Whether by relay or pedalling every km, teams will tackle a 7-day road ride, either of the North or South Island, Cape Reinga to the Wairarapa or Bluff to Picton.
HIKURANGI AND THE TOUR
Our favourite part? While we’re looking forward to the hot pools at Hamner, we’re even more excited that the Hikurangi Foundation has been chosen as one of three official recipient charities of funds raised by the Tour. That means teams can choose to turn their ride into a fundraiser with lasting impacts. We’re committing 100% of all funds raised to community–led cycling and innovative transport projects, to help lower our carbon footprint while also keeping us fit, saving money and making our communities better places to live. We’re so excited, that we’re entering two teams ourselves! Fancy joining us? By joining Team Hikurangi, we ask you to make a commitment, not just to ride, but to also raise funds to help us create a positive shift in cycling and transport infrastructure and culture in New Zealand.
JOIN THE TEAM!
What better way to cycle than with a bunch of friends? We’re asking some old friends, plus a few new ones, to literally come along for the ride, and cycle one day (or more if you’re keen!) as part of Team Hikurangi North or South. Each team gets 5 cyclists on the road at one time. Two of these riders will go the whole 7 days. Then we need 3 more riders each day. That’s where you come in. Check out the routes on the right and let us know if there is a day and island that strikes your fancy. But first...
MEET TEAM HIKURANGI – SOUTH ISLAND
Rod Oram - Well-known business journalist, Hikurangi board member and the first to put his hand up for this crazy outing.
Sarah Wilson - Professional adventure coach, Hikurangi project specialist, and general super (fit) woman.
MEET TEAM HIKURANGI – NORTH ISLAND
Patrick Morgan - CAN Project manager
Freda Wells – officially Hikurangi’s “oldest” staff member. (By # of years worked, not age!) A bit of a cycling addict, especially when the route happens to pass a good cafe or winery .. or both.
Ashlee Gross – newbie to the Hikurangi crew. Totally out of shape at the moment but convinced that’s going to magically change by April.
PICK YOUR DAY
Check out the options below and then email ashlee@hikurangi.org.nz or phone 04 974 5147 to book your spot, yes it’s that easy!
North Island (716km)
Day 1 – Cape Reinga to Kaitaia (116 km)
Day 2 – Opononi to Dargaville (90 km)
Day 3 – Dargaville to Mangawhai (94 km)
Day 4 – Tuakau to Raglan (85 km)
Day 5 – Waitomo Caves to Taumaranui (101 km)
Day 6 – National Park to Wanganui (126 km)
Day 7 – Palmerston North to Masterton (104 km)
South Island (777km)
Day 1 – Bluff to Mossburn (139 km)
Day 2 – Queenstown to Wanaka (82 km)
Day 3 – Tarras to Twizel (109 km)
Day 4 – Pukaki to Geraldine (128 km)
Day 5 - Methven to Rangiora (124 km)
Day 6 - Hanmer Springs to Kaikoura (125 km)
Day 7 - Blenheim to Picton (70 km)
Full race details, and route maps at: www.tourofnewzealand.co.nz.
THE FINE PRINT – HOW TO PICK YOUR DAY
It’s first come first served on choice of days. If you’d like to ride more than one day, or bring a friend just let us know! While basic fitness is required, we are in this for fun, not to race. As an estimate, plan to ride 4-6 hours per day. Whilst a bit of training and prep is always required, there’s nothing more worthy of the prerequisite efforts than a classic kiwi cycle trip. You’ll be more than amply rewarded with great memories, new friends, that much more fitness, and no doubt a few funny stories!
ENTRY FEES & COSTS
For all 1 day riders the cost is $160 each, which includes:
•race registration fee (a special thanks to Tour organisers Peter and Simon Yarrell for offering Hikurangi an extremely discounted rate of only $9 per person)
•2 nights accomodation (the night before AND after the ride.)
•share of team support vehicle rental and petrol costs covering: driving the course each day, transporting the team to the start and from the finish, along with basic team transport around town.
Ride 2 days for $275, which includes 3 nights accommodation.
What is NOT included:
• transport to/from your starting/ending towns
• food and drinks
• official Team Hikurangi race t-shirt (optional; we’re currently working on shirt design, info on ordering soon!)
• bike, spare tires, helmets.
We’ve tried to keep costs as low as possible, whilst having enough in the kitty to ensure unknowns like petrol are covered. Any money leftover from the entry fees will be given to cycling and smarter transport projects.
CONFIRMATION & PAYMENT
Once you’ve picked your preferred day and island to ride, please email: ashlee@hikurangi.org.nz. Days are on a first come first served basis, so get in quick! Any questions before you sign up? Email Ashlee, or ring her on 04 974 5147.
Once we hear from you, we’ll be in touch straight away to confirm that your first choice day is still available, or alternatively which days are still open. Once we’ve agreed upon your day(s), you’ll have 10 days to pay your entry fee to secure your spot.
Entry fees by electronic banking to: Hikurangi Foundation,
12 3198 0044503 00. Include your name and the word TOUR.
ARRANGING TRANSPORT
As everyone will be coming from different places, Hikurangi just isn’t able to arrange transport to and from your starting and ending towns for you. But, we are keen to help where we can, and particularly to facilitate carpooling, and using public transport where possible to minimise our team carbon emissions. Once we have confirmed all the riders for your day, we’ll give you the opportunity to connect with each other via email to investigate shared transport options. While we can not commit our support driver to picking up everyone and bringing them to the bach, if you let us know your transport plans and needs, we will do our best to assist you in getting short distances (e.g. to/from the local train station), and may even be able to pick you up if you are on the day’s race route. Please note: to avoid some tricky bits of road, at the end of each day teams will drive a short distance to the next day’s starting point. This means that you’ll need to arrange transport to your starting point, and then from the next day’s starting point (rather than your end point).
ACCOMMODATION
In the spirit of all good Kiwi roadtrips, most nights we’ll kick back in a big shared bach (with a couple of exceptions where we couldn’t find one close enough to the next day’s start.) We’ll book space for everyone the night before AND the night after your ride. Even if you live in the local area, we recommend staying with the team at the bach, to ensure the support vehicle is packed and ready to go the night before, and that we all get to kick back together after the ride. Ofcourse if you have a big house near one of the starting points that you wouldn’t mind sharing with 9 people, please let us know! As you’ll know, bach beds do vary, and please be aware you will most likely be asked to share a room. “Team bonding”!
A FEW GOOD REASONS TO JOIN US ...
As one of three official charities of the Tour of New Zealand, the Hikurangi Foundation is helping make sure that it’s not just about one great bike ride, but it’s also about supporting cycling projects and community-led innovative transport solutions that will have lasting effects for years to come. Are cycling and smarter transport going to singe-handedly save the world? Ofcourse not. Will they make a big difference? We think so. By joining Team Hikurangi, we ask you to make a commitment, not just to ride, but to raise funds to help us create a positive shift in cycling and transport infrastructure and culture in New Zealand.
HOW DO YOU RAISE FUNDS?
We know everyone has different talents, energy and ideas to bring to fundraising, so there are no limits on how you choose to raise funds. To support your efforts we’ve set up an online fundraising page, which you can ask friends, family and colleagues to make donations to. They’ll automatically recieve a thank you and be able to opt for a gst receipt. Once you’ve let us know you want to join Team Hikurangi, we’ll send you details on how to access the fundraising page, along with other fundraising ideas. There is no minimum amount that you must raise, but we encourage everyone to aim for at least $500. We also encourage you to get a bit creative, auction off a talent on Trade Me, hold a movie night at a local cinema or an office morning tea. While we unfortunately have limited staff, and so need riders to take a proactive approach to their own fundraising, if you let us know about your plans we would be glad to help spread the word. In addition we’re happy to talk to you about any ideas, contact Ashlee on:
04 974 5147 or ashlee@hikurangi.org.nz.
CAN I RAISE FUNDS/DONATE EVEN IF I CAN’T RIDE?
Of course! Contact us on 04 974 5147 or email: ashlee@hikurangi.org.nz for more information.
WHO IS THE HIKURANGI FOUNDATION
The Hikurangi Foundation is an independent charity that works to catalyse positive and entrepreneurial action on sustainability and climate change in New Zealand. The Tour of NZ is kick–starting our fundraising for new projects in 2012. 100% of the money you raise will go to our work supporting community-led cycling projects and innovative transport solutions! While we work on projects across a range of areas, transport accounts for approximately 20% of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, so smarter transport is a big part of taking a bite out of climate change. On top of that, smarter transport, including cycling, helps keep us fit, saves money (that can be spent on other essential needs), and helps build stronger communities.
SOME OF THE GREAT CYCLING AND TRANSPORT PROJECTS WE’VE SUPPORTED SO FAR...
THE AUCKLAND HARBOUR BRIDGE PATHWAY
2,000 people rallied together in 2009 to walk and ride across the bridge and say “wouldn’t it be nice if you could do this everyday?” We’re supporting the AHB Pathway group as they work to make the dream of an architecturally designed, four meter wide, shared path attached to the existing bridge a reality.
NATIONAL CYCLEWAY ACTION
You’ve seen it on the news, the Government has gotten behind building a national network of cycle paths. It’s great work and Hikurangi is one of many organisations who’ve been helping make it happen. We’ve supported creaing a long term vision for how to connect and sustain the network and gotten more communities to take part in and benefit from the development of cycleways in their area.
MATAKANA FLEXIBUS
A new breed of public transport is coming to Matakana. They don’t have the population density to support a regular bus service to all areas of town, so in steps the flexibus. Instead of a set route, you ring for pick-up, and the driver uses software to help optimise a constantly changing route. Elegant in its simplicity, Matakana is pioneering the development of this concept for New Zealand.
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Full race details, and route maps at: www.tourofnewzealand.co.nz.