← All eventsTour Aotearoa
A ~3,000km self-supported bikepacking brevet the length of New Zealand, Cape Reinga to Bluff, ridden in daily waves with a deliberate 10-day minimum. Self-paced adventure, not a race.
Roughly 3,000km down the length of New Zealand, Cape Reinga to Bluff, the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South. A self-paced brevet with a deliberate 10-day minimum, so nobody is racing.
The route stitches together the NZ Cycle Trail: a Ninety Mile Beach start, the Timber Trail through the forest, a Cook Strait ferry, then the remote Old Ghost Road on the wild South Island.
It is iconic for a reason. Around 30,000m of climbing and weeks in the saddle, yet dense cafes and cabins keep it kinder than a wilderness epic. A trip of a lifetime, ridden well.
Is Tour Aotearoa for you?
- Riders chasing a bucket-list adventure over a result. With no podium and a 10-day floor, the reward is the route itself, not the clock.
- Steady all-day riders who can repeat good days. Consistency wins here: 180km every day beats 300km then a blow-up.
- Anyone comfortable on mixed surfaces. Around 45% is gravel and cycle trail, so being happy off sealed road matters more than raw speed.
- Planners who enjoy the moving parts. The Cook Strait ferry, a Whanganui jet-boat and the Ninety Mile Beach tide window all reward riders who book and time it ahead.
Training plan for Tour Aotearoa
A training plan for Tour Aotearoa isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Aerobic durability above all: an all-day pace held day after day for two to four weeks
- Around 45% gravel and cycle trail, so comfort on mixed surfaces decides your day more than power
- Some evening and night riding to make daily distance, even with February's long daylight
- Real logistics: the Cook Strait ferry, a jet-boat and Ninety Mile Beach tides all need timing
- Long Z2 endurance rides on gravel, building from around 4 hours toward 10-plus, fuelling as you go
- Weekend doubles and a 4 to 6 day consecutive-day block to rehearse repeating good days
- Loaded rides with full bikepacking kit on gravel and trail to dial in handling
- A multi-day self-supported trip in the specialise phase, the single key session for this event
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
