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Alaska to Patagonia
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Arizona

West: Hachita – San Diego

February 6, 2017

By Mark Watson

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These photos are from the Flora Saddle - Barron Fl

These photos are from the Flora Saddle - Barron Flat route in Kahurangi National Park, which I have written about in our latest blog post, covering the South Island leg of our homecoming ride from Tauranga down to Lyttelton. We completed that in November 2020. Through both islands we managed to link up a good mixture of cruisy bikepacking routes and some singletrack of varying difficulty! Some of these we were scouting for @tourtewaipounamu. There are maps and GPX and loads more photos with the blog posts (link in bio).
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#bikepack #biketocamp #bikepacking #rideabike #kahuranginationalpark #newzealandadventure #nz_adventures #otsovoytek #revelatedesigns #biomaxa #explorebybike
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@otsocycles @revelatedesigns @biomaxa @wolf_tooth_comp @we_are_sungod @bigagnes_

A few more shots from some of the amazing corners

A few more shots from some of the amazing corners of the South Island high country that #tourtewaipounamu took us too. With constantly changing surfaces, roads, tracks & mountain passes there was little room for monotony along this unique corridor through the countryside.
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#tourtewaipounamu #bikepackingultra #bikepack #explorebybike #biketocamp #newzealandadventure #explore_newzealand #cyclenewzealand #cycletravel #tewaipounamu #otsovoytek #revelatedesigns #biomaxa #bigagnes #villagecycles #gearshop

My #tourtewaipounamu had a few 'peak' moments, but

My #tourtewaipounamu had a few 'peak' moments, but the biggest had to be crossing Stag Saddle in the Two Thumb Range with @beinghana
Although we weren't racing together, my 36 hour break to treat my achilles tendon in Methven had put her and a bunch of other riders well ahead. When I left Methven I put in a big effort to get back in the race and because Hana stopped early-ish at Royal Hut I caught her at 11pm that night. After a 3.5 hour sleep we teamed up for the 800m vertical / 3 hour hike-a-bike to Stag Saddle, arriving on the upper slopes at 7am as dawn broke. We'd left the others at Royal Hut well behind by then and together had enjoyed the same synergy we experienced time and time again while biking the Americas. We parted ways shortly before the pass, but it had been a fantastic section of the race, that we'd prepared so much for, to share.
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#tourtewaipounamu #teamwork #bikepackingultra #hike-a-bike #biketocamp #nz_adventures #bikepack #otsovoytek #revelatedesigns #biomaxa
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@otsocycles @revelatedesigns @biomaxa @we_are_sungod @bigagnes_ @wolf_tooth_comp @tourtewaipounamu

No more road to ride... Slope Point, Southland at

No more road to ride... Slope Point, Southland at 0715 Tuesday morning after a long race south 1320km along Tour Te Waipounamu (9 days / 15 minutes).
@tourtewaipounamu #tourtewaipounamu
It's been an amazing experience on many levels, which I'll talk more about later in the blog. My achilles injury was a disaster that I reframed as an opportunity and am happy to have stuck with the race and finished. Finishing was all that mattered to me, and I've been both challenged and had some incredible fun along the way. Riding through our amazing country at all hours of the day was wonderful and I enjoyed the early mornings and late evenings the best. Thanks to anybody I've shared the track with for your great company along the way. To the organiser @brianinpics, this race is an amazing gift - I hope it can be held again.

My @otsocycles #otsovoytek was the perfect tool for the job and rigged with 27.5 X 2.6 tyres it was comfortable and fun to ride on the gnarly stuff, of which there was a lot! Thanks also to @biomaxa for their environmentally responsible lube & chamois creme, @we_are_sungod for looking after my eyes, @revelatedesigns for the amazing soft luggage systems that keep everything efficient, @bigagnes_ for my shelter from the storm and @wolf_tooth_comp for some key components.

@beinghana has been an amazing training partner and it's been such a fun summer building up to this event with our aspirations in synch - thank you 💙

#bikepacking #bikepackingultra #nevergiveup #lifelessons #exploretheworld #nz_adventures #adventureproof #revelatedesigns

Back in August last year I received an email from

Back in August last year I received an email from @brianinpics asking for input for a bike packing ultra race he was organising. The course was going to traverse the South Island - Te Waipounamu - from top to bottom, following a sometimes uncompromising route through the high country, on a mixture of dirt & 4WD roads and tramping tracks. Aside from being an appealing - if not daunting - challenge, the route offered an opportunity to see a few high country spots that I haven't ticked off yet.

During long days on the road in South America in early 2020 (pre covid) I'd been thinking about what was 'next' and often racing the Tour Divide (USA) came to mind as a possible goal. The desire to test my endurance over much longer days than we'd been touring was there, so when Brian's email came along I signed up without hesitation. Having come back from overseas unexpectedly, the Tour Te Waipounamu provided a new focus to drive some energy into and a chance to test what Hana and I had learned overseas.

Barely a day has gone by since August when I have not thought about some aspect of this event, whether it's planning another training weekend, pre-visualisation, refining the packing list or testing new food on long rides to see what I run best on (raspberry buns, chips and bananas seem to go a long way!). Hana has much more experience than me at ultra-type cycling events, so I've mined her knowledge a lot.

This Sunday Feb 14th is kick off and Hana and I will be on the start line with around 33 other cyclists attempting to travel over 1300km and 25,000m of elevation as efficiently as possible. We'll stop when we get to Slope Point, Southland.

If you'd like to follow the race, @maprogress provide live tracking 24/7 (we each have spot trackers), and you can check that out here: https://ttw21.maprogress.com/

Thanks to our amazing sponsors and numerous friends and family who have helped us out this summer, and to Brian for conceiving and organising the TTW. 🌳🚲🌳

Thanks @otsocycles @biomaxa @we_are_sungod @wolf_tooth_comp @bigagnes_ @revelatedesigns @villagecyclesnz

Riding around Cape Palliser always provides good o

Riding around Cape Palliser always provides good opportunities for seal spotting. This wild, windswept, rugged coast is a favoured location for these characters to come and sun themselves, argue with each other and pose on the rocks.
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#sealspotting #capepalliser #wairarapa #bikepacking #explorebybike #nz_adventure #wildcoast #eastcoast #explorethecoast

Some impressions from the remote and rugged charm

Some impressions from the remote and rugged charm of the ride around Cape Palliser on the south coast of the North Island (White Rock to Ngawi). I took some nice seal photos too which I'll put in the next post. This was another spot which neither of us had visited on bikes since the mid 90s. It's one of those places where little changes!
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#bikepack #bikepacking #coastaladventure #capepalliser #ngawi #lighthouse #wairarapa #explore_newzealand #lifeofadventure #travelbybike #biketocamp #nz_adventure
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@revelatedesigns @otsocycles @we_are_sungod @biomaxa @bigagnes_ @wolf_tooth_comp

It was worth putting up with some wild Wairarapa c

It was worth putting up with some wild Wairarapa coastal winds overnight for this moody early morning at White Rock. A great way to start the day before setting off on the rough coastal track around Cape Palliser on the bikes.
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#landscape_capture #wairarapa #whiterock #newzealandadventure #nz_landscapes #newzealandcoast #travelbybike #explorebybike #landscape_photo #wideangle #leadinglines

Camped up on the Wairarapa Coast at White Rock, ba

Camped up on the Wairarapa Coast at White Rock, back in October during our ride south from Tauranga to Lyttelton.
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#biketocamp #bike_travel #bikepacking #bikepack #wairarapa #nz #newzealandadventures #explorenz #travelnz #bigagnes #tigerwallul2
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@bigagnes_ @otsocycles @wolf_tooth_comp @revelatedesigns @biomaxa

One of the things I always enjoy about rural and s

One of the things I always enjoy about rural and small town NZ is the character and diversity of small buildings - from churches to town halls, schools and marae, to repurposed petrol stations and the derelict and abandoned, there's always a lot to see. Here's a few from the lower North Island.
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#bikepacking #newzealandadventures #kiwiana #noplacelikehome #realnewzealand #explorenewzealand #smalltownvibes #ruralnz #travelbybike

The Pinnacles, Coromandel Forest Park. These were

The Pinnacles, Coromandel Forest Park. These were taken before we left Tauranga to ride to Lyttelton, but now that we have a base again I'm finally catching up on more photo editing! The Kauaeranga Kauri Trail (Pinnacles Walk) is a deservedly popular North Island classic which we did as a cruisy overnighter. It was great to head up there with a couple of Lyttelton visitors @bridgethola & @katie_pieeeee 🌞
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#kauaerangakauritrail #pinnacles #coromandelforestpark #hikingnewzealand #trampingnewzealand #ig_nz #sunsetlight #purenewzealand #newzealandadventures

Another little chapter in our ride south from Taur

Another little chapter in our ride south from Tauranga to Christchurch was the famous Bridge to Somewhere.
🚴 From Whangamomona on the FWH it's possible to detour from the main road onto the old Whangamomona road and ride through to this 1930s bridge. The road is slowly losing the battle with nature as it subsides into the river valley, but in the dry months it still makes a good MTB/adventure touring route.
🚴 The bridge is the 'companion' span to the more famous Bridge to Nowhere in Whanganui National Park. These bridges were built to service farming communities established by returned servicemen after the world wars, except that the land proved too rugged and untenable, and was by and large abandoned. After the bridge remote gravel and pavement links you back through to FWH.
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#forgottenworldhighway #whangamomona #bridgetosomewhere #bikepack #bikepacking #otsovoytek #mudwhatmud? #newzealandadventures
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@otsocycles @revelatedesigns @we_are_sungod
@biomaxa
@wolf_tooth_comp

© 2021 Highlux Photography. Mark Watson

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