Tour

Brett Cotter tours through Tuscany following the L'Eroica route after being inspired by the film at last years Big Bike Film Night.

Rod Oram rides from Kazakhstan to Istanbul – completing the first phase of his Beijing to Birmingham Silk Road pilgrimage.

Hugh Malan regales us with his European Divide Tour, from south-west Spain to the far north-east of Norway, where he encountered an endless headwind, Santa's Village and swarming horseflies - not for the faint of heart.

Tony Hutcheson escapes winter on a family excursion to Samoa with bikes, snorkels and masks.

Finn McLachlan - son of Ground Effect Product Designer Fraser - joins his mates for a weekend at the old Ida Valley Railway Hotel, but elects to take the long way via the A2O, Danseys Pass and Otago Central Rail Trail.

Where in the world is the Pamir Highway, and why would you want to go there on a bike?
If you are a pub quiz nerd with an interest in former Soviet republics, you already know. But for the rest of us, the Pamirs are a central Asian mountain range squished between the Hindu Kush, Tian Shan and Himalaya mountains.

Although a seasoned commuter and mountain biker, this was to be my first real experience cycle touring. Perhaps not geographically the easiest of cycle tours, Banks Peninsula rewards you with spectacular views, exhilarating downhills, gruelling uphills, and - once off the main roads - relatively stress free riding.

In 1929 my father, Ray Chapman-Taylor, and his friend Ray Williams decided to bike home to Napier from Otago via the Haast Pass and the West Coast. They mounted basic bikes with no gears and rudimentary brakes on a route with no bridges and only a cattle track across the mountains. What follows is best said in his own words.

Wet, hungry, and far from home. Soggy clothes, soaked shoes and grumbling tummies. After riding all morning through the tail of a typhoon, we didn't want to slosh into a Japanese restaurant in that state. I tried drying out by standing under the vent outside the kitchen. I wrung out my shirt and socks. I got no drier, but now I smelled of noodles.

What do you do in the middle of the mountains when two large, thuggish Chinese men get out of a car and stride purposefully towards you? You smile and say thank you for the stale bread and peaches they are offering you! Never before on a cycle tour have I benefited from so much food and encouragement.