Hot Rides

Ground Effect staffer Laurence and his father John are on an intergenerational adventure in Europe, racing in the Chemin du Soleil or ‘Road to the Sun’ in France's Haute Provence.

With yet another perfect weather pattern in the misty mountains, Ditte and I headed for the high country via - the Culverden Bakery for the customary pre-ride consumption of possibly the best pies in the entire galaxy.

So, a variety of factors lead us to this. Five 50-somethings, male & female, are blundering about after dark in Sedona, AZ, their 28’ Campervan a manoeuvring nightmare. Day one of our 3 week road trip ends with a desperation meal at a deserted Burger King, and parked up overnight in a supermarket car park.

The thought “I could live here” popped into my head as we drove into the town of Bend, Oregon. Not too big, not too small, high desert climate, good foodie options, a craft brewing scene that’s perhaps the best in the USA and phenomenally good mountain biking. I mean phenomenally good.

Cycle touring always seemed like an invitation to meander through the countryside on a bike loaded to the gills with stuff slung on racks over front and rear wheels, map in hand, punctuated with leisurely picnic and ice cream stops planned well in advance.

An endless, dry summer on the South Island's West Coast. Home of my favourite singletrack - much of it recently refurbished in a surge of enthusiasm from local trail builders. 

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.

The Heaphy Track is one of New Zealand's great multi-day backcountry rides - 78 outrageous kilometres of benched singletrack snaking its way across the top of the South Island.

South of San Francisco, the Peninsula and South Bay offer a myriad of options for combining riding and sightseeing. More famous for tech - Apple, Google and Facebook - than singletrack, Silicon Valley does though sport many diverse parks and preserves, most clustered along Skyline Boulevard (Highway 35).

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.

One of the best and longest stretches of single track in Canterbury - curving through the beech forests around Mount Oxford. Beware of wasps in the summer.