Ollie Whalley

Ground Effect Revolutionary Ollie Whalley blasted 1319 backcountry kilometres down the spine of Aotearoa's South Island to complete the Tour Te Waipounamu in a daunting five and a half days. He shares the highs, lows and a few insights for the uninitiated from the world of extreme bikepacking.

Along with 50 other masochists, Olley Whalley prepares for the Tour Te Waipounamu - a 1319 km and 22,810 vertical metre backcountry traverse of Aotearoa's South Island from Cape Farewell to Slope Point.

Ground Effect Revolutionary Ollie Whalley recently defended his title in the Milk and Honey winning the men's team category along with his 'Fast and Hairy' team mate Martin. Fellow Revolutionary, Anja McDonald and Ollie’s wife Heidi raced as the Spinnarets. They won the women's team category. Anja also smashed the enduro.

The Dodzy Memorial Enduro (DME) over Waitangi Weekend is a must-do institution on the kiwi mountain bike calendar. The Wairoa Gorge terrain is steep and spectacular. The trails extensive and eye-wateringly good fun. Each shuttle run serves up a massive 800m vertical of snaking descent. The park is privately owned and developed. Up until recently it has only possible to ride Wairoa during the DME. But late last year the Nelson Mountain Bike Club negotiated access. Discover all you need to know on the Nelson Club website.

When searching for a holiday destination, the constraints were tough but few. It needed to be warm to offset the cold winter we’d been suffering, cheap to fly to, and we wanted quiet roads and friendly people. We ended up landing in France’s Pacific territory of New Caledonia.

Riding a bike off road is a challenging affair, so why do people choose to ride in costume? This quandary struck me whilst riding the Three Ring Circus event at Wingello Forest Park amidst a gaggle of clowns.

With the tingly fingers and blackened toenails from April’s Cloudride finally subsiding, the itch had returned and I was well overdue for another bikepacking adventure, if only to break the daily monotony of a blustery Sydney existence.

With busy lives that seem to follow us all, long weekends spark a strong temptation to cram in an extended adventure. Whether by fortune or design, the four and a half day break over Easter 2014 coincided with the inaugural Monaro Cloudride.

The Trans-Savoie (pronounced Sav-wah, or Saveloy in franglais) is a daring experiment in big mountain enduro racing. While mountain biking needs another niche sub-discipline like it needs a sidewall slash, big mountain enduro gets a big tick from me.