I always had this idea to commute to the start of one of my bike tours in Christchurch. This was my last tour of the 2022/23 season, it was a shorter one-week cycle e-bike tour in late March. So my plan was to commute to work from Nelson via Rainbow road. My first night was at Island Gully Hut for a stormy night. Mint to be back riding through the mountains of the Rainbow Station!
The next morning the storm had mostly blown through and I had a cracking tailwind down the Clarence Valley to Hanmer. I had planned on getting the bus from Hanmer to Christchurch but the bike transport was pretty average, so I decided to ride to Christchurch instead. I got to Culverden in the dark and found a shelter to sleep under for the night. After a good night's sleep, it was on to Christchurch to start preparation for the cycle tour.
So after a 7-day e-bike tour via Kaikoura trail and Molesworth road, I started my return commute to Nelson from Adventure South HQ in Central Christchurch. I was in luck and had a tailwind up the Canterbury plains. I Managed to get to Hanmer by about 2 pm, a quick packet of chips before riding up the biggest climb of the commute, Jack's Pass 840m, felt pretty good on the climb! Happy to see the Fowler Pass Hut for the night.
The chilly start to the morning got me motivated to start the fire and get my jet boil on for breakfast and a cuppa. Pleased to climb up and over Island Saddle at 1440 meters, a milestone for this commute.
The ride back was straightforward along the Rainbow valley flats. The last section is sealed from the Rainbow ski field turn off so I made good time on this section. Lucky to get a decent tailwind from Nelson Lakes to Wakefield, couldn't believe the pace I was ripping along on. The efficiency of these gravel bikes to carry speed and momentum is impressive.
Happy to complete my commute to and from guiding a bike tour in Christchurch. Stoked to check that off the to-do list. Big Cheers to Hyperformance Hardware to make these trips possible.
For more details on the Hakka MX check out ibiscycles.com or get in touch with your local independent NZ Ibis dealer.