Pedaling Update #5 - What a Great Year It's Been!

Merry Christmas everyone,

It was New Year’s, then suddenly it was Easter, then it was cold and riding was difficult, then it was spring and time to ride and now it’s Christmas. The year rattles off the tongue as if it was a week.

It may seem like time has flown but for NZ cycling and cycle tourism, 2010 has been monumental. The Government’s commitment to developing new cycle trails took a huge jump from politicking to reality and both local communities and DOC have put in an amazing effort to make this year the most prolific in terms of track creation.

July 2nd saw Prime Minister John Key open the first official section of New Zealand Cycle Trails in Ohakune with the Old Coach Road trail. Work has continued relentlessly in this region with the Old Coach Road Cycle trail nearly completed all the way to Horopito, the Mangaparau trail has been completely upgraded and this summer DOC is working on Kaiwhakauka Track (linking through to Whakahoro and the Returuke Valley/Fisher's Track/National Park).

Trails have been opening around the country consistently throughout spring and never one to miss a glass of wine the NZbyBike crew attended the opening of the Gibbston River Trail. The wine was so good we followed it up with a family outing, tasting wines and riding with the new Gibbston Wine Tour guys. Check out the pictures.

But our pick of the year is the newly opened St James Cycle Trail near Hanmer Springs. This ride is simply awesome for those advanced riders – check out Dan’s ride blog.

So over Christmas everyone heads off now to ride off the excesses of gluttony. Most of the NZbyBike crew will be around Queenstown riding and we will all be on call if you have any web queries.

And on that note – We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year – and a big final thank-you to Kris Ericksen, Deb Hogon and Stephen Harmann for their contributions to the site and help with editing in the last month.

See you all in the New Year – Ride well.

Dan, Mat, Matt, Matze, Scott, Toby and Nicole