David's Tour Aotearoa

No Tour would be complete without a gear list!  Here's mine, d etermined by necessity, packing size and weight.  Will be interesting to see what I end up in Bluff with..... Not quite complete yet, I'll continue to update. Key: *     Gear on order **   Gear to get *** Gear considering No* I have this gear in my possession Bike Giant Trance 29.1 full suspension - my steed for this trip, also being what I have in the garage. Generally the preferred steeds are either 29 hard tails or gravel bikes Tyres - 2x Vittoria Mezcal 2.25 - good reviews for this fast rolling tyre **Aero bars Profile Design Sonic Ergo 43A - to rest my hands. Existing handlebars are 35mm which are too big for aeros. So have fitted BBB bar ends as bull bars onto the handlebar. Have used a gel/cork handlebar tape. Seems to work. Ergon GP3 grips  - to rest my hands Usual SPD pedals - what I'm used to riding with Lights 2x Niterider Vmax+ rear lights (one on bike, on helmet) ...

I'm doing the  Tour Aotearoa ("TA") and I've started a blog! I'll to update from time to time depending on energy levels and phone coverage. This is a post of a practice ride from Wellington to Masterton on 18 January. The post is probably a bit longer than I'll do on the TA...... Well time to load up the bike and give some distance riding a go to see if what I've signed up for is actually manageable. Think it should be okay, but I don't actually know for sure. It's about a month away from the start of my TA and while I'm not totally set up yet I've now got enough gear to give it a go. So I'm riding from home to Masterton via all the bike trails. Should be a straight forward ride with easy riding conditions with only modest climbing on good trails and good weather. The main challenge will be the distance at ~125kms which is longer than I've previously ridden. The first challenge is to load the bike up and see if the gear actually fi...