Welcome to trek mountain biking!

Be an explorer, ride lines you’ve not seen before and go where there’s no path… ride a horse trek on your mountain bike!

See remote parts of our country and enjoy a taste of the rural way of life.Our non-competitive mountain bikers gather early each morning, to start trekking an hour or two before the horses are ready to go. Some bikers aim to keep in front of the horse-riders. They reach the new camp in the early afternoon. Others enjoy interacting with both the walkers and horse-riders as we spread out along the same route. We’re all on the same journey, and the way everyone works together is a huge part of the positive vibe of trekking with TFL. The only competition (for the frontrunner bikes) is Human versus Horse – can a human with 2 wheels stay ahead of the first horses?? Otherwise everyone is just focused on enjoying the day.

Look forward to “old school” mountain biking terrain, the best views and a huge variety of ups, downhills and surprise discoveries. The way forward is always at least 2 horses wide. Each year is new, different and unique. It’s a route not a track– you’ll be choosing your own contour to ride in wide open spaces, admiring native trees and birds, and starting to appreciate the lives and work of rural New Zealanders who so generously allow special access for the trek’s journey south.

WHAT BIKERS SAY:

What a fantastic Trek this year. Wonderful company, landscapes, challenges, raw fun nd memories! David F

Best holiday of my year. It’s been so easy to join in with the bikers at Trek. I love the sense of freedom out on the route during the day and learning about the history and whenua from the locals. Trek’s route-finders are awesome; they really get what mountain bikers like, putting in both challenge plus heaps of fun for us. Highly recommended! Rosie

It’s a paradox - how can you have so much fun while riding the equivalent of two or more Karapoti in a week (something I’d never do at home). Great food, company and entertainment plus unlimited exercise and fresh air… Go on, explore the country…Dave

TIPS AND INFO for new trekkers choosing to mountain bike

Your bike: can be fairly simple but needs to be a mountain bike designed forcross-country riding – wide handlebars, front suspension, wide tyre with knobbly tread and preferably disc brakes. From experience the following types of bikes are unsuitable and don’t last the distance – downhill mtb, gravel bike, step thru city bike - so borrow or hire a cross-country/trail/”all mountain” bike that fits you so you can ride the whole way with us. For e-bikes see * and ** below.

Helmet: is required in NZ as short sections of public road may be used on the route, bring a helmet with plenty of gaps for venting summer heat.

Drink bottles: when attached to bike frames must have covered spouts to prevent any chance of illness from splashes of animal waste. The route will include some working farms where sheep and cattle live – a 2L bladder in a backpack is another way to eliminate this risk.

Backpack: must be large enough for windproof clothing, bike gear, food and fluids.18L would be minimum size unless you have some small frame bags. Side pannier or rack bag puts weight at the rear, which is so not so good when pushing up steep pinches or getting out of deeper stream crossings.

Shoes: are the important connections that keep you on your pedals, and bikers have trekked in a real variety of footwear from clip-ins to crocs, whatever keeps you connected and on your bike. However, consider also bringing a comfortable pair of walking shoes in case you need a change of exercise for a day (or your bike gives up).

Cleaning and maintenance: Most days the horse wash is also available to bikers to clear out the working parts of your bike at the end of the day. Bring lots of chain lube and plenty of rag (2 bottles of Blue Rock’n’Roll will see you through). Bring a pump and 2 spare tyres or tubeless equivalent, and if riding your own bike consider bringing spare brake pads, derailleur hanger, chain link, and spare tyre.

Fuel: The catering is excellent, real biker fuel. However there are no power bars or electrolytes on trek so bring your own specialist snacks. Even if you’ve never used electrolytes before you will need them by the second half of trek! Bring cash for real coffees available at breakfast and lunch stop. A light re-usable cup in your backpack is handy for lunch stop drinks (so you carry less water).

Tent: a good one for bikers is a tent with a porch large enough for your helmet and bike gear as you have more gear than a walker. Bring a robust waterproof bag for packing your dew-soaked tent into each morning as keeping the wet fly/tent separate from your other gear makes life simpler.

Sleep: as the bikers start each day’s route up to 2 hours before the horse riders, at night time you will certainly head to bed before all of the camp quiets down. Try out your earplugs or acclimatise yourself to going to sleep with radio/background noise before you get to trek.

Bike Prep: book your bike in for a service at a bike shop when you start training. Sometimes bookings have been hard to get in February because of summer triathlon/race events in the weeks close to trek.

Training: really pays off! Work on your hills, mountain biking three days in a row, plus a variety of rough surfaces. Trek is quite different from smooth groomed singletrack in a mtb park or built bike paths along a river. Warning – while the downhills can be kilometres of fun - you always have to stay alert for irregularities and ride to survive. The joy is that each year we’re biking a unique route where no one has mountain biked before!

* E-bikes – need an excellent level of waterproofness for a week of trekking and living in NZ high country and few brands claim their electrics to be fully waterproof. On our 2024 trek Stage 4 only 2 out of 5 e-bikes survived the 6 days, while there was no problem with the human-powered mountain bikes. An electric mountain bike would also need to have ‘walker assist’ capability.

** We recommend you try your first trek stage on a human-powered mountain bike!