Wednesday, 28 February 2018 - 10:15am

Pedalling NZ – by the scenic route

2 min read

News article photos (2 items)

Brian
brian bike

Inspector Brian Moyle is swapping the big screens of the National Command and Coordination Centre for the big hills and - probably – the big weather of the great New Zealand outdoors.

Starting today (Wednesday 28 February), Brian is taking the scenic route as he cycles from Cape Reinga to Bluff, half off-road and half on back-country roads, to raise awareness and cash for the Mental Health Foundation.

The feat is part of Tour Aotearoa – an annual self-supported ‘bike-packing’ event which sees hardy participants pedalling mountain bikes loaded with all the gear they need.

It will be a big step up – although Brian is an experienced cyclist, he is more used to the 30km round trip to and from his work as NCCC Manager than the 110 to 150km he will be putting in each day of the ride.

“I had some long-service leave coming and I wanted something that was a bit of a challenge, something to push me to my limits,” he says.

“I saw a DVD about a ride across America and thought it would be good to try something like that. I wondered if there was something like that in New Zealand, and there was.”

Brian is unsure how long the 3200km ride – including 33,580m uphill - will take. The Tour Aotearoa rules state that the ride must be completed in no less than ten but no more than 30 days, with at least six hours’ rest every day. 

Riders are GPS tracked – see below for details of how to follow Brian’s progress - and must pass through 30 photo control points en route.

Brian GPS
On the road - Brian's GPS trace, soon after the start.

Among other challenges, riders already on the course have had to contend with the fury of former Cyclone Gita and summer-time snow on the Crown Ranges.

“I haven’t checked the weather for the next month and I don’t want to,” says Brian. 

“I’m picking that over the course of 30 days we’re going to get a bit of everything. It’s New Zealand and there’s going to be weather. It will be what it will be.”

Brian set off today with 66 other participants in the last of six waves of riders who have taken to the track throughout February.

He is urging people who want to show their support to donate to the Mental Health Foundation through its website (see links below).

“Mental health is something that has a huge influence on what we do as police, and affects many of our staff and their families in their personal lives as well,” he says.

Follow Brian:

Click or tap these links for:

• GPS tracking map (open in Chrome)

• Tour Aotearoa Facebook page

Donate:

• Mental Health Foundation

Beyond the Blue is a project to show the diversity of ways Police staff spend their time away from work.