You are reading a single comment by @bitterbuffalo and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
London Fixed Gear and Single-Speed is a community of predominantly fixed gear and single-speed cyclists in and around London, UK.
This site is supported almost exclusively by donations. Please consider donating a small amount regularly.
bitterbuffalo
I wouldn't know about Auckland but there is nice road riding around Christchurch, mainly south towards Akaroa - google it, you'll find some routes (Long Bay rings a bell... ). Just stay off the main roads though, drivers are pretty hopeless, and then there's these huge trucks that just dwarf anything you'll see in Europe...
There's also nice riding around Twizel/Mt. Cook/Lake Tekapo, on main roads but they're actually very broad and very quiet (like, three or four cars an hour). There's also a touring route called Alps 2 Ocean, from Mt. Cook to Oamaru, if you have a few days - it's really beautiful.
However I wouldn't bother so much with the road bike - there's much better road biking in Europe, but something that's pretty unique to NZ is the thousands of KMs of incredibly remote and beautiful 4WD tracks in the Southern Alps - often with huts (sheds) to sleep in. So I'd hire a hardtail and go exploring. You simply don't get this sort of remoteness in Europe so it's an experience not to be missed.
N.B. there's no public transport in this part of the world, so you will need to hire/borrow a car.
E.G. a couple of months back I rode up and down the Ahuriri Valley and last year I rode up and down the Dobson Valley.
Both are close to Christchurch, for New Zealand that is... only a four hour drive away. There's a load more 2-3-4 day routes further South, and also on the West Coast, but they're a bit too far from Christchurch. If you're into mountain-biking proper then Wanaka and Queenstown are great (and great for road too), again only 4 hours away. And happy to show you around if you make it down to Dunedin.