Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the Tour Aotearoa Brevet?
A: Tour Aotearoa is open to anyone to ride at anytime, but there is also a Tour Aotearoa Brevet. This is an amazing, self-supported, 3,000 km brevet from Cape Reinga to Bluff. A brevet is not a race. It is a ride following a set course, via 30 photo checkpoints, which you must complete between 10 and 30 days – no more and no less.Q: When is the Tour Aotearoa Brevet?
A: The next Tour Aotearoa Brevet starts in February 2020. You can register for email updates here.Q: What are the costs for participation in the Tour Aotearoa Brevet?
A: Register for the Brevet is free, but if you are participating you must make a 100 NZ dollar donation to a charity of your choice. And ofcourse you can add personal value to your journey and fundraise more money for the charity you are supporting.Besides this donation, all entrants are asked to offset their carbon emissions from travelling to the start and from the end of the Brevet. Dr. Sean Weaver from Ekos has calculated the average emission for entrants from different parts of the world and set up a page especially for the Tour Aotearoa, so that you can offset very quickly:
https://ekos.org.nz/touraotearoa.
Or you can do your own calculations at http://calculators.enviro-mark.com/EmissionsCalc/tourismeditor.aspx.
And last but not least you need budget for food, accommodation and transport during the Brevet.
Q: Where can I register?
A: You can register here if you want to stay informed about the 2020 Brevet.Q: Why is there a limited number of people?
A: For the Tour Aotearoa Brevet 2018 there is a limit of 600 people, because we want to make sure that every participant can find good accommodation and transport during the Tour.Q: What are the criteria for the charity I chose?
A: You can choose your own charity, but it must be registered – all the bonafide charitable organisations are.Q: How much cycle experience do I need to ride the Tour Aotearoa Brevet?
A: We recommend you to have some cycle experience with the bike and gear you are intending to use during the Tour Aotaroa Brevet.Most people do around 3,000 km of training in the year leading up to their ride. But you could get away with much less (virtually none) if you have a strong cycling background, simply by starting slowly and building your fitness up during the ride.
You can find a simple training plan, written by Jeff Lyall, here.
Q: Can I ride an e-bike on the TA?
A: We don't have a rule saying you can't, but... there are some pretty good reasons an e-bike may be less than ideal.Some stretches of the route have a long way between recharge options - including day 1. You'll be carrying a fair bit of extra weight (motor, batteries & charger) - when the charge runs out all of a sudden you'll be working a lot harder than if you were on a standard bike.
There are multiple spots throughout the Tour where you need to lift and/or carry your bike - lifting an e-bike is quite hard.
The TA starts with a ride down a sandy stream/river followed by 90 Mile Beach - if the electrics cut out at the start of 90 Mile Beach you'will not be happy. There is no accommodation, food, or opt-out for a looong way.
It takes four days to walk 90 Mile Beach.
