Words & photos: Emma Bateup In 2022 I took on the Tour Te Waipounamu as my first bikepacking race. Riding 1330 km along some of Aotearoa’s toughest terrain to take a bike was quite the intro. Although I made heaps of mistakes, I had a fun time (even if it was mostly type 2+) and put in a solid result. I came to the realisation that this was something I was good at despite being fairly young for an ultra-distance racer. I left the finish at Slope Point that year with the aim of putting in a solid 24 months of prep to come back and do things better in 2024. Life seemed to get in the way and ..read more

Words & Photos: Dave Mitchell & Ditte van der Meulen The descent into Italy. To the Med. If Italy's profile reminds you of two heads, a leg and a boot, north to south, then picture this: the Ligure coastline is an eyelash below the left-hand head, and the furtherest north section of coastline Italy has on offer. This region traditionally receives around 1200mm of rain per year which is relatively evenly distributed throughout, but for 2023 a long dry spell had persisted into late summer, as we discovered and devised our cunning riding plan. Finale Ligure old city centre. All t ..read more

Words & Photos: Cati Pearson The prelude You can’t beat Wellington on a good day. We arrived early avo for the Picton ferry the following morning, so decided to treat ourselves to a relaxed start to our holiday. Card games and gin in the sun at the campground under a massive pohutukawa. Perfect summer vibes for starting our summer bike packing loop… or so we thought. Day 1 We awoke at 4am to drive to the ferry terminal, ditched the car and loaded our bikes with five days worth of food and camping supplies. We boarded the boat and quickly nabbed a comfy spot, chowing do ..read more

Words & Photos: Joe Houghton Have I pushed the boat out too far this time? The biggest thought on my mind as I entered the 8th lap of my Everest attempt. In the 6 years that I’d been properly mountain biking, I have never thought that before. Sure, I’d bonked, crashed, and crawled my way around racecourses, but I’d always finished. Yet here I was, 1/3 of my way through my first attempt at an Everest, and boy was I hurting. The idea of an Everest had been on my mind for years, but it had always been an 'I’ll do it one day' type idea. Entering my first winter in a new city (Christchurch, NZ ..read more

Words & Photos: Odin Woods The first time I was able to ride the Paparoa Track right through, I remember traversing the breathtaking escarpment heading north, stopping to look down the various river valleys toward the Pike River Mine. I didn’t know the area very well but could feel a powerful weight, maybe the pain felt by so many, that had set into the land.  In November 2010 a devastating explosion and collapse at the Pike River Mine claimed the lives of 29 men. Those men still rest there to this day. The trauma that tore through the tight knit communities of the West Coast is ..read more

A family journey in the depths of the Ecuadorian highlands Words: Michael Dammer Photos: Marcela Restrepo & Michael Dammer As we pedal over the continental divide, roughly above 4100 metres, I check my phone to see the last little bar of signal, completely disappear. I can't deny that a feeling of hesitation momentarily takes over. Here we are, Marcela and myself, with our two little boys, Koru (7 years old), Antu (4 years old) and Lila (our dog) embarking on another adventure into remote lands. I grew up in rural Ecuador with no electricity or phone service, to make a call we would have t ..read more

Words: Emma Bateup Photos: Emma Bateup & Dominic Blissett The weekend started on Thursday evening after work, cutting down an eBike box to avoid oversize baggage charges. Perks of traveling with a gravel bike; it packs down small and light. I managed to get everything I needed for the weekend into the box and a carry-on backpack, success. I woke up bright and early on Friday to head to the airport, and was all checked in by 6:30am for my 8:15am flight, no worries! Landed in Christchurch to a chilly southerly and was picked up by Scott from Smith Optics. Built up my bike and cruised acr ..read more

Words & photos: Richard Morley-Hall A very long time customer of Ground Effect (#38) I have been mountain biking since the late 80s… back when front, never mind rear, suspension was just thought of but didn’t actually exist. Starting in Wellington with Mt Victoria, the Wainuiomata fire breaks… ahh the steep, claggy, miserable but memorable fire breaks… and of course the Karapoti races and more. I managed just fine on a rather special and extremely bright green Scott Pro Racer, bought second hand from the importer at the time, Noel Smith. Rigid, chrome moly, XT top shifters I thought I ..read more

Words & Photos: Brett Cotter As the curator of The Big Bike Film Night I’m always thrilled to hear how people are inspired by films in our collection, and then go off on their own adventure whatever that may be: building a bike, helping build a trail, or riding a trail that they’ve seen at a screening. After watching 'L'Eroica' (The Heroic), in our 2023 collection, the colourful character Luciano Berutti and the alluring Tuscan landscape inspired and captivated me. The L'Eroica route was firmly locked in on my bike radar - but when could it happen? Luciano Berutti on the L ..read more

Words & Photos: Rod Oram Standing near the top of the Kara Koo Ashuu pass in the mountainous centre of Kyrgyzstan, I finally felt at one with the world. The views from the 2,771m summit were vast, beautiful and seemingly untouched by humankind, the weather pleasantly cool and my fellow riders cheerful companions. It was only the 11th day of our 62-day ride from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to Istanbul, with much of our 5,145 km journey along the remnants of the ancient Silk Roads. But it was the first day I began to believe I could do it. The start in Almaty. The first 10 days had been brutal. Day ..read more