shebikeshebikes

23/06/2026

We've been building something a bit different behind the scenes.

It's a ride planner for the Bannockburn wine trail, what we call the DeVineCycle.

Pick your cellar doors, cafes, and stops, and it builds your itinerary and totals the distance as you go. When you're happy with your day, download it as a PDF.

We'd love to know what you think. Takes about two minutes to have a play.
Link in the comments. 👇

22/06/2026

21/06/2026

Lovely weather, not so good for the ski fields unfortunately.

https://shebikeshebikes.co.nz/lake-dunstan-trail

19/06/2026

You don't know what you don't know.

Wow, this came as surprise, on the 2nd of June Michaela Rogan set out to beat the Fastest Known Time (FKT) to ride the Otago Central Rail Trail.

We're not going to tell you the result because you NEED to watch this beautifully shot short film. We're off to watch some more of because this one was stunning!

After recovering from injury, Michaela Rogan set out to tackle the ...

19/06/2026

Central Otago has always been a place where people look at what's in front of them and figure out a better way.

In 1895, Hannah Hayes strapped samples of her husband Ernest's first invention to her bicycle and rode it through the Maniototo, selling their wares from farm to farm in her ankle-length skirts. New Zealand's first female travelling salesperson, on a bike, through some of the most remote country in the South Island.

Ernest went on to patent the wire strainer. Still in production today.

One hundred and thirty years later, Steve and Kim H**e in little old Omakau looked at a problem every pivot irrigator in the country knows, and built the CenEng Pivot Rut Scraper to solve it. https://www.ceneng.co.nz/news/how-do-you-deal-with-your-pivot-ruts

And now this.

The Southern Way 1000 is a fully mapped, 1,000km bikepacking route connecting the Great Rides of the lower South Island into one epic figure-eight loop, from the Southern Alps to the Dunedin coast and back again.
https://southernway.nz/southern-way-1000/

The irony is not lost. People are now riding bikes past Hannah's old homestead at Oturehua, on what is arguably the trail she never knew she was pioneering.

This has been a big collaborative effort:
- Tourism Central Otago
- Enterprise Dunedin
- Clutha Development
- Great South in Southland,

A special mention has to go out to Geoff Marks for his work making this a reality. Geoff is also behind https://trailhub.nz, a superb and vibrant, story-driven digital guide to the Otago trails.

When the Kawarau Gorge Trail opens in September, the circuit is complete.

This is what happens when a region backs itself.
https://shebikeshebikes.co.nz/southern-way-1000/

19/06/2026

Today, Kawarau Gorge Trail.

Wow, so much activity and so much progress!

18/06/2026

Just having a moment.

I'm working on some incredible new product incorporating Carrick Winery & Restaurant and pulling out imagery of our own experiences there.

I came across this one when we cycled the Lake Dunstan Cycle & Walking Trail with our old friends Simon and Donella. Simon passed away two years ago now after a tough fight with cancer, he pulled out all of the stops to try and beat it, like he approached life really.

Looking at this photo has me pondering so many things as you'd expect.

What I'm grateful for is the memories we shared together, that I can look at this image and recall all the fun we had that day. With Simon there was always an activity involved and we rode the LDT twice together - he came back with another great mate, Sean, while in remission.

What am I trying to say? I guess its simply, get out there and build those memories with your loved ones, no matter what they are.

17/06/2026

Carol and I went for a walk in Clyde this evening.

The night sky out at the start of the Otago Central Rail Trail was incredible. Hard to capture it without a tripod, so I leant up against the new NZ Cycle Trails sign.

The image doesn't do it justice, but you get the picture.

Special moment.

16/06/2026

You won't find this route on Google Maps. At least, we hope not.

This is the Kawarau Gorge in 1865, photographed by Joseph Perry as part of a survey commissioned by geologist James Hector. The image ended up in the Hocken Collections at the University of Otago, where it's been quietly held ever since.

What you're looking at is Whatatorere, a natural rock formation where the Kawarau River narrows to little more than a metre. For Māori, this was one of the most significant points in the entire South Island. It sat at the end of an ancient route that came down the Cardrona Valley, along Roaring Meg Stream, and continued through the Nevis Valley and beyond, a journey made in search of pounamu on the West Coast.

The gorge wasn't a shortcut. It was a trade route.

By the 1860s the goldminers were using the same line. Whatatorere is gone now, destroyed in the rush. The gorge it crossed is the same one our riders are about to discover.

Big thanks to Sue, my mother-in-law and quite possibly the best-stocked private archive of Central Otago history in existence ;-) She was able to dig out this newspaper clipping. Some people collect stamps. Sue collects the past.

We share more of this kind of thing when we find it. Follow us on Facebook to catch the next one.