Time for the stoker to come on-line.

Having encouraged Mark to go ahead with this venture and stoked his organising enthusiasm I find myself getting surprisingly excited about this trip.

I look forward to pedalling the length of NZ and my body into uncharted ways of being (bar 3 weeks tandeming around killingly hilly Scotland in 1979) plus channelling it all into a worthwhile cause.

At this point I’m not feeling daunted by the miles, but OMG my luggage allowance!

A miserly 25 litres faced by someone who struggles to keep to a 21kg airline baggage allowance at the best of times.

Hey-ho, no luxurious deliberations what to wear in the mornings, we should be able to cover the daily mile quota no trouble at all…