A Nelson student who had no previous interest in cycling has just ridden the length of New Zealand.
Maddi Harrop, 12, had hardly given a second thought to cycling when she was given a Tāhunanui School assignment during the 2020 lockdown which saw her read an article about a boy who cycled from Cape Reinga to Wellington.
“I just thought I kind of wanted to do something like it,” Maddi says.
So, Maddi and her dad Colin, began three months of training - doing rides from their Tāhunanui home to Wakefield, Brightwater, Kaiteriteri, Cable Bay and even over the Tākaka Hill.
In August 2020 the pair set off on a three-week ride to Bluff - a roughly 1000km journey.
The first leg took them to the Kohatu Hotel for the evening, with plans to make it to Murchison the following day.
However, a head wind caused a change of plan, with the pair stopping at Owen River.
“The first day was fine but the next day was hard,” Maddi says. “We kind of bailed and went to the Owen.”
After completing the trip to Bluff it was back home again.
Maddi and Colin began planning for the next leg of the mammoth effort – a 1200km trip from Nelson to Cape Reinga.
This time Maddi’s mum Sarah wanted to come along.
“The first one I thought they were completely crazy, but then when they got back, I sort of felt like I missed out so I thought ‘I wonder if I could do it’ and they let me.”
With Maddi now much fitter than the first journey, after getting into mountain biking, the trio didn’t cycle together.
“They were way fitter and stronger and had their own pace, so we set off together sometimes but then I would just do my own thing,” Sarah says. “Then we stopped setting off together and I just went early.
“There was no point trying to chase them down.”
They say a comfy bed, a hot shower and access to good food is what they looked forward to at the end of each day.
Colin says for the most part cars were really considerate on both trips.
“It was challenging, not something I’d done before. I go mountain biking now with Maddi, but this has all stemmed from that initial ride and I kind of ride with her now, which is cool,” he says.
When Maddi, Colin and Sarah, reached Cape Reinga, more than three weeks after leaving home, they say it felt like a another day.
“It doesn’t really feel like you’re finished,” Maddi says.
“But we had a car with a bike rack waiting for us, which was the difference,” adds Colin.
