A2O CYCLE TOUR FAQs

Fitness is a fairly subjective issue on these trails and depends a lot on how fast you want to ride and whether or not you intent to ride the entire trail or take advantage of the support vehicle to miss out hills and some of the more difficult sections of trail. You should be of at least average fitness to enjoy these trails whist on a supported tour and, ideally, above average fitness if you are riding unsupported on the longer trails. When they’re described as fairly easy cycling, it means the trails are usually wide and fairly smooth but you still have to cover the distance by your own leg power. If you want to ride an entire trail and enjoy it to the full, we’d advise the following fitness levels. Remember, these relate to bike fitness:

• Average Fitness: Be able to ride 40 to 50km a day on loose surfaces and easy, flat terrain, in less than 5 hours and able to do this for several days in a row.
• Above average Fitness: Be able to ride 40 to 50km a day on loose surfaces and undulating terrain, in less than 5 hours and able to do this for several days in a row.
• High level of fitness: Be able to ride 40 to 50km a day on loose surfaces and hilly terrain, in less than 5 hours and able to do this for several days in a row.

Many of our clients have trained on the road and were unprepared for the extra effort required for loose surfaces. Many clients only trained on the flat and didn’t appreciate how tiring it can be to ride up and down small hills. Many clients only ride once or twice a week and didn’t appreciate how sore your bum and sit bones can get riding several days in a row. Many clients didn’t train at all and spent more time than they thought in the van! So, prepare for the trail surface, distance, number of days and terrain you will be riding. You’ll have a much more enjoyable holiday.

Most of the trails we use are graded 1 to 3 which means they are fairly easy but you should be able to ride a mountain bike on loose surfaces (including gravel) up and down small hills and be confident riding around sharp corners. We provide quality mountain bikes with 29″ wheels and disc brakes and there is time on each trip to get used to the bike and to have it set up so that it fits you well.

Absolutely! We often have tours where a non-rider stays with the guide in the van. From the feedback we’ve received, the non-rider usually has a fantastic time, they get to learn more about the area whilst still meeting their friends at regular intervals throughout the day. We ensure they’re included in every part of the trip except the cycling.

That’s where the support vehicle comes in. Our guides know all the best places to pick you up and drop you off to miss out the hills or harder sections of trail. We also have regular stops to make sure slower riders have time to catch up so, for safety and everyone’s enjoyment, the group never gets too spread out.

Alternatively, if you know lagging behind your friends will spoil your holiday, upgrade to an ebike. Let us know well before your tour and we'll invoice you for the upgrade and make sure we have an ebike available for you.

Our trips tend to attract sociable people so, as a single traveller, you’ll make new friends. Unfortunately, as these trails get busier, we have to book rooms further in advance and usually don’t have the option of being able to get an additional room for a single person. In peak season, this means that taking a single person limits our tours to only 9 people which isn’t viable for us. As a consequence, rooms are only available twin share so you can’t book on your own. 

GRADE 1: Easiest

Trail Type:

– Off-road trail surface is either firm gravel or sealed (e.g. concrete or asphalt) and is wide enough for 2 people to cycle side by side for most of the way.

– On-road trails generally follow quiet roads with little traffic.

Suitable For:

– Novice cyclists, families and others seeking a very easy cycling experience.

– Any bike is suitable for riding Grade 1 cycle trails, including touring bikes, single speed bikes and children’s bikes.

GRADE 2: Easy

Trail Type:

– Off-road trails are predictable, i.e. no surprises and mostly flat with some gentle climbs.

– The surface is either firm gravel or sealed (e.g. concrete or asphalt).

– The trail is wide enough for 2 people to cycle side by side at times and may include sections where cyclists will have to ride single file.

– On-road trails generally follow quiet roads with little traffic.

Suitable For:

– Beginners, occasional cyclists and families who have limited cycling experience.

– A multi-geared bike with medium to wide tyres is recommended, such as a comfort bike, touring bike or mountain bike.

GRADE 3: Intermediate

Trail Type:

– Off-road trails can be narrow and may include hill climbs, steep drop-offs and small river crossings.

– The trail surface is mostly firm, but may include muddy or loose sections.

– There may also be obstacles such as rocks or tree roots to avoid.- On-road trails have moderate traffic levels (up to 1000 vehicles per day) include hill climbs and possible gravel sections.

Suitable For:

– Regular, experienced cyclists with a good level of fitness and over 12 years of age.

– Children should be accompanied by an adult.

– A mountain bike is recommended for off-road trails.

– On-road trails that include sections of gravel will require knobbly tyres. Road racing tyres are not recommended.

This may actually depend on where you’re from! In Queenstown, we’re surrounded by mountains up to 2319m (7600ft) high, so what we consider hilly may well be very different from if you live in Holland, for example. So, in the words of an overseas visitor:

“When Kiwis say a ride is “undulating” (and they say that a lot), it’s hilly. When they say it’s “a little hilly,” it’s a lot hilly. And when they say it’s “quite hilly,” well, just….ouch. “

Now there are some things we just can’t answer. New Zealand has a maritime climate, which means that we generally get warm (but not hot) summers and cool (but not cold) winters, with a relatively narrow annual temperature range. But, and it’s a big but, because of our latitude and absence of other close land masses, a change in direction of the wind can change the temperature by over 20 degrees within an hour! A Southerly wind blows directly up from the Antarctic bringing very cold weather, a North Westerly wind blows over the warm Tasman Sea bringing heavy rain to the west and strong warm, dry winds to the east.

Consequently, our weather is variable and highly dependent on the wind direction and the location within the NZ. On the Alps 2 Ocean, we start near the West Coast at an altitude of 770m above sea level surrounded by snow capped mountains and finish 300km away by the Pacific Ocean on the East Coast.

Unfortunately, there are no guarantees concerning the weather 🙂

The A2O has limited options to shop during your tour. All our tours have the option to stop at a supermarket en route to allow you to stock up on anything you need and the guides will advise you throughout the tour on your options. For some essentials, such as ladies toiletries, we strongly advise you to come prepared, just in case.

Although the number of toilets is increasing, some areas just don’t have enough. We provide a camping toilet and tent on all our trips for times when there’s no official toilet. For ladies, we recommend taking a SheeWee and there’s always the option to pack a DOC ‘PooPot’, just in case…

We’re determined to ensure that riders ride the bike most suited to their ability and the surface and gradient of the trail that they’re riding. For the gravel, loose rocky surfaces and stream crossings you’ll encounter on the A2O, this is definitely a mountain bike with at least front suspension. For the smooth road sections, you need larger wheels and fast rolling tyres and for some of the steeper hills, you need the right range of gears or you end up pushing. As a consequence, we strongly recommend a front suspension 27.5″ or 29er mountain bike with a spread of at least 11 gears and the right tyres as the perfect all round bike for all these trails.