Get your bike, body and gear into shape. To get maximum enjoyment from the ride, we recommend all riders make preparations well in advance to ensure their bodies and bikes are ready to roll.

It’s important that you prepare your body for the ride. It is also important to realise that riding a tour is quite different from doing a big one day ride. To ensure your body is ready for the ride, we recommend you spend some time riding long climbs or doing hill repeats to get used to riding in a climbing position. We also recommend you try to include some hard consecutive days into your training to prepare your body to back up after a hard day.

Positioning is also critical when attempting a tour. Small niggles that you get from time to time on the bike can be exacerbated by pushing yourself day after day. A bike fit can be a good investment in your safety and ride enjoyment.

If most of your riding is done solo or with a few friends, it is important that you get some practice riding in a bunch. Bunch riding is a way of cyclists sharing the workload and helping each other. The tighter the bunch the less effort is expended. However, an inexperienced bunch rider will find this a little awkward so it’s best to get used to this by riding with others in the months leading up to the ride.

Only a well maintained road bike is suitable for this type of ride. We recommend ensuring you have a suitable gear ratio to give you the best chance of conquering the hardest climbs. It is important that you have your bike serviced in the weeks leading up to the ride and that you have relatively new tyres to avoid punctures.

All riders must be in good mental and medical health with a high level of physical fitness in order to accomplish this ride. All participants are required to disclose any ongoing medical or health issues that could become a matter of concern to yourself or to other team members during the ride.
Ensure that you bring any medications or other medical needs that you may require to sustain your wellbeing during the ride. Some common issues are skin infections or rashes, upset tummies, migraines, allergies, aching bones, bad knees, bad backs and, of course, saddle sores. Suncream is provided for your use, but if you suffer rashes or allergies from some brands, bring your own.

There are a number of First Aid kits on the ride. However, due to WH&S and other legal requirements, first aid providers are limited in the scope of the care they can provide.

They are responsible for taking all reasonable steps to stabilise a patient until expert medical help is available. All Road Crew vehicles carry limited First Aid items. You are fully and totally responsible for any costs, requirements, insurances or any other needs, concerns or circumstances that may arise regarding health, medical, ambulance or any other issues that may arise that directly affect you personally for the duration of the ride. It is your own responsibility to ensure that you have whatever relevant cover and insurances you feel is necessary regarding medical, health, insurance and ambulance needs.

Hygiene is of critical importance on a tour with so many people eating together. It is very important that we maintain “Best Practice” in health and hygiene matters. This means HAND WASHING is mandatory before eating any food and after going to the bathroom. Antiseptic will be provided in each Road Crew vehicle and at each meal.

Due to the possibility of potentially fatal anaphylactic reactions, known or unknown, all crockery and cutlery items must not be mixed with other foods or spreads at anytime. That is, one knife for butter, one for vegemite, one for peanut butter, one for honey etc.

Each bunch is accompanied by a road support vehicle. The vehicle will drive a safe distance behind the bunch and will display signs to alert other vehicles of our presence. Each road support vehicle will be equipped with a First Aid kit, water, suncream, snack and route instructions. The mechanic vehicle will at all times be available as the final support van. Every other support vehicle will carry essential items for flats etc. Each rider will also be required to bring a day bag (see notes in what to bring) that will include any essentials you think you might need for the day’s ride. Riders will be able to stop the support vehicle at any time to ask for assistance, to get something from or put something into the car.

We have a great food team that are responsible for providing breakfast, morning tea and lunch. If you have any dietary requirements they will be able to accommodate you. If you have a special request they will do their best to provide that for you. They also ensure that there is PLENTY of food. You will not go hungry!

Breakfast: At breakfast you are provided with a range of cereals, muesli, milk, soya milk, toast, spreads, fruit, eggs and to drink we have tea, coffee and milo.

Morning Tea: At our morning tea stop you are provided with a selection of fruit, nuts, chocolate, and various nibbles.

Lunch: At lunch we have the same selection as morning tea with the addition of rolls/wraps, salad, fruit.

Dinner: Isn’t included but we go as a group to a local restaurant each night.

It is also important to remember that your stomach can only handle so many gels, sports bars and sports drinks. That is why the pros only ever use them in the last 50km of a race. In some circumstances sports drinks can actually dehydrate, you so try to mix it up and drink lots of water.

We are restricted, not only by baggage limits but also by the space in the luggage trailer and in the support cars so please pack carefully! If your 1 bag is any larger than a carry on size bag (7 kilo), it’s too large. Your bike bag or box will need to be stored at your accommodation and cannot be taken on the event.

Cycling Gear:

Cycling related gear:

Off the Bike:

Communal Gear:

We will have the following items that you can use, borrow or buy if need be:

Let your packing be informed by this fact:

For those of you that are new to the ride, we have a number of days on the ride that are designated 25000spins kit days. This helps with team motivation, safety on the roads and photos. We would ideally love you to wear the kit the entire trip. We have done our very best to ensure the jersey looks fantastic and it’s a high quality item at the cheapest available price. We would love it if everyone purchased a jersey.

Example 25000spins event kit. Each event has different kit:

Your family can follow your progress via the daily Instagram and Facebook posts as well as on Strava. This is also a great way of spreading the word about the positive difference we are making to people who are living in poverty. If you wished to tag your photos on the event, we suggest you use #25000spins for photos and the #tag your charity has asked you to use.

There is no set time to arrive by on the Wed 6th of March, however, it would be great if you could try to be in Auckland by 6pm so we can have a meal together followed by a pre-tour rider briefing. If you miss this rider briefing you will be given a briefing on arrival or the following morning.

The celebration dinner is really a fantastic final evening together to celebrate our achievements together. There will be awards being presented to riders and our support crew. We will also have the opportunity to enjoy seeing photos and video highlights from the tour.

How do I wash my clothes while on the ride?
All accommodation stops will have access to some laundry facilities.

What happens if it rains?
The 25000spins ride is an outdoor, all weather event which means we will still ride even if it’s raining. Only extreme weather may cause cancellation of the day’s riding.

What happens if I get sick or injured?
Safety is always our first priority. We have a number of First Aid certified people on the ride, so in case of emergency you will be in capable hands. If you are unable to ride due to an illness or injury, you can be a passenger in one of the support vehicles until you feel ready to rejoin the ride. If this isn’t possible, then alternative arrangements will be made to transport you to a local hospital or medical centre.

What happens if my bike breaks?
Unfortunately mechanical issues are part of bike riding and there is a reasonable chance that there will be some mechanical issues during the trip. You are responsible for ensuring your bike is in excellent condition prior to the ride. You also need to bring your own spare tubes and possibly a puncture repair kit.
We do have a bike mechanic on tour to support. He will be happy to help you try to get back on the road. For some issues we will carry spare parts such as cables, chains, brake pads and cassettes that you can buy if you need them. For more significant issues, you will most likely need to hop in the sag wagon until we can get to a bike shop.