About Pacific Cycle Tours
Three decades of tours,
family-run by Brett and Judy.
The two of us
We are Brett and Judy. Brett grew up in Colorado, skiing, camping and fishing his way through childhood. Judy is a born and bred Cantabrian who had the Port Hills as her playground. We met at Canterbury University in the late 90s, travelled through Europe, America and South East Asia together, then spent 18 years in Sydney building corporate careers and raising our two daughters.
In 2018 we came home to Christchurch and took over Pacific Cycle Tours from the couple who had run it for the previous 25 years. We have been married for over 20 years ourselves, and with two daughters already, the business is something like our third child.
Judy spent years in publishing, touring some of the world's best-known authors around the country. Planning, scheduling and looking after people were at the heart of everything she did, which turns out to be excellent training for this. Today she is the queen of logistics at Pacific Cycle Tours, making sure every detail comes together and every guest feels genuinely cared for.
Brett's background is in operations management, and he keeps the business running smoothly behind the scenes. He looks after the depot, sources new gear, and handles the hundred small things that keep every tour on the road. When he gets the chance you will find him out on the trail with guests too, sharing what he knows about the place and making sure every ride lives up to the standard he and Judy expect.
Between us: small groups, proper hotels, and our own names on every email that leaves the office. When you write to us while you are planning, one of us is the one who writes back.
Being small is our biggest asset
Nobody wants to feel like a cog in a wheel, least of all on the holiday they have been looking forward to all year. We only run a limited number of tours at a time, so while your group is out, it has the whole of Pacific Cycle Tours behind it and no one else. Our groups stay small enough that by day two the guides know how you take your coffee. Big enough to handle everything, small enough to know everyone.
The route holds. The day adapts around you.
Every guided tour runs with an experienced guide to ride with you on the trails, and a support driver to ensure the vehicle is close by when needed. The route for the group holds its shape. Around it, each rider's day can take its own.
A guest once wasn’t keen on the Roxburgh Gorge Trail, so after morning tea, the driver took them to ride a section of the Otago Rail Trail instead, bringing the guests back together afterwards to journey to the next accommodation. On the Lake Dunstan Trail, riders who want an easier day get dropped at the flatter end and ride in as far as feels right, then turn around, with the driver alongside on the spare bike we carry for exactly this.
And if you have simply had enough at two in the afternoon, you hop in the van. No more riding, no explanations. Once, while a couple of guests waited for the rest of the group to finish for the day, our driver took them wine tasting. Not a bad result for anyone.
No shame anywhere there. That is the whole point.
The crew
Our guides and drivers are a small, hand-picked crew. Between them: one who has managed trail networks and knows the history and legends of the land, one who can fix any bike problem yet invented, and one who is simply the friendliest person you will meet all trip. Every guide is first aid trained and carries a personal locator beacon for the stretches of trail beyond mobile coverage. Guests come back and book again, and often ask for their guide by name. We take that as the best review there is.
We tell you the truth about the trail
These are gravel trails, not road rides. There are switchbacks, some decent climbs, and days that feel longer than the number on the map. We would rather tell you exactly where the hard parts are before you book than have you find them mid-ride, so we always do.
The e-bikes flatten the hills. You can still tell everyone you climbed them.
And the line we hear most at the end of a tour has nothing to do with the bikes. It is some version of: I never thought I could do it.
The little things
The hotels are the ones we stay in ourselves when we go on holidays. Lunch is often a bakery where you pick out your own. Ride into town at the end of the day and your room key is handed straight to you, no queue at reception. On the free evenings we still book the group a table at our favourite spot in town, and you can join in or do your own thing. And we will let you know the night that fish and chips on the beach with a bottle of wine is the right call, because sometimes you can't beat a sunset over the Tasman Sea.
Rather talk it through?
Give us a call on +64 27 776 2018, drop us an email, or head to our contact page. Or fill in the form above and we'll reply within one business day.
Ask us anything
Tell us what you are thinking and we will reply within one business day.
Giving back
We make our living riding through some of the most beautiful country New Zealand has, and looking after it is part of the job. We run the business to conserve and recycle where we can, to keep our impact on the trails and the native ecosystems around them light, and to weigh the environment in the decisions we make. Small things, done all season, every season.
Further from home, we sponsor a young girl and her community in Korukonda, India, through World Vision. We are lucky in New Zealand: clean water comes out of the tap and food is a given. In Korukonda that is not the case, so through the sponsorship we help fund the essentials there, from clean water and health care to school. It is a small thing on our side and a real one on theirs.
Looking after the places we love:
Through our partnership with Carbon Invoice, we help fund the planting of native trees and support independently verified environmental projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It's one small way we're helping protect the landscapes we love, so future generations can enjoy them too.
Trusted, and quietly chuffed about it
We're Qualmark Gold rated, the top tier of New Zealand's official tourism quality mark, and Department of Conservation approved. We're an official partner of the Great Rides of New Zealand, and of the Alps 2 Ocean and West Coast Wilderness trails our tours actually ride. We're a member of Tourism Industry Aotearoa, we've taken the Tiaki Promise to look after the places we travel through, and we're a Positive Business committed to sustainable tourism. None of it changes how your day on the bike feels. It's just how you know the two people planning it take the job seriously.
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