TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND

Darfield’s Rob Potts once again rode in the Hynds Team to raise money for the Heart Foundation in the biennial Tour of New Zealand. The Tour went from Arthurs Pass, down the West Coast to Arrowtown, covering approximately 460km over five days of racing, with 3,700m of climbing.

Day 1 started at the Temple Basin Car Park, with a 95km ride to Hokitika. The wind was blowing and the rain was bucketing down, it was a dicey ride down the viaduct and battling with cars returning to Christchurch on the one-way bridges. Hot soup and heaters were required in Hoky Pokey (Hokitika).

Day 2, Ross to Franz, was shortened to 65km due to thunderstorms, and just as well as Rob had a series of punctures and ended up nursing a group of slower riders.

Day 3, Fox to Haast, was 121km and undulating riding and it was still raining.

Day 4, Haast, up the steep pass and down to Hawea, close to 130km of riding and 1,500m of ascent but no crashes or mechanical issues.

Final day, Wanaka over Crown Range and into Arrowtown, with only 850m of climbing but quite steep in places. Even though the race started in waves, with slower groups starting early, the leading bunch got quite big and there was a bit of traffic, so Julian Dean (four time Tour de France rider) put the hammer down and pinged group after group out the back - I didn’t see him again until the Tour dinner and prizegiving up the Gondola in Queenstown. There was no podium finish this year for the Hynds Men’s Team, but the Hynds Mixed Team came second.

Rob would like to thank the Malvern Lions, his employer Lowe Environmental Impact for their contributions and the many Malvern locals who have put some of their hard-earned dollars into the sponsorship. He has also received donations from Australia, England and Holland. His tally to the cause is sitting at

$2,500, and the Hynds team is at $26,000, so we still need an injection to reach the team goal of $50,000. Heart disease is New Zealand’s biggest killer, you never know when it will be your turn!

Rob would also like to thank Hynds for sponsoring the team and organising and paying for all the accommodation, food, travel, etc.

If you would like to donate visit: https://tour-of-newzealand-2023a.raisely.com/ rob-potts