When did they call for entries?
Seems a tad weird, no matter, if I do it I’ll be on the start line regardless of a list.
They emailed everyone on the distribution list last week.
They also tried to dissuade people to get numbers down.
I find it amusing that Tour Divide is open to everyone, not capped, and only has a max of 120 (however this year figures are suggesting 250), and the NZ race is already maxed out.
The special ferries maybe a limiting factor?
What do you mean by ‘not capped’ but ‘has a max of 120’. That seems contradictory
First one ever run… lots of mountain bikers over here… bikepacking is so hot right now… lets be honest, there’s not much else to do round these parts. 
In all seriousness tho, its worth noting that the Kennett brothers have a huge following in New Zealand with all the literature that they’ve produced over the years, and even more so now with Jonathan driving the government’s cycle trail initiative/s. I do think a good number of the current entries are purely aspirational.
The list will start to dwindle when people work out 1) how much all their gear will end up costing, 2) when their boss says “you wanna take how long off?”, and 3) when it dawns on them how much of a FKN hard ride it really will be, and that they haven’t got the fitness for it.
Max entries/riders of 120…
^I get it now
Hey people who travel to NZ: How do you guys go getting your bike and stuff within the airline weight restrictions? Qantas has an allowance of 32kg.
if your bike and camping gear can’t fit in bike box and be under 23kg (air nz’s regs) then your doing it wrong.
add 7kgs of carry on (I have carried on the big saddle bags for extra bike packing style) and your fine.
Virgin or jetstar let you buy up to 25/30 if your worried.
I just buy an extra bag’s worth. 2 x 23kg with AirNZ. Cost about $20-30 from memory.
I’ll probably do that if I fly AirNZ. Extra bag is $55
I’m not sure which whether I’m flying with Qantas or AirNZ. Qantas has a 32kg allowance, which is good. Their additional baggage is very exxy though: $70 for 5kg.
be careful, the full 32kg allowance is usually just for flights terminating in, or transiting through, the USA. Otherwise it’s often 23kg.
What mike said.
I did a 9 month overseas trip with bike, full touring set up, hiking gear, casual clothes and managed to squeeze under the 23 kg Air NZ limit (with some sweet talking). My issue was more with volume than weight, the friendly staff said I could check two bags for no extra cost if one was under 7 kg (one was my hiking backpack and the other my bikebag) and they would tag it as light security? or something.
Oops, I was slightly wrong, it’s 30kg, with a max per piece of 32kg.
From the website:
Weight based baggage allowancesFor tickets issued on all Qantas international flights excluding flights to/from South and North America, the following weight allowance will apply:
|
|
| |Adult|Qantas Club members and Silver Qantas Frequent Flyers|Gold Qantas Frequent Flyers|Platinum and Platinum One Qantas Frequent Flyers|
[TR=“class: alt”]
[TD=“class: txtc”]Economy[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]30kg (66lb)[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]42kg (92lb)[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]46kg (101lb)[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]50kg (110lb)[/TD]
[/TR]|Premium Economy|40kg (88lb)|52kg (114lb)|56kg (123lb)|60kg (132lb)|
[TR=“class: alt”]
[TD=“class: txtc”]Business[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]40kg (88lb)[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]52kg (114lb)[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]56kg (123lb[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]60kg (132lb)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR=“class: last”]
[TD=“class: txtc”]First[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]50kg (110lb)[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]62kg (136lb)[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]66kg (145lb)[/TD]
[TD=“class: txtc”]70kg (154lb)[/TD]
[/TR]
Did everyone get that email?
Looks like it’s a similar setup to the Brevet - donate to charity and you’re confirmed on the start list 
Which is good for me - cos I was previously on the ‘wait list’
Anyone who is interested in doing it - you have two weeks to donate :0
Which email? The one from February, or has the been one today?
New email, it was sent to me 2 hours ago.
I didn’t get it.
Was it specifically to people not yet on the confirmed start list?
I believe it was for everyone.
I can’t seem to find your name on the rider list either: Tour Aotearoa 2016 rider list - public - Google Sheets
I’d shoot Jonathan an email.