Bike thefts nearly end tour

They have cycled 1500 kilometres and been evacuated by helicopter, but it’s the theft of their bikes that nearly scuppered a pair’s tour of New Zealand. Mates Bevan Woodward and Maurice Puckett, of Warkworth, woke yesterday morning to find their beloved bicycles, which had so far transported them from Cape Reinga to Masterton, had been stolen.

They are taking part in Tour Aotearoa, a specially designed bicycle trip that takes in some of the best tracks and roads in New Zealand from the far north to the deep south.

The cyclists were staying at Mawley Holiday Park in Masterton on their way to Bluff, and had locked the bikes to a bar overnight. Woodward said they were in the process of working out how to continue the tour after Masterton man Harry Escott offered the loan of two bikes, which he and his wife had recently used to complete an 18-month world tour.

It was the second major hiccup they had faced on tour after being airlifted out of Whanganui when trapped for two days by the weather, he said.

‘‘We’ll laugh about it in a few years but right now it is a bit annoying. We know there are worse things that can happen in life but you get attached to your bike after you have travelled so far on it.

‘‘I got up this morning, saw they were gone and for a moment hoped it was some mistake before realising they had been stolen. A lady camped nearby thought she heard a noise at about 2am but wasn’t sure at the time what it was and went back to sleep.

‘‘We’ve been planning the event for the last year and we are 1500km into it. It is fantastic that a complete stranger has shown such generosity and stepped in to help out.’’ Mawley Holiday Park manager Rodney Algie said he and his wife were disappointed for Woodward and Puckett.