Fastest to cycle length of NZ
He’s done it: Marlborough cyclist Craig Harper has set a world record for cycling the length of the country.
The endurance athlete smashed the previous record of 4 days, 17 hours and 40 minutes by over 7 hours.
Harper set off from Cape Reinga at 8am on Monday and arrived at Bluff at 5.45pm yesterday, some 2100 kilometres later.
In order to achieve his goal he had slept for only short periods of one to two hours along the way.
Speaking an hour before the finish support crew member Mark Hawkins said Harper would have to be assessed and begin his recovery once he got off the bike and would not be immediately available to comment.
The ride had gone without hitch, with no rain and only a serious headwind on the first day.
‘‘We haven’t even had any mechanicals, not so much as a puncture over some 2000km,’’ Hawkins said.
Harper had found the last part of the ride tough as he faced some serious hills around Dunedin and an undulating road towards Invercargill, Hawkins said.
‘‘He has had his highs and plenty of lows. It has been absolutely incredible to witness what he has been through.’’
A major part of the record attempt was to raise funds for the Kiwi Can programme in Marlborough.
The programme, which taught positive values to primary school children, was run by the Graeme Dingle Foundation Marlborough.
Regional manager Kelvin Watt said they were in awe of the progress Harper had made.
‘‘It’s just incredible. He has been so strong the whole way – he is a machine.’’
Harper made his way through Blenheim around 3.30pm on Wednesday where he was met by a large crowd of supporters, including his young daughters.
However, he was only able to stop for just a few minutes before continuing on in order to make the cutoff time to use the Rainbow Road to Hanmer Springs.
He enjoyed a tailwind along the Canterbury Plains and reached Dunedin early yesterday before making the final push to the finish.
Harper is a respected endurance cyclist having won races such as the 640km Maxi Enduro at the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge in 2015 and the 1010km 10-lap Mammoth race at the Forrest GrapeRide in 2014.
The previous record for cycling the length of the country was set by fellow Kiwi endurance cyclist Colin Anderson in 2007.