From Humble Beginnings..

The first Central South Island Charity Bike Ride was held in 2005 with the aim of raising funds for local charities. $27,000 was raised on the inaugural ride and we have held a ride annually since then, raising a whopping total of $1,000,000 for local South Canterbury Charities.

The Ride's Key Objectives are:

What We Do & Where We Go..

The Charity Bike Ride is an annual three day event held every February and is the only one of its kind in New Zealand. Cyclists from all over New Zealand and as far afield as Australia participate in the Ride and along the way will enjoy three days of fun and friendship as well as some of New Zealand's most spectacular scenery. (See a Google Map)

Day 1: The Cyclists travel from Timaru to Kurow via Waimate, Waihaorunga and Ikawai where they stay overnight at various locations around Kurow.

Day 2: At the crack of dawn, the cyclists tackle the Otematata Saddle to Omarama and on to Twizel for lunch. The next leg of the journey provides some spectacular scenery as the cyclists ride from Twizel, past Lake Pukaki and the Tekapo B Power Station and onto to the Army Barracks at Tekapo for the night.

Day 3: The final leg of the journey has cyclists riding from Tekapo through Fairlie and on to Cave for lunch. With the excitement evident, it is the last leg of the journey through Pleasant Point and into Timaru finishing at the SBS Events Centre in Morgans Road. The 369km journey is complete and cyclists will unwind at the Charity Dinner held at the Phar Lap Raceway at 6pm

Of course the main aim of the ride is to raise funds for local South Canterbury charities.
The bulk of this money comes from riders obtaining sponsorship for their efforts. A huge variety of fundraising activities such as barbeques, cycleathons, firewood etc. are carried out by the riders leading up to the start of the ride. If you see any of these activities going on round the district please give what you can, it all goes to very good causes.
A rundown of fundraisers the 2015 riders are undertaking can be found here Please support them!

If you can't participate in the ride, but would still like to make a donation or are a business who would like to get involved and sponsor a rider, please contact Sharyn by email. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated by all those supported by the chosen charities.