Kawaru 1000
A free route bikepacking event
~60% paved, ~30% gravel, ~10% trail & other depending on your route
~1000km in total, 9 parcours covering ~ 28okm
Start 6am, 6 March, 2027: Te Whanganui-a- Tara, Wellington
About
The Kawaru 1000 is a free route bikepacking event where you will connect checkpoints and parcours (obligatory sections of the course) by creating your own route. You can connect the required sections by taking the high road, the low road or the road less travelled - whatever suits your style, your bike, your objectives. Many of the resupply options are off the most efficient route, so you can tailor your resupply strategy to your needs or change on the fly.
The route uses public roads and trails, apart for one parcours where access to private land has been gained. The major highway in the region is a banned road and cannot be used due to safety considerations.
As part of your entry you will receive a brevet card. To qualify for a completion, you will need to make the cut-offs for each of the checkpoints and be able to prove that you have ridden all the parcours in the required direction and order. The timings of cutoffs will require you to ride ~140km / day.
Details (tbc)
Start . Lat/ Long -41.289943, 174.780419
CP1 Lat/ Long -40.542278, 176.191976
CP2 Lat/ Long -40.117267, 176.872817
CP3 Lat/ Long -40.895901, 176.218625
Finish Lat/ Long -41.289943, 174.780419
Considerations
The ethos of bikepacking is rooted in self-sufficiency and self-reliance. One of the goals of this event to encourage riders develop the skills to plan their own routes and prepare using tools like komoot, ridewithgps, WAMS, Google Maps etc. We encourage you to learn the skills to develop your own route, rather than follow the crowd or copy someone else’s ideas. For some sections of the course, options are time/ tide-dependent, so you might need to have a few choices in reserve.
The parcours and final locations of the checkpoints will be released in due course.
Rob Dawson & Brian Alder