Ride What Ya Brung (Film)

Words by Deane Parker, photos by Dylan Gerschwitz

I didn’t really feel like I could resist the urge any longer. The urge to ride gravel, to pilot a drop bar bike for 200km a day in mixed terrain, the urge to Brevet. Who hasn’t thought about signing up for one of these new school, mostly non-competitive bike events?

Now was my time. Coming from decades of totally recreational mountain biking—and more recently backcountry bikepacking—I wondered how I’d fare in this realm of type 2 fun. Yes, I’d love to be able to take leave and ride the length of the country, or even a district, but I’m not able to do so.

Curtain call organiser Shailer Hart and his enterprise, “The Flahute Presents.” Shailer has a resounding passion for all things bike, and a long history in cycling. I signed up for Lakeside Views, his 250km figure-eight weekend brevet through the rolling foothills, expansive plains of South Canterbury, and the stark high country of the Hakatarere Conservation Area and the Ashburton Lakes. The rest is history…