Steve Halligan
I live in Hanmer Springs and run a Wellness Retreat with my wife. Cycling has become a huge part of my life, especially since coming to New Zealand 13 years ago. I love competing in self-supported mainly off road Ultra Endurance races, with distances ranging from 1000km to 6250kms. I love this genre of cycling because it pushes my limits to the extreme on many levels. I love the adventure, the freedom and the sense of purpose it gives me. It will throw up some massive challenges at times and these make me grow stronger and teach me valuable lessons to bring to the next adventure. I normally do two or three of these longer races a year along with a bunch of shorter races. Earlier this year I competed in two inaugural NZ events , the Tour Te Waipounamu and the Tuatara 1000.
Looking forward to the future I would love to travel to Kyrgyzstan for the Silk Road Mountain Race and over to Australia for Race To The Rock or Terra Australis Bike Epic, but unfortunately nothing is confirmed due to the ongoing global situation.
Luckily we are blessed to have so many cycling options here in New Zealand, I will be lining up for the Tour Te Waipounamu again, I want to ride the Kopiko in the North Island and no doubt I will ride the Tour Aotearoa again for my fourth time in the coming years . Between these longer races I normally do events such as the Contact Epic at Lake Hawea and The St James Epic not far from Hanmer Springs. It has to be fun for me, and cycling is absolutely FUN !
AGE: 47
HOMETOWN: Hanmer Springs
BICYCLES: Binary Bicycles HAVOK Titanium adventure mountain bike, Cannondale F -Si XC Mountain Bike , Cannondale Super Evo Six Road Bike, Surly Pugsley FAT Bike. I also have a Binary Bicycles GROLAR Titanium frame thats not built up yet
BIOMAXA PRODUCT: The Lube is amazing, I take it on races now and it works superbly in all weathers and terrains. The bottle is a perfect size, you can refill them and its totally biodegradable . Brilliant !
FAVOURITE FOOD. I follow a plant based diet so naturally I love my Veggies
FAVOURITE PLACE TO RIDE: I’ve cycled a few places around the world but NZ is number one. I just love all the off road options we have here.
BEST CYCLING MEMORY: My first Tour Divide was special as it was a dream to get the opportunity to race 4,400kms from Canada to Mexico in 2017. It didn’t all go smoothly but I finished in 17 Days and had the most amazing time.
TOP FIVE MOST NOTABLE RESULTS : 4TH twice in Tour Divide, 2017 & 2019 , 1st in TERRA AUSTRALIS BIKE EPIC 2018, 1st Timaru 10hour, 1st St James Epic, 2nd Tuatara 1000
ASPIRATION: To win Tour Divide is a big motivation. I also aspire to cycle all around the world one day.
TO RELAX: Riding is a meditation for me, this can be relaxing and grounding. I enjoy Yoga , Reading Hiking and just being in nature
INSTEAD OF CYCLING : If I wasn’t cycling I reckon I would be doing a lot of long Thru Hikes
