Home Page                          Registrations received as at 4/7/2009:    North Is. riders: 12     South Is. riders: 24

Welcome to the TT2000 web site. You're probably here because the sound of a weekend's ride covering 2,000 kms of the South Island's iconic motorcycling roads is worth some investigation.

Simply put, the TT2000 is an annual challenge thrown out to any motorcyclist to see if they can ride 2,000 kms in 48 hours. It is not exactly an Iron Butt Rally nor is it the Long Way Down Under. Each year the Christchurch > Christchurch route changes. In 2009 the route took in the South Island's Four Passes - Lewis, Arthurs, Haast and Lindis. In 2010 the route is in the northern half of The South island. The ride would be described as a fairly challenging road trip spanning two days. If you do it you end up with the t-shirt!

Here's how it works:

The TT2000 spans two days.. Saturday 13/3/2010 and Sunday 14/3/2010. On Saturday you ride 1,000 kms. Same on Sunday. You must start and finish at the Christchurch checkpoint. You stay overnight on Saturday in Nelson. During the two halves of the ride you have several compulsory stops in towns where you must buy something (fuel, a burger, your choice) and get a computerised till receipt to prove you reached that town, and thus kept to the route OR you take a digital photo of your bike in front of a pre-determined landmark or town sign. How you get between the towns is up to you, but generally there's only the one direct way. Thus over the two days you ride 2,000 kms. 

What's different about the TT2000 to other  bike rallies?

This is purely riding for riding's sake. There are a lot of motorcyclists in New Zealand who like the long distance stuff and aren't interested in grogging up, wet t-shirt competitions and standing around just kicking tyres or worse, watching other riders having fun. In other words this outing is for those who like to stay in the saddle and feel like pushing themselves. There won't be time for cappuccino stops. You have to keep going. The maximum checkpoint opening time is 6:00am - 10:00pm. That means you can potentially take 16 hours to do 1,000 kms which is an average speed around the course of 62 km/h. Drop below that average on Saturday and you might as well flag Sunday. 

You can ride solo if that's your style or group up, even multiple times during the ride. There's nothing like carving through the Buller Gorge in a bike convoy.

2009 saw the inaugural TT2000. 72 riders started, 64 riders finished.

Interested? Read on.

The TT2000 is open to any motorcycle rider provided you:

1. have a full motorcycle license
2. ride a bike that is road legal
3. understand, and sign a disclaimer, that this a non-profit event and you're riding totally at your own risk according to the laws of the land
4. pre-register through this web site

Cost

This is not a commercial venture. There is no entry fee. However if you successfully complete the TT2000 you might want to purchase the 'Achiever's Pack', before you ride home, comprising TT2000 polo shirt, decals for bike/helmet/top box, collectable jacket pin, fridge magnets and brag photo in three formats.

On the TT2000 weekend this is what you have to do

1. get to the departure checkpoint within the window of 6:00-8:00am on Saturday to receive your Start ticket
2. ride the set route for Saturday ending in Nelson & collect computerised receipts or digital photos from the compulsory towns
3. get to the Nelson checkpoint within the closing window of 6:00-10:00pm to collect your Finish ticket
4. have a good night's sleep
5. repeat the same process on Sunday, this time finishing back in Christchurch

For full details of the weekend's route click here.

The TT2000 Flyer

As a further 'step up' challenge for those riders who scoff at a mere 1,000 kms we offer the TT2000 Flyer which comprises 14 'clip-ons' being deviations to the main route. You have the discretion whether or not to do none, any or all of them. It's up to you, and most riders are probably going to just see how they're going on the day. We believe it is virtually impossible you will be able to do all 14. The clip-ons are mapped on the Flyer page. If you do all 14 clip-ons it will add about 3-4 hours and over 400 kms to your ride each day. To do half the Flyers has been designed to be ridden within the time window, keeping to the speed limit and it is simply your own endurance that is at stake. Above all, this is not a race. There are 8 Flyers on Saturday, many twisty hill climbs, and all on sealed roads. On Sunday there are 6 Flyers involving more 'stretching out'. Each time you do a clip-on, and successfully evidence it by means of a computerised till receipt or digital photo from the specified town, you earn the extra points value attached to that clip-on. On your return to base on the Sunday night your points are totalled and, as well as being a basic TT2000 achiever, you are able to purchase, at a discounted price, a TT Flyer 'brag' trophy of 3 possible styles according to how many points you came back with - Bronze, Silver or Gold.

To learn more about the TT Flyer click here

Is This A Race?

We are keen to de-emphasise the need to speed as opposed to simply riding consistently, known as the hare vs tortoise syndrome. Therefore there is no competitive element to the TT2000. Your only opponent is yourself and your staying power. Consequently there is no 1st, 2nd or 3rd etc. If you achieve your goal of completing the course in time then you can reward yourself not only with the satisfaction but also by electing to buy the 'Achiever's Pack' to take something home. Not surprisingly there is a disclaimer form to sign. You can view this in advance here.

If you successfully complete the TT2000, defined as producing 4 x checkpoint start/finish tickets + all compulsory town receipts, then you will want to mark your achievement by buying the 'Achiever's Pack' to take back home with you. The items in the pack are only sold to TT2000 achievers. 

Fail the TT2000 and you get none of this except the invitation to try again next year.

You can register on this web site. It costs nothing and you don't even have to turn up if you change your mind. No-one will hold you to it. The reason for pre-registration is so we know roughly how many 'Achiever's Packs' to prepare, assuming a 75% success rate.