In simple terms, riding a bike is about getting from Point A to Point B.

It may come in the form of a short ride to work, or months of touring, but the principle is simple. Start, ride, finish. There is an overall distance, as well as the time taken to complete the journey. For many, these are merely consequences of the ride. For others, they become goals: targets, makers of competition, precursors to the question: "Who rode it the fastest?"

Sam Shaw is one of those people. Having recently covered the 638 kilometres between Auckland and Wellington in a record time of 17 hours and 21 minutes, becoming the first rider to crack the challenge in under 18 hours, Sam had his sights set on the next endeavour: riding the South Island's Great Tracks Traverse. The route covers 388km across three of NZ's most iconic trails; the Paparoa Track, Old Ghost Road, and the Heaphy Trail, with over 7,000 metres of elevation gain. It's a route that had previously captured the imagination of American ultra-endurance rider Payson McElveen, who in late 2024 became the first person to complete the traverse in under 24 hours, finishing in 23 hours and 36 minutes. This was no ride for the faint-hearted, and Sam was ready to take on that benchmark.

Sam was kind enough to speak with us about his ride and summarise the FKT attempt.

"Yeah so I'd originally planned to do the length of New Zealand. And I had everything pretty well set in stone to do this, but the person who supported me with my training and on the ride got himself injured. I guess I was just keen to still do something and thought, why not this."

"I'd done it before but over three days, riding one track per day. I guess I'd been attracted to riding it in one big mission. It's me to a tee; Point A to Point B covering some of the best terrain in the world."

"I really enjoyed it. I've been groomed to enjoy nature by my parents who brought me up in a whole lot of outdoor environments. They're ecologists so it was always a big part of my childhood. And I worked with the environment for about 13 years. It was just so cool to see all of the wildlife and ride through so many different forest types that were all pretty amazing. It's not untouched land but it's unformatted, so it was a pretty mean experience."

"The ride was the polar opposite of AKL to WLG. One was a full road bike, spec'd out and fully supported. This one however was all me, on a proper MTB set up. I had to think about every little detail as there was no stopping along the way at shops to pick up supplies. To be honest, I actually was really focused on making sure there were no hiccups. I probably went a bit slower to ensure I was going to get through it without any failures.

"The funny thing is I'd do the Great Tracks ride again but I probably wouldn't do the Auckland to Wellington ride again, unless it gets long enough that I forget how it felt. But I also don't think I could go any faster on that one. This latest ride wouldn't be about going faster; it'd be more enjoyable to actually go back and do it slower."

Knog would like to congratulate Sam on his Great Tracks Traverse attempt, successfully setting a new preliminary FKT of 21 hours and 40 minutes.

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