Pierre Syben loves a challenge.
The Masterton 52-year-old will tick off another item on his bucket list when he contests the South Island section of cycling's 2012 Tour of New Zealand, starting at Bluff tomorrow.
Syben is one of only about a dozen riders intending to cover all seven stages solo-only; four of whom are in the over-50s class - and while he has little first-hand knowledge of the type of terrain to be struck on the 700-kilometre journey - he is confident of making it to the finish.
And who would argue with a man who just last year travelled to Nepal to climb the highest pass in the world (5486m) and completed the task in 12 days, a full week less than what was advertised as the norm.
The Syben philosophy is simple, while you are fit and healthy you should take every opportunity to do things which test the mind and body.
"You get to my age and you often come across people who are a lot worse off than yourself. It makes you realise how important it is to make the most of what you have got, to do what you can when you can," Syben said.
Making the Tour of New Zealand even more appealing to Syben was the fact is also involved raising funds for charity and consequently it gave him the chance to encourage support for the national moto-neuron society.
Seeing a friend suffering from the effects of that illness prompted that decision and, with major assistance from principal sponsors Orbea Cycles and Farmpure Countdown Angus Brand, he has raised $1400 and is hoping to reach the $2000 mark by tour's end.
Cycling is a relatively new sport for Syben. Until about two years ago, he was much more into running but a knee injury meant hammering the roads was no longer an option and bike riding became the main form of exercise.
His training regime for the Tour of New Zealand has seen Syben regularly covering 400km to 500km each week for the past six weeks and he believes he is in the right shape for an event which will require him to complete seven stages across distances from 80km to 139km.
The first stage is from Bluff to Mossburn (139km) and then will come Queenstown to Wanaka (76km), Wanaka to Omarama (113km), Tekapo to Geraldine (88km), Methven to Oxford (80km), Hanmer Springs to Kaikoura (126km) and Blenheim to Picton (65km).
From Picton, the riders will be transported across Cook Strait for the official finish of the tour outside Parliament House on Saturday, April 21.
There they will be joined by participants in the North Island section, next Friday's stage of which will start at Pahiatua and finish in Masterton.