Kelly Fogden (left) travelled with her mum on a four-day bike ride in the central North Island last year.
Kelly Fogden (left) travelled with her mum on a four-day bike ride in the central North Island last year.
Kelly Fogden may be facing one of the toughest times in her life as she battles breast cancer, but she’s still determined to help others have a unique bike-packing experience in the Far North.
Fogden, who was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer last November, is planning the Top of the North Bikepacking Adventure which will run for three days from May 13 –15.
Though the 38-year-old can’t make the ride herself, as she is to undergo surgery on May 9, she is enthusiastic about the trip, which she created to “give people an adventure”.
“A lot of people wouldn’t really think of coming to the Far North to explore bike-packing.
“It’s for people happy to go at their own speed and meet people in the community and have a yarn and talk cycling.”
Fogden, a self-employed wedding stylist and florist from Matauri Bay, started planning the trip last October before her diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer which is aggressive and relatively rare.
She finished chemotherapy in March and is still on Keytruda treatment, an immunotherapy drug that is not funded by Pharmac and costs $9100 per treatment.
Friends have rallied to raise funds to support her family and pay for the treatment, which has so far reached $77,000 through Givealittle and private donations.
Fundraisers included Cocktails for a Cause, an event at the Packhouse Market in Kerikeri on March 3.
Fogden, an avid cyclist, competed in mountain biking and cycling at a national level as a teenager.
In the past few years, she returned to riding and she and her husband began biking with their two children.
Kelly was diagnosed with breast cancer last November but is determined to help others have a unique bike-packing adventure in the Far North. Photo / Moments and Waves
“People are always looking for bike-packing adventures,” she said.
“I thought this would be a good one to showcase Northland.”
The ride is between 270km and 390km long, and begins in Kerikeri, stopping in Taipa the first night, before moving on to Kohukohu for the second night.
Then there will be a private ferry to Horeke, where cyclists will stay overnight, before the ride back to Kerikeri.
So far 44 people have joined up, including from as far as Wellington.
The trip is not an event or a race, it’s not a fundraiser, and there’s no entry fee, Fogden said.
Kelly Fogden has always loved cycling. Here she is during the Whangārei Triathlon at One Tree Point in 2007. Photo / NZME
It’s simply a chance to take in Northland’s scenery with like-minded people and be self-sufficient along the way.
There aren’t many rules; cyclists can ride at their own pace, choose whether they want to take the short or long option of 90km or 130km each day, and regroup at each overnight location.
“On the second day, there’s an opportunity to cut out a section and join in later,” Fogden said.
“You don’t actually have to stick to the map, but the idea is that we chose the most scenic roads.
