Guest bloggers: Paul Tiaiti changes lifestyle habits

This week we were lucky to talk to Paul Tiaiti, who organises HikoiforLife which is a social bike group cycling every Sunday morning around the beautiful Hawke’s Bay. Enjoy and bring on the weekend!


Hikoi4life go out every Sunday for a cycle. We are so lucky to be surrounded with picturesque vistas here in the Bay and we’ve been going near-on two years now firstly for various events around our province like Duathlons and Half Ironmans and now we just get together and go for a cycle.

I organise our Hikoi every week and make sure it’s safe and that the guys and gals know what route to take - trust me there’s nothing worse than trying to find a cyclist who didn’t listen and gets lost LOLl! We even have a support car which looks after our cyclists.

But the greatest pleasure being out with the group is the socialising aspect and how close you become to your friends and how many other cyclists you see that are out there enjoying the thrill of cycling. There’s also the diverse range of cyclists from newbies to professionals that we encounter on our journeys - that’s what cycling has done for us, it has certainly changed our lifestyle habits. And why wouldn’t you, with great roads and scenery around our province?

We also try hard not to leave anyone behind. I suppose there is nothing worse than a (newbie cyclist as we call them) to be discouraged and left on their own.

For me I am looking forward to the challenge as I am a Paraplegic. I want to experience what my friends do every weekend - why you say? Because it looks like a whole lot of fun and I seriously think I’m missing out on it even though you get the odd grumble because we tackled a couple of hills. So for me, I am half way through fundraising for a Handcycle which will give me that experience that my friends enjoy every weekend.

Sometimes there is 13 of us and at other times just six but we enjoy getting out there and enjoying our roads whether it be in the city limits or along the countryside Highways. We love cycling so much it’s hard to imagine us missing out a weekend. It’s as simple as grabbing a bike and giving it a go cause. If anyone can, kiwis can.

Paul