Created by passionate rider and cartographer Gary Patterson, the Great Rides App is a Ngā Haerenga New Zealand Cycle Trails' national partner, and the only mobile app featuring all 23 Great Rides, plus plenty of bonus rides too.

 The app not only looks good, it is easy to use and has some fantastic features, including a tree-identification tool and bird calls to enhance your riding experience. Other useful details include a New Zealand overview map and inspiring high-quality video.

Among its many pages are stacks of maps, video fly-throughs, elevation profiles, trail section descriptions and photos, along with details of trail services such as bike hire, shuttles, food and accommodation.

New Zealand's newest Great Rides – the Whakarewarewa Forest Loop and Lake Dunstan Trail – both feature on new pages, alongside the existing 21 other Great Rides and some bonus trails.

The app boasts offline tracking using mobile GPS and once a trail is downloaded it works totally offline without needing mobile coverage.

Gary spends time regularly updating all 2000-plus pages and 7000-plus photos. Not only is the app completely up-to-date, it's 100% New Zealand-made and FREE.

We chatted with Gary to find out more about his work on the Great Rides:

Q: What inspired you to create the app?

Gary:  I'm a cartographer, so mapping is something I've always done. I used to work for DOC as a huts and tracks project manager, and was part of the NZ Trail Solutions team hand-building and mapping trails in several countries around the world, including Nelson's Wairoa Gorge for many years. This, and getting disorientated when riding the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail (never good for a cartographer), led to the idea of building an app for the New Zealand Cycle Trail. It took half a year to ride all the trails and another six months to build the content for the app. Most recently, I walked all the Great Walks and most of the private tracks and built the Great Hikes App which is also becoming popular.

Q: What is a day mapping a ride like?

Gary: There's quite a bit of prep, picking good weather (for photos and reducing GPS reflection error), making sure all the batteries are charged and spares are packed just in case. Then I get out there riding, turning on three GPS units, checking they're recording at one-second intervals and then making sure I'm familiar with the places I need to visit along the way. A mapping ride is like no other. There's no speeding around corners as I need to capture good data and little time for breaks. Waypointing, photographing and taking notes, repeat, repeat, and repeat again and again. I take my wife along for some of the rides but she tells me it's a bit like going on holiday with a photographer!

Q: How long does it take, and what are the challenges?

Gary: It depends on the trail length. I normally ride longer days in summer, getting on the bike by 8am and off around 6pm. Having a comfortable seat and plenty of riding fitness helps. I'm pretty focused usually as it takes time and money to return to a trail to collect missing data! While I can get some better pics from the pros once back at the office, getting better GPS data I can rely on isn't possible. I've mapped all the trails that are on the app. Often I'll cycle a lot further than the actual trail lengths  as I'm mapping side tracks, doubling back to get to my car, or just want better data or photos so end up biking it twice. No day is the same. Once a Great Ride is captured, I love returning to ride it again at a more relaxed pace and being able to stop and smell the roses.

Q: What’s your favourite New Zealand ride?

Gary: Oh, that is a tough one! For a day ride I love the Coppermine Trail - this loop has a bit of everything. For an overnighter, I think the Paparoa Track is difficult to beat, though I might be a bit biased as I spent around a dozen weeks in the field helping with the trail alignment for cycling prior to construction – what an office!

If you've already downloaded it, check your updates to make sure you have the latest version. Find out more about the Great Rides App here.