Blue DerbyPods Ride

Tara and Steve Howell conceived this business one evening in December 2013 and guided their first paying guests in 2017. The idea is built around what Tara Howell calls 'flow' — a state where, on a bike, life is simple, fun, close to nature and sharply focused. Guests sleep in individual, architecturally designed pods set in Myrtle forest outside Derby and ride out each day onto the Blue Derby trail network, including runs Tara names as her own favourites: Krushka's and the Bay of Fires wilderness trail. Each departure is capped at eight guests, with two qualified experience leaders on every ride. Four formats run through the year: a two-day short-stay experience, a three-day 'Iconic' experience, a four-day version reaching Bay of Fires, and a dedicated winter experience. The business acknowledges the palawa/pakana people as traditional custodians of the land it operates on. Steve and Tara remain Directors; Tara also rides as an Experience Leader. It began as two people in their twenties leaving corporate careers to build a multi-day ride around a trail network neither of them had built.