The Olympic and world champion rower will ride the Tour of Southland next month, cycling for the Vantage Windows & Doors team. His brother Alistair, who also rowed at the Olympics for New Zealand, and professional cyclist Michael Torckler will race for the team as well.
Alongside Eric Murray, Bond has won 69 consecutive races in the men's pair, a streak stretching back to 2009 and including two Olympic Games.
``I don't have any expectations or ambitions in terms of cycling, and that's why it's such a luxury to come down,'' Bond said.
``I'll be in good shape and good form by my standards. But there's no pressure, which is something that I've lived with since we stepped into the pair and started winning.
``Every race we put our winning record on the line and there's a lot of pressure associated with that, mainly from ourselves. I'm looking forward to being that underdog maverick that I haven't been able to be for eight or nine years.''
``I've always enjoyed cycling,'' he said. ``I had a go at the tour in 2009 when we had just recently won our first world championship in the pair. I was still pretty green and I was trying to ride and row at the same time and I didn't really do either any justice.
``It's fair to say I wasn't really prepared for Southland and I suffered really badly, so I wanted to come back and do it justice.
``I was in a team with some serious talent, of which I was seriously lacking, but they never made me feel that way and I've remained friends with the guys through to this day. I guess time has healed the scars in terms of suffering and my memory doesn't seem so bad.
``I had a couple of crashes, which aren't great memories, but I did have a couple of days where I felt quite good and was able to contribute to the team. My greatest memory is just being out the back and having to survive in the crosswinds, riding in the gutter for kilometre after kilometre.''
The tour, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, runs from October 30 to November 5.
