Swiss visitor Ramon seems to coping with the Huntly wind just fine. Photo Simeon Patience
The second backyard Coast to Coast dirt jump tour was on again for round two. Venturing from Raglan at Lewis Jones’ joint we visited the Beverland jump farm in Huntly and ended up on the east coast in a place called Hikitia at Casey King’s jumps. The weather wasn’t the best but rider determination was and a good time on and off the bike was had by all! READ MORE
That’s right! Head over to Spoke’s Facebook page, comment on this cool Specialized T-shirt and you are in the draw. Simple.
I missed a bunch of calls from Kelly’s longtime sponsor Matt Whitaker from Wide Open yesterday, then my battery went flat and I couldn’t check them. This morning though, when the door to Kelly and his road tripping buddy Ramon’s van opened I could see why Matt was calling. Kelly is on Corsair! and already has a very sexy Corsair Ducat hardtail. He’ll also be riding the slopestyle Konig and the Crown DH rig. Kelly says (from the couch downstairs) that “I’m super excited about my new frame sponsor for 2010 and I’m looking forward to working closely with the guys at Corsair.” READ MORE
Amy, Nelson. Pic: Lester Perry
If you’ve ever been to a MTBNZ Downhill National series round, you’ve probably seen or possibly heard the pocket rocket that is Amy Laird tearing down the hill. What Amy lack’s in stature she makes up for with her outgoing (loud?) personality and signature laugh which has echoed the hills surrounding many NZ and overseas downhill venues alike.
Amy has been a mainstay on the Elite Womens DH podium in NZ for the last few years, and after dabbling with some good success in Cross Country racing last year, she’s sold her soul and gone full-time XC racer for 2010. Her first major outing was the first round of the MTBNZ South Island XC Cup in CHCH where she was once again on the podium, just looking slightly less intimidating with no moto gear or full face helmet anywhere to be seen.
We caught up with Amy over the magic of the interweb for her Frankly Thursday….
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While Gee and Stevie were posing for this awesome photo some drunk Alexandra local was rummaging through our van, ignoring ipods, wallets and iphones she grabbed the 16mm camera that the Anthill crew use for helmet POV shots, Gees shoes! and a Red Bull cap. In an insane twist, after showing her friends her score they promptly returned to the scene of HER crime and handed back almost everything (which was pretty dam awesome). We’ve been chasing limited light for the past few days but have a bunch of cool stuff in the mag which is going to make central otago riding look pretty dam rad.
Sorry for the lack of updates, it’s been a pretty crazy last few days scouting filming locations, tuning bikes and setting a schedule for the next little bit. So if you haven’t figured it out I’m in the South Island shooting with the Anthill crew for their upcoming film Follow Me with Gee Atherton and Stevie Smith. I’ll be posting a few more updates over the next few days.
Gavin, the man with the plan.
Righto, here’s the biggest news for Auckland (or North Islanders for that matter) in a while. Rampage Bike Park opens tomorrow! READ MORE
You may have noticed Spoke 34 has been a little delayed. We changed printers and the result was a magazine that was just under a month late. But the waiting is over and it’s here now. Subscribers’ copies are being stuffed into envelopes as we speak and you should be seeing cover boy Tim Wilding showing up in your letterbox over the next few days. READ MORE
Here’s two clips showing why you need to visit Nelson over summer. First up is the helmet cam highlights from our trip down last weekend. It’s a bit long, but I’m sure you can deal with that. Second are highlights from Jeff Carter and Dodzy’s property empire expansion expedition to the now infamous Peaking Ridge. READ MORE
Leif, Mark and I headed to Nelson for a long weekend last Friday night. Our timing couldn’t have been better as Ian Goldschmidt (the Coppermine race organiser and all round fit beast) had organised a chopper ride off Dun Mountain as part of his wife Sarah’s 40th birthday. READ MORE
