A recent shoot with Anton Cooper (NZ’s latest weapon on 2 wheels) the shoot was for the front cover (as above) and a 7 page story for NZ MBR.
While I was down south last week, I not only had the biggest dose of Type 1 fun, riding the Gondola in Queenstown but I also stopped off to see and expirence some real Type 2 pain ! The Wanaka 10 hour race which was held at Deans Bank in Albert Town. It was a great event with awesome weather and some awe inspiring feats of pain/fitness/endurance/madness, what ever you want to call riding for 10 hours on a rigid, single speed bike with a giant Elmo on your head… Nutters ! And get this, the guy who won the mens solo event also won a 8 hour race the day before.
I did my bit as well, I was drafted in to help out our neighboring team, their team of 4 was down to 1 so I put in a couple of laps for them.
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Type 1 fun = Pure, in the moment, unadulterated fun. Pinning you favorite trail, eating chocolate and almond croisannts and hrmm use your imagination.
Type 2 fun = Retrospective fun, grinding up a big hill, the burn, enjoying a beer after one of those “adventures” and road bikes.
Type 3 fun = Just not fun at all.
I must admit I like Type 2, it’s what gets you fit at the end of the day and it’s good to earn your strokes, just as long as it followed by some Type 1. Well that was until I rode the Queenstown Gondola at the weekend. Far out, it is just pure Type 1 all the way. $45 gets you a half day pass (5 Hours) where you can tick off at least 10 runs. The trails are legendary, from a super smooth flowing long green run called “Hammy’s” to double black runs where you’r more of a passenger just hoping that you will survive for another lap. After 2 mind blowing days of riding I was finally content not to ride and actually take the camera up on the hill. I had a few rider lined up for the shoot, Scott (who was pretty broken from the night before) and a few local riders, T-man, Mat and his mate who’s name I have forgot. I’m planning another trip down there in the next few weeks for another fix of Type 1 and some more shooting.
Thanks to Scott, Mat, his mate and Tony for repeating some of best sections for me.
This shoot was for Mountain Biker New Zealand. The article ran a few months ago now with a story about how Christchurch might be not as shiny as it once was but the mountain bike community are still smiling and making the most it. The event was a part of the Winter Night Race Championship held at McLeans forrest and organised by Rod and the guys at Blue Dog Events. It was a cool event to shoot and to be honest quite a mission, 200+ riders all with super brights bike lights, exposure = I have no idea ! (plus they are all doing 40kph).
