Culture & Community
Jul 21, 2022
Bike riding and the End of Civilisation
Usually this communication muses about something mountain bike related, and if possible there is some sort of connection to a product we would dearly love to sell. This morning the subject is wider, bicycle riding in general, and the mystery of why the very sight of people on bicycles is so annoying to some people.
Feb 25, 2021
Test flying a drop bar Krampus
Many moons ago, when giant lizards walked the land, I thought I would like to ride Tour Aotearoa. We had done some long bike packing missions before, camping our way around the South Island, and another time in Hawaii (highly recommended, will repeat if we are ever allowed to go there again).
Feb 25, 2021
Are you e-curious?
One of the phenomena that really became obvious in 2020 is the surge in the use of e-bikes by mountain bikers. Shops sell as many as they can get, and all sorts of people are jumping on to them.
Jul 7, 2020
The big lap
When I have got time, like three hours or so, and I have enough gas in the tank, I like to do what I regard as a big lap of the local woods here in Rotorua. There are endless variations that can be added in, but the basic touchpoints are the same.
Feb 7, 2020
Getting with the programme
One of our mates has started a ‘training programme’. He has a ‘coach’. He is thinking about his entry in a ‘race’. I use inverted commas for his versions of these things because they all defy normal definitions.
Jan 30, 2020
Three will do, thanks
Summer is still the flavour down here. We have been getting out on the bikes even more than usual, and I am really hoping that things do come in threes.
Jan 30, 2020
Growing MTB Parks
Last week we delivered a run of custom stuff for a special crew. They were happy with how it came out, we were very happy with how it came about. We made mountain bike tops and t shirts for a group of people working in forestry.
Jan 21, 2020
2020 and the state of the sport
During the festive season a mate penned a couple of articles for the local paper. These got us thinking about the state of our sport from where we sit… and it is amazing. And confusing, in equal measures.
May 15, 2019
Withdrawal Symptoms
I managed one bike ride during a fantastic lap of the South Island. Great friends to travel with, no major mechanical malfunctions, almost perfect weather and camp spots that defy description made it an almost perfect holiday. Even the sandflies were off their usual game.
Mar 28, 2019
Not spectating at the EWS
Crankworx Rotorua 2019 has come and gone - the highlight for us was the Rotorua round of the Enduro World Series, and we proved to ourselves that it takes as much focus and single-mindedness to spectate as it does to compet
Mar 12, 2019
We've got all day
On Sunday I took the first ride in ages that didn’t have any constraint except my attention span, and I set off intending to run out of gas just after cresting the last uphill.
Oct 18, 2018
Like a road race, only crunchy
As the seasons roll by the motivation to enter stuff gets harder to muster. Unless there is a damn good reason, it’s easier to just go for a ride. The Dirty K is a damn good reason