Nomadic Rhythms in New Zealand.

Life on the road as a racer from New Zealand is pretty full on for six to seven months of the year, you are too far from home to go back between events so you slip into a nomadic rhythm, one event after the other, living out of a bag, switching between vans, rentals, planes and trains, crossing borders and sampling cultures. This wanderlust is what got me hooked on racing but by the end of the season i yearn for stillness, dream of routine and sleeping in the same bed for awhile. Finding the light switch at night. The Saturday market, the Wednesday night ride, the weekly yoga classes with your favourite teacher. Waking up to hearing the same sounds, waving at familiar people, getting to know the check out lady at the supermarket. Silly, small things right? These are the things I miss out on while living a life on the road so when I catch the first glimpse flying into Nelson, from the window of the small prop plane with the beautiful landscape laid out below me, I feel so relieved, so happy, excited and content. It marks the end of another racing season (and this was my final one) but it also marks the beginning of the New Zealand summer, ideal for a few mini road trips, micro adventures exploring new nooks and crannies of our relatively new adopted homeland. 

After way too many flights and long drives the past six months the rules were simple; South Island only, no flights or mammoth drives just a few short overnight trips made possible by bike. New locations or some favourites done differently or with a new group of friends. 

Wild West Coast New Years Escape

This was more of an escape with a group of friends, away from town, away from civilisation away from everything during the hectic tourist season. You can’t get more remote than a six hour 4x4 mission headed south from the last town and road on the West Coast. Along the way we parked the trucks and detoured along the old Haast-Paringa cattle track, basically an old road built back in 1883. This was overgrown jungle riding at its best. We were exploring by bike not mountain biking as you know it. You could hardly see, never-mind find the trail. After the usual sketchy suspension bridge and some boggy riding with multiple river crossings we arrived at our destination for the night, Blowfly hut built in 1905, pretty old for NZ history. The next three nights were spent in Barn Bay about as remote as you can get in NZ. Bush bashing our way in and then hiking down a river for a few clicks before taking a step back in time. Perfect way to see in the new year. 

Old Ghost Road big day out.

A relatively new trail for New Zealand but an old one for us. It is the countries longest continuous singletrack trail, stretching for 85 glorious kilometres from Lyell in the Buller to the mouth of the mighty Mokihinui river on the West Coast. A gold mining boom in the 19th century where miners dreamt of connecting the road from both ends, was rather ambitious and it remained a dream until volunteers decided that it was time to connect these roads and 8 years later they’ve created a mountain bikers dream trail giving us access to untouched backcountry native bush.

We have literally done it every which way, out an back from either end, a helidrop and multiple through rides staying over at Ghost Lake hut. The word must definitely be out because the huts on this must do ride have been booked solid most of the summer, not wanting to miss out we decided to tackle the full ride all in one go. With no sleeping bags, extra clothes and three meals to pack it meant the bikes were light and efficient. It was still very much about the terrain and views but with no gear to weigh us down it was fast and exhilarating too and the cold beer and outdoor shower at the Rough And Tumble lodge at the trail end wrapped up an amazing long day. 

Island Escape

Most of the time you feel the need to go far away from home, to get away, but how often do you literally head out on an adventure only a few kilometres from your house? We headed a whopping 8km from home for an overnighter on an island. Pepin Island is a private island next to our local beach of Cable Bay. You can stay and explore if you rent one of their cabins. It felt like we were a million miles away, hearing new sounds and seeing new sights. A highlight was watching all the fishermen launching their boats before sunrise and hearing the gentle put put purring of their engines as they glided out of the estuary on a calm and beautiful morning. The sunrise looked different than from our house. The light was different. We saw a whole new side to our own neighbourhood, and fell in love all over again. How cool is that?

Bikes and Boats

The beauty of heading to ride one of your favourite tracks each year is the fact that it is different every time. The trail constantly changes, the weather creates the mood, the group shapes the dynamic, your state of mind determines your enjoyment of the trip. Many factors are responsible for creating memories and how you cherish them. While we were avoiding planes this summer we never ruled out boats We’ve taken the water taxi out after riding Nydia Track many times over the years, this time though, we were lucky enough to be entertained by a pod of bottlenose dolphins, a rare sight, and probably my most memorable experience of being out here on the Sounds and a perfect example of how “old” favourites are never the same.

Hopefully this gets you all out there planning and scheming. You dont need an international or exotic destination for your own adventures, look a little closer, explore a little deeper. 

Kia Ora. 

Anka

Races don't always go quite like planned - Andes Pacifico, Chile 2016.

I was so excited to be back for the 2016 Andes Pacifico race, as these are the events that I truly LOVE. It is more about the whole adventure, the exotic location, the people you get to spend a whole week with and all the crazy things that tend to happen over a whole week of this kind of “blind” racing format. It’s a pretty nutty format that I really enjoy and seem to thrive at, but it does come with a hell of a lot more risks and dangers than your usual practised racing format. We have a little “dark cloud crew” of friends that usually reunite at these sorts of events, and usually one of them or us gets hurt, and this time it was my turn. I took one for the team you guys. Nonetheless, I still loved being in Chile, I loved hanging with all the staff and organisers, drivers, doctors & nurses who looked after me, all the wives and kiddies that kept me entertained and fed, thank you guys for making an injury such an “enjoyable” experience ;)

My little house. Everything you really need under one roof. Getting settled in, full of excitement & anxiety for the week of adventures ahead. Never thought I wouldn't finish out the week off the bike. My little "sunshine" house wasn't quite as cosy after surgery though.

My hood for the week. I was so stoked to be back in Chile for this event. I was there only ten days before for the Rally of Aysen in Patagonia, so this part of the world was becoming like my second home. The place is pretty special, but it's the people are just amazing.

The reason I love these multi day adventures so much are the people you get to share these experiences with. It's also a great way to catch up with everyone after the couple months of off-season shenanigans. The liaison stages are where all the girls chit chat, have a laugh and eat yummy snacks of course. This was Day one, all smiles and loving it out in the hot, dry Andes Mountains just outside of Santiago, Chile.

On top of the world. Andes Pacifico 2016. Been so looking forward to get back to this start line, so it was great to get up here & take in the spectacular scenery & enjoy the thin air. What a place. Ready to start the week.

Day one was full on from the start. Gnarly, rowdy, downhill tracks that were hard work, but o, so much fun. The "anti-grip" dirt was rough as and it took a while to get used to riding on this surface again - or as close to used to as you're going to get.

Day two started off really well & I was loving the tracks. Racing is full on though and you switch into this outer body mode, so when I went to make a pass while I couldn't see a thing, somehow I thought that that would be ok - alas, I clipped a rock and flew over the bars which resulted in a broken hand. I knew right away as I heard it go "click". The silver lining was that it wasn't my wrist - phew! The hardest part was making my way to the bottom of the track - I thought riding on this Anti-grip was tough, try walking on it - even worse. 

I was right, I broke my 4th Metacarpal, and I had to get surgery & three pins inserted right away. Long story short, THE BEST HOSPITAL experience of my life, the best, most AMAZING doctors, surgeons & nurses that I have ever had to deal with (and it's been a lot with all Sven's crashes all over the world), all of this with pretty much zero communication between my non existent Spanish and very broken English from the Chileans. I will never, ever forget this experience, and how much everyone looked after me and cared for me. Phenomenal. 

Once back at home, the Hand Therapy clinic made me a really cool little custom cast so I could continue with the Tour Aotearoa that started only 10 days after I had surgery. Yep, mmmm, not ideal, but I was adamant that I was going to do this ride from the top of the North Island to the very bottom of the South Island - 3046km later - with or without a working hand. 

Thank you to everyone for your support during this time and for all the non stop encouragement once I started this crazy Tour. Hats off to Sven, who had to put up with me during this time of not knowing if I'd even be able to ride a bike, never mind do the biggest ride of my life. There were lots of tears, fears and many uncertainties, but he never once stopped supporting & encouraging me. Thank you babes!

Yeah, so racing doesn't always go as planned, but I have been very lucky so far and feel fortunate that it was a pretty minor injury as far as injuries go. It teaches you to roll with it, look ahead, focus on other things and to just be in the moment. Take it day by day and take the time to get to know the people you've known for a long time, but never really got to know - if that makes any sense. O and next time you break your hand, just go on a bike packing adventure that stretches the length of New Zealand - it'll be sweet as bro.

Rally of Aysen Patagonia.

A week of coaching a new generation of Chilean women when they got thrown in the deep end.

The majority of women, I’ve noticed, usually start riding mountain bikes much later in life. For the most part we didn't grow up rallying around on bikes, or hanging out at the local BMX track pulling wheelies, skids and manuals. Of course there is the small percentage of lucky one’s who do start early, but most of the women that I have met through riding bikes all seem to have started later. Not late as in too late, but much later than most of the guys.

It’s usually picked up after university or collage, or even after spending a few years dedicated to a career.  It’s usually after the party phase, the boy chasing phases, the very awkward “is it cool” phase or often after a break up; with all of those silly things out of the way, women reach a stage in their lives where they actually start doing what they want to do and not what they think society wants them to do. We stop caring about what the guys might be thinking, or what’s cool or ladylike enough. This means we have some catching up to do with the boys, but that’s ok, because we’re not trying to compete with the boys, we just want to ride bikes and have fun and explore this new form of independence and freedom and the challenges that go along with it. 

Maria conquering the first big climb and timed stage of the week that ended high above the tree line with breathtaking views. 

I have been thinking about the above since returning from an amazing trip to Patagonia, Chile for the Rally Aysen Patagonia. A group of us were literally thrown in the deep end to test out a new race concept and route. One part endurance another part enduro mixed with full time adventure. The group or guinea pigs assembled was large and diverse, from all corners of the globe with varying degrees of experience and skill levels. From bike-a-holic lifers to the freshly converted. This is where Bernie and Maria enter the picture. Two very capable girls from Santiago, who were to be be my riding companions for the week. 

Feeling right at home in this Beech Forest.

I’ve been fortunate enough to do this sort of thing for many years now, yet I still get those jitters; all the unknowns of a new destination, new tracks, new challenges, unknown food, weather, itineraries, challenges and risks. Part nerves and part wonder and excitement. The only difference between myself & these girls, was that I knew this feeling, I’ve been through it many times over the past few years, but Bernie & Maria have only been riding mountain bikes for the past four months. This week was going to be a challenge for them in every way. It would entail their biggest climbs, longest days, most miles and hardest downhills they had ever attempted all in four back to back hot and intensive days riding with a bigger group but also at times soldiering on alone against the clock a couple of times each day. I was there to help them along, offer some tips, a bit of skills and technique advice, encouragement & of course lots of laughs. 

We wanted to show that even if you’re new to the sport, a good attitude, willingness to learn, to push yourself, to be outside of your comfort zone & to have fun with something new is something very attainable for all women out there if you set your mind to it. You don't need years of riding or coaching under your belt, you can bravely dive right into the deep end and the results may surprise you. I personally believe that getting thrown into the deep end is a good thing at some point and that there is no better way to improve your skills than during an event like this one where you just have to simply get on with it. This rally covered all the elements that really teaches you how to get out there and ride your bike under every condition in both a social and solo environment.

Chile doesn’t have a huge women’s cycling population, it’s just not really in their culture to go out and do these sort of macho things, that is why this was so important for Maria & Bernie, to show the women and young girls in Chile, that yes, they can do this sort of thing and that it’s RAD. They are the next generation of women that will inspire & encourage other girls to ride bikes and explore the nature & diverse beauty and varied landscapes that Chile is famous for. 

Here’s a few things i have learnt from starting in the deep end like Bernie and Maria did that week. 

• Ignorance is bliss. I learnt on the steep near vertical trails of Laguna Beach, steep up and even steeper down, there was no trail grading system to tell me what i could or should and should not ride. Same for the girls here. New trails and blind riding in sometimes virgin native beech forest littered with natural obstacles. There is nothing wrong with walking short sections and i don't encourage foolishly riding over your head but by completing the entire route with us their preconceived ideas of their skill ceiling was raised significantly and they left better riders because of this.

• Hike a bike opens new doors and destinations. The riding scene in Patagonia is still in its early days, so without a big network of climbing tracks to reach the best descents meant slogging with your bike on the back of your shoulders through forests and up scree slopes. The payoffs descending nearly always outweigh the effort, not to mention its a great excuse for some snacks and refreshments when you summit. 

Bernie launching logs and feeling very comfortable after being taken outside of her comfort zone the past four days. 

• Timed riding is not only for experts. While we were in Chile for the experience rather than just racing it did allow Bernie and Maria to be on their own, to focus on the task at hand and put all the advice given and tips to use. They learnt to read and interpret the terrain by looking ahead and making quick decisions, maybe try something new and slightly scary.  Whether you’re railing it, getting off, running, tipping over, nailing a section, unclipping, spazzing out or whatever you’re doing, you’re learning something every single time. At the end of the stage you get to share all the adrenaline and excitement with your fellow riders and there is a buzz in that too.

• Nerves are good. They are a powerful tool that you learn to both control and take note of. You learn to cope with situations under pressure and that translates back to every day life at work and at home and school. It will make you stronger and more confident. 

• Theres nothing wrong with being at the back in a big group ride. This is how i learnt to ride - trying not to get lost or left behind. You push yourself that little bit harder and you get to mimic the boys or other stronger riders in front of you, see their lines, emulate their body position, style and technique. So never fret when you are the slower rider at the back of a group, as that will turn you into a better rider in time.

• Overcoming and persevering when it gets tough is hugely rewarding. Maria and Bernie killed it. Their biggest days on a bike yet and back to back for four days without giving up ever. Their positive attitudes and big smiles were contagious and rubbed off on a lot of people. It will make or brake you. A trip like this will either make you fall head over heels in love with riding, or it can make you absolutely hate it either way you will find out pretty quickly if this sport is for you. If you embrace all the elements of such an adventure, you will without a doubt as proved in the girls case become better riders for it and leave the week with a whole new big group of friends and friendships. 

That adrenaline buzz you only get after a race. Story time.

I sure do hope that this experience will be the start of their passion for bike adventures and exploring and that they can pass this new found love on to other women in Chile & abroad. 

Cheers Chile, muchas gracias. Nos vemos mas tarde! 

Anka

Fire, Salad, Dog. Juliana does Nelson.

Fire Salad Dog. Juliana does Nelson.

It’s been a while since I’ve had the time or the energy to actually sit down and type down some thoughts. It’s been hectic to say the least. My off-season has not been “off” or slow by any means. I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as February is nearing its end, which means I’ll get a few weeks of actual off-season downtime, I mean training. It sounds like I’m winging – don’t get me wrong, I’m most definitely not. I wouldn’t want to change anything about my life. I’ve loved, absolutely loved every minute of every day – well the 6am wake up’s got a bit old, but that is so ingrained in my body clock right now, that I find myself enjoying all the early mornings and waking up with the birds and the beautiful morning light.

Let’s start at the beginning; it will be short and sweet, I promise.

The Juliana Bicycles product launch happened over here in Nelson – very exciting stuff. Gary Perkin flew out here a few days earlier to shoot the entire Juliana bike line up. We took each bike to a well suited, different looking location to best portray each bikes characters and chose a different theme/story line & outfit for each bike. That was full on to say the least, as there were 6 bikes and myself which meant early mornings & late nights, but we got it done in 3 days and we had a blast. There were 2 firsts in that weekend for me; first time on a 29er (which I surprisingly loved, shhhh) and a first time on a hard tail (which I also enjoyed). Never too old to try something new – like they say; do something that scares you everyday (that would include hard tails & 29ers in my books). Even though I tried & enjoyed them, I won’t be trading in my trusty suspension bikes any time soon though, but I can appreciate and see the need and the right place for all the different models that I rode.

Katie Zaffke – the new Juliana Brand manager joined us later along with the Anthill film crew to capture our women’s backcountry adventure that we were heading out on for the next 4 days. We had an awesome crew of girls, all of them from such amazing, varied backgrounds and all of them Santa Cruz riders/racers & adventurers for many years, so it was just fitting to have them all join me on our new Juliana Bicycles adventure – promoting strong, interesting, badass women who can ride bikes properly. I mean were talking ER doctors, bird researchers & hydrologists that also smashes any sort of bike ride and race for fun on their weekends – how awesome is that.

So this is heading for a longer piece than I anticipated, so summing up the amazing 8 days of the Juliana video & photoshoot, here goes:

Awesome bikes, amazing friends, a lot of riding, pushing, repeating and waiting. Many early mornings, lots of driving, late fish n chips dinners, too many flat whites, camp fires, bird watching, tree deciphering, learning, watching, laughing & vajazzling – don’t ask! Banter, shredding, Go-Pro’ing, crashing, laughing, bonding and showing the boys how to ride little bikes – Juliana Bikes. I no longer feel sad to not ride a Santa Cruz branded bike – I love my Juliana Bicycle and feel really proud and special to be able to represent the finer side of the best bike brand in the world.

Thank you to everyone that made this happen, to all the boys that had to put up with us and to all the girls that gave up their time to make this video shoot a reality. Hoping we all look really fast & that all the women go forth & buy Juliana bicycles!

Cheers Harriet, Anja, Katie & Bob & also CJ, Matty, Mike, Boyd, Sven, Gary & everyone else who made this happen.