Social climbers

In case anyone was still unaware at this point, mountain biking is huge in Nelson, but what happens before the wheels start spinning and after they stop? Where do people congregate for their rides and where do they have a natter while out on the trails? Justin Eade talks to a number of riders and finds out their popular gathering spots, and what mountain biking means to them socially.

Nelson’s hills are home to some of the best mountain bike trails in the southern
hemisphere and the Nelson Mountain Bike Club (NMTBC) is the largest sporting club in New Zealand, with some 3,100 members.

It is estimated that 5000 to 10,000 people regularly go mountainbiking in and around Nelson, with 400 kilometres of tracks within 40 minutes of Nelson City. And the benefits of the sport aren’t just confined to fitness and fun, climbing up hills is one huge unifying factor, with the need to pause at certain points creating social moments.

Tayla Carson, 28, events manager for the NMTBC and an active rider herself, extols the virtues of Codgers Mountain Bike Park, the Sharlands network, the Upper Maitai network and the Cable Bay Adventure Park Trails. She also rides often in Wairoa Gorge.

Tayla, an Environmental Planning Consultant from Matamata, considers herself a Nelsonian now. She got into mountain biking when she moved to Nelson three and a half years ago, as “that seemed to be what everyone does in Nelson”, and it was a good way to make friends. She’s an advanced rider now, but it’s been a steep learning curve. Through a lot of coaching and riding most days she has gotten better quickly and can now ride everything in Nelson.

“I love riding at Cable Bay and the Gorge. I live in the Brook, so I’m extremely lucky to have amazing trails at my doorstep. The Upper Maitai Valley (backside of Fringed Hill) has some amazing trails that are my favourites – ‘Peaking Ridge’ and ‘Whaimana’, and in Sharlands, ‘Aorere’ is a classic.”

Tayla says it’s during a break on climbs, or at the end of the trails, that riders stop and have a chat. In Codgers it’s Andrew’s Farm carpark, the Jacks Track and Middle Road intersection, Fireball skid site, the top of Firball (Firball Trig), the top of P51/Whanake, the Koata Rere skid site, the Take Me To Your Leader skid site, and the end of Hotbox. On Fringed Hill, it’s the waterfall on Fringed Road or at the top of the mountain.

Tayla’s met so many different people at these spots, as everyone is always keen for a yarn or wanting some local advice on where to ride. She’s met people from all around the world, including the UK, Italy, and Peru.

“My best friend Jean, we met out riding in Codgers and instantly hit it off. One time an Italian guy needed an Allen key so I lent him mine, and he ended up towing me around the whole day with his e-bike, and I showed him all of the best trails. It was awesome. He’s a good friend now and I’ll be visiting him in Italy so he can show me his local trails. I’ve also met lots of rad chicks biking that love seeing other girls riding gnarly trails, especially at the Gorge. There’s an instant connection there just because it’s a male-dominated sport, so other girls get excited to see you riding.”

Tayla says the mountain biking community in Nelson is incredible. Everyone is inclusive and happy to be out riding the awesome network of trails. The community come together and volunteer for the events that NMTBC run, and it’s easy to make riding buddies and connections within the MTB community. “Even if you start a ride by yourself, it’s not long before you run into one of your mates.” Like any club though, Tayla says there are issues facing the NMTBC. Forestry closures are an ongoing issue and access agreements can be difficult with different stakeholders. “There are essentially two part-time employees and eight volunteer committee members trying to keep over 3,000 members, landowners, council, asset owners and other recreational users happy. It would be great if more people got involved to lighten the load.”

Steve Sampson, 66, a locksmith from Richmond, rides a lot in the Silvan Forest and Richmond Hills areas of Stoke and Richmond. He got into mountain biking because he loves cycling, and the great outdoors, so this was an enjoyable way to keep fit and to challenge himself. He’s been mountain biking for 31 years now and would class himself as intermediate level plus. Steve goes riding solo, or with his son Troy, or sometimes with other friends and groups.

He rides during the day, but also sometimes at night, with lights. Steve says congregation spots are mostly at the carpark (near the top of Champion Road) for the Silvan Forest trails, and the Easby Park carpark in Richmond for the Kingsland Forest trails. Social spots afterwards can be the popular Silvan Forest Coffee Cart in the carpark at Silvan, or the Sprig and Fern Queen Street. And, of course, Eddyline is also a popular spot for bikers in Richmond.

On the trails, it’s the Silvan Steps skid site, the picnic-table skid site near the top, and at the very top of the Alpha climb. At Kingsland it’s mainly the start point near Bermed Monster, or Ejector, and the top of the hill where Terminus begins, plus the Fire Lookout point.

Steve says he’s formed a great many acquaintances over the years mountain biking and probably six to ten lasting friendships. “I would say the mountain biking community in and around Nelson is friendly, helpful and strong. Our track choices are awesome.”

Alice Baker, 31, came here from England 10 years ago and now considers Nelson home. She leads tours for a small cycle touring company, and also dabbles in mountain bike instructing, mostly women's courses, through ‘Wheel Woman’.

“My partner, Ben, got me intobiking back when we arrived in Nelson. We chose to live here on the basis of whispers about how amazing and underrated the riding was. After 10 years, I’m an advanced rider and have given almost all the tracks around Nelson a go.”

Alice organises ‘Singletrack Sisters Nelson’, a social women’s mountain biking group aiming to increase participation, progression and community. Their regular ride night is Thursday but they’re planning extra activities throughout the year, the first a collaboration with the NMTBC to run the ‘Wāhine at Wairoa Gorge’ event.

The group rides in different spots each week from Silvan Forest to Cable Bay Adventure Park, and everything in between. “We are really spoiled for choice in Nelson!”

Alice also says good connecting spots are usually at the top of trails. “We are extra lucky that most of the tracks have amazing views from the top. We’re also lucky to have some cool base areas/carparks now - the Maitai pump track and hub was a great spot to hang out so I’m looking forward to the rebuild.”

In town, good social spots and gathering points are Two Thumbs, The Free House, The Prince Albert, and in Richmond, Eddyline. There is also Alton Street Cycles for the pre/post ride caffeine hit on weekday rides.

“It’s really incredible how big the mountain bike community is, and how it connects people from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life. The majority of people I know in Nelson ride or have some connection to mountain biking and some of my best friendships have been formed through sharing time out on the trails,” says Alice. Matthew Ball, 49, from Canada, is chair of the NMTBC. He started riding in his early 20s and is an advanced rider, riding pretty much everywhere around Nelson.

Favourite trails in the area are mostly in the advanced category; Te Ara Koa, Aorere, Gotten Rotten, and Jurassic. However, he also loves a cruise down Firball or a fun time jumping on Koata Rere.

He says people congregate at most viewpoints and trail heads. The trail head at Codgers always has people stopping and mingling as well as the look-out points… the top of Firball, the top of Fringe, and the top of Silvan. “Funnily enough, I almost always see people congregating at the roundabout on the corner of Nile and Tasman streets. It’s like a default meeting spot as you can access both the Maitai and Codgers trails from there.”

Matt says a lot of his friends have come from riding. “I belong to a group who ride once a week which is a nice way to connect, in fact, we even get together for the holidays and have social events for our whole families as a result. I’m quite active in the mountain bike community as such a lot of friends are also from the riding community.”

The NMTBC is 3100 members strong, and a large part of what they do is social. The events the club runs are a great way to get out there and meet people, however the club is also the advocate for trails and trail access in the region. “The Long Term Plan for NCC is open for submissions so if you like to ride your bike in Nelson this is the time for people to let our elected officials know how important that is to them. A lot of our trails are on Koata Whenua, and without access to these trails the whole mountain bike scene in Nelson would change dramatically,” Matt says.

Shannon Higgs, 32, is the operations manager of Cable Bay Adventure Park. Originally from Tauranga, she’s been calling Nelson home for nearly four years,
but got into mountain biking while living in Queenstown. “You’re almost surrounded by it there and it intrigued me for all the same reasons I now love the sport it’s social, it has an uplifting, welcoming community, it’s physically active, it’s challenging, and it’s addictive.”

Riders congregate and socialise at Cable Bay in the car park, Pineline skid, Rainbow Unicorn lookout, the CCR intersection, and the Base Cafe for post-ride goodness.

“Pineline skid site and the CCR intersection are definitely spots where you can connect with newcomers who may need some direction or a little bit of courage for trying something new for the first time. This generally gets followed up over a beer, and ‘sharing the stoke’ of a great ride, so friendships definitely form out on the trails,” Shannon says.

Shannon believes there’s a real strength around women’s mountain biking at the moment and women grouping together in support of each other, getting out there and entering events and social ride days. “It’s been pretty neat to learn of other mountain bike groups and things going on from others that maybe you wouldn’t usually hear of.” She’s just teamed up as a ride leader for Singletrack Sisters.

Of Cable Bay Adventure Park in particular, Shannon says they have the most amazing trail crew community there, and every Tuesday night two hours of digging is followed by a potluck dinner and a few beers to de-brief. “A standard night sees us with up to 20 people attending with clear summer nights reaching up to 35  that’s a lot of trail we can develop in two hours! I’ve formed some amazing relationships with people via these dig nights.”

As someone once remarked, ‘I’ve never seen a negative person out mountain biking.’ So, if you want to get fit, see great scenery and make incredible friends, you can’t look past the mountain biking scene in Nelson.

Join NMTBC, or make a submission about trail access to NCC’s Long Term Plan under item 10 (other) on the subject ‘Recreation access to Ngati Koata whenua’.