Mud, sweat and beers for mountain bikers
Getting sprayed with dirt and ricocheting down rocky terrain on a tiny seat isn’t for everyone, but a growing group of Christchurch cyclists think it’s worth giving mountain biking a shot.
Canterbury Mountain Bike Club president Glen McGeachen said he always thought club riding would be like a ‘‘red bull rampage’’ and was concerned he wouldn’t be able to ‘‘keep up’’.
After cycling for 20 years, he and his wife joined the club about five years ago and, despite worrying he would be ‘‘woefully inadequate’’, found that was not the case.
‘‘I was always scared – I had this impression of what it would be like so to be honest, I avoided it for a while, but that’s not at all what it’s like.’’
McGeachen said he found group rides weren’t all about pace and power, but rather a chance for riders to socialise, find new tracks and ‘‘of course, stop for a beer afterwards’’.
Mountainbiking grabbed the headlines with the much-anticipated opening of the Christchurch Adventure Park, but Cantabrians were ‘‘spoilt for choice’’ with rides all over the region, he said.
‘‘If you draw a line an hour around Christchurch, there are just so many places to go . . . Bottle Lake Forest, McCleans Island Track and a large network of trails in the Port Hills, plus out at Cragieburn and Mt Hutt.’’
Christchurch took out the title of Top Town to ride at the Government’s 2017 NZ’s Favourite Places to Ride Awards, and Canterbury featured high on the best urban and off-road rides lists.
McGeachen encouraged riders to go further afield than the city and avoid the ‘‘highway’’ of cyclists taking over Rapaki Track.
Christmas bikes and New Year resolutions pushed the club’s membership to well over 200, but its wider community extends to thousands in a public Facebook forum that promotes rides for cyclists of a range of abilities.
Gentler group rides include the Tuesday slow riders cross country route and the Wednesday social ride, geared to intermediate level riders who enjoy downhill over technical terrain. The club rides are primarily focused on social riding, but should also be a ‘‘challenge’’.