Family restarts bike dream
Friends and family of mountain biker Peter Woodman-Aldridge talk to Joel Maxwell about trying to save his life, and trying to save his life’s work. ‘‘When Kate rode she beat all the boys ... that look on her face, it was like watching miniPete.’’
It was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, when Peter Woodman-Aldridge died mountain biking with mates in the Tararau Range.
For a year after his 2016 death his work went quiet, but on Sunday it exploded back into life
Woodman-Aldridge’s annual mountain bike races for kids have restarted thanks to his wife - and riding mates who tried to save him when he died.
Dirt School, a two-part series of races for under 17s on the Ka¯piti Coast have restarted with the second part to run on March 25.
His wife Angela WoodmanAldridge said their two daughters Anna, 11, and Kate, 7, were ‘‘buzzing’’ when Dirt School restarted last Sunday.
‘‘They both rode because it was something that they always did with dad, and they helped organise ... when Kate rode, she beat all the boys ... that look on her face, it was like watching mini-Pete.’’
Peter Woodman-Aldridge, who worked for Sport Wellington before he died, was a former New Zealand representative motocross rider who took up mountain biking after retiring from competition.
Riding mate Iain Guest said Woodman-Aldridge would ride every week with a group called the Coastal Crew.
They were doing their annual summer solstice ride, from dawn till dusk, a group of 14 mates ‘‘out at the back of the Akatarawas’’, when Woodman-Aldridge went down.
‘‘We called a helicopter, which got there as quickly as it could. In the meantime the group pulled together and did CPR with Pete, and rescue breathing, and tried to keep him going as long as we could.’’
The ‘‘fit and very strong’’ 44-year-old died from a massive heart attack.
The Coastal Crew still rides every week, and the members are still coping with the death of their mate, Guest said.
Fellow rider Bryce Lorcet said not a single ride went by where Woodman-Aldridge didn’t get a mention.
‘‘We were all there that day,’’ Lorcet said, so the group acted as a support network for each other.
As for his bikes, Angela Woodman-Aldridge said she rides on them now. ‘‘We’re the same frame size.’’
She said mountain biking was her husband’s passion outside of work and he merged the two and started Dirt School to get kids on bikes.
The event was growing but stopped last year, along with a raft of other initiatives he was working on to boost biking on the coast.
This year friends and family got together to restart the event - bringing in about 80 young riders on the weekend.
Dirt School at Waikanae Park on March 25, fun races for all abilities and age groups up to 17 years. Registrations are from 1pm. Age group races start at 1:40pm. Under 5 year olds are free. Over 5s are $5. The races cater for all fitness and skill abilities. Interschool races are booked for April 10, open to riders from all local primary schools.