New Zealand

Dave Mitchell saddles up and heads south to sample the historic Roaring Lion gold mining tracks near Garston, score laps at Te Anau's Perenuku mountain bike park and uncover the myriad of trails behind Alexandra on Matangi Station.

Dave and Ditte double their money, riding the then freshly minted Paparoa Track both ways over two days for 112km of alpine adventure. Cherie from Ground Effect mucked in at halftime in Blackball for orange segments and the return match.

Kaikoura had always been a legendary mountain biking destination for us, but the riding was restricted to the very narrow S & M band width. Now it's been reimagined with the Kaiterau Loop on Mt Fyffe and the frothing Middle Hill M.T.B.

Ground Effect graphic designer and creative whizz Liam Crozier reflects and philosophises after a hard 'n' fast masochistic winter sortie into the Canterbury High Country on the Ashburton Lakes Brevet.

Dave Mitchell continues his ride down memory lane with 35mm transparency photos of dinkum backcountry adventures at the birth of mountain biking in NZ.

Dave and Ditte roll their camper van down the West Coast from Karamea to Ross - notching up some magic mid winter campsites and crisp 'n' clear mid winter rides along the way.

A big round of Dutch cheese was moving up the South Island as the C19 elevator dropped down to level two. Ditte and I popped back into travel mode with a mighty sigh of relief and exuberance for freedom. First stop the Heaphy.

Dave Mitchell was amongst the small clan of kiwis who embraced the then embryonic pursuit of mountain biking back in the eighties. The fashion was appalling - a mash of tramping kit, sagging lycra and sometimes even gaiters over leather walking boots. Shocks, clipless pedals, disk brakes and dropper posts were yet to be imagined.

In the last of their pre-covid-19 adventures, Dave Mitchell and Ditte van der Meulen revisit the hilly finger of land separating Lake Hawea from Wanaka - scoring the obligatory fisheye panoramas from the windswept tops.

Dave and Ditte link together stops for gelato and burgers (in that order) with honest exploration of Ben Lomond and the Queenstown hinterland.

The day started like any other. The sun came up in the east and slowly but surely persuaded the clouds to exit stage left. Our high country grand loop began at Moke Lake on the Ben Lomond Station Farm Road near Queenstown.

Back in the late eighties, mountain bikers use to ride big bloody heavy steel bone shaking and crushing mounts (and lived in shoe boxes in gutter), suspension was courtesy of Fisher Fattrax tyres and the rider's arms and legs, but boy did we enjoy the wild Skippers Pack Track.