Hot Rides

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.

Wanaka town floats at the edge of a beautiful blue lake cradled below a stunning rim of rocky and jagged mountains brimming with mountain bike trails to explore.

The Paparoa Track joins the Old Ghost Road and Heaphy to form a holy trinity of multi-day backcountry rides on the upper West Coast. All are bucket list worthy. Ground Effect hit the Paparoas on opening weekend for our Xmas Party.

Fresh off the plane and back in her home town of Wanaka, Mops Newell reflects on her 2019 EWS season. Shifting allegiance from Masters to Women’s Elite was a step up but still a sweet, fun ride - just with a few more (big) bumps.

The bustling city of Aosta sits in the valley of the same name and is surrounded by monster mountains with quaint villages and farmhouses perched on their rocky slopes. Ditte and I have had a couple of previous sessions exploring the valley’s magnificent trails and so were pretty excited to return last year for an encore.

"Stay safe", everyone said. "Be careful". Their fear and concern were infectious, by the time we left for Colombia I had to keep myself away from the internet, stop searching for tales of mayhem and terror there. Four weeks later, this picture records the reality we encountered - welcoming, helpful with not a hint of danger.