MOUNTAIN BIKING (Jacques speech)

“Trees Hurt; learn to avoid them” This is some good advice from mountain biking NZ. Today I am here to convince you that mountain biking is the most fun form of exercise. 

So if you like fresh air, keeping fit, great scenery, challenging yourself, adventure and the outdoors? Mountain biking is the sport for you.

Mountain biking is a great sport to get into, especially with the many great rides along the New Zealand cycle trail, three of them are practically on our doorstep. We also live in the middle of mountain biking heaven with Te Miro MT Park 15 minutes away and the Redwoods in Rotorua just over an hour away. The Redwoods have over 90km’s of trails of all level for you to explore.

Mountain biking is great for your health because it uses lots of different muscles in your legs, arms, shoulders and back. It even works out your brain because of all the things you need to think of like speed, angles, conditions of the track, corners and gears.

Mountain biking  caters for all abilities with a range of tracks from beginners, which are usually flat, wide and smooth, to EXTREME tracks which are really steep, have large drop offs, jumps and other unavoidable obstacles. So there’s definitely something for everyone.

Mountain biking is a relatively safe type of cycling. In 2011 there were 9 cycling deaths and 167 serious injuries in New Zealand, all of these were on the road. Sure you might get the odd scrape or a broken bone, but hopefully nothing that’s too serious.

Something to consider with mountain biking are the costs; obviously you will need to buy a bike, a helmet and pay for servicing and occasional repairs, depending on how many times you crash.  Bike repairs can be quite costly so you do need to think about this when making decisions while you are riding on the track. For example once I crashed my bike resulting in a bent wheel and broken brakes and it cost $250 to repair.

Mountain biking can be seen as an individual sport but it doesn’t have to be. Most mountain bike clubs run regular group rides. There are relay races or you can just go for a blast with a bunch of mates.

There are some really cool things you can achieve with mountain biking. There are professional circuits all around the world and it is now an Olympic sport and Commonwealth Games sport.

So you could end up getting to travel, do the sport you love and get paid for it. Now that’s a win win situation. Some competitions have prize money of up to $15,000 so I guess all the money you spend on your bike repairs and maintainence could potentially be paid back.

Ok, let’s go over the facts. Mountain biking is fun, safe and offers great health benefits. You don’t have to rely on others, it’s a growing sport and it’s relatively low cost.

Just remember that the Waikato is a playground for mountain biking. So what are you waiting for get on your bike!!