Read Part 2 of Nate Hoch’s trip to New Zealand, complete with tom foolery, XR200’s, and Subaru rallying!
After the Nelson round of the South Island Cup we finished the short drive over to Blenheim where I would stay with Sam Reed and his parents for a three weeks before we headed north. They live on an awesome little 10 acre spread of paddocks. Right across the street from Sam’s house is the river, where we ended up spending much of the time hanging out or engaging in a little “Rocky” training. The first 4 days I stayed with Sam he had to go work 14 hour shifts, so I was on my own to keep busy. With nothing better to do, an old XR200, and 10 acres to play with, I decided it was time to start a pump track. I spent a good four days digging all day and at the end had a pretty awesome pump track to show for it. With a total of 7 corners, 13 rollers and one irrigation system to help combat the dusty Blenheim soil, our sweet little pump track was done and ready to rally.
With the pump track done it was time to burn out some hot laps on the XR200 and try to get out for some DH. Fortunately the DH came the next day when constable PC Peter Cooper gave us a call and said he was heading out to Onamalutu. “Huh????” Even though the name is almost unpronounceable the place turned out to be a nugget and the first place I was able to get a helmet cam run. Check it out here, crazy sickness!
The top part of this track starts off with some great New Zealand off-camber followed by some gnarly 50mph fire breaks, and ends in some real nice, twisty, fast single track. It definitely took a little while to get used to the off camber and a long time to catch up to Pete and Sam, the local rippers. It was great to get out and do some DH after a couple days hanging out and digging. For the rest of the week we did some work on another track and did a couple hot laps, while being dirt bags at the river and doing sweet road training rides in the vineyards. It was amazing getting to relax a million miles away from home, almost like being on summer vacation in high school all over again, no worries, just doing what you want, when you want.
At the end of that week a nice little thunder storm rolled through and we got to spend some time riding in the nastiest mud I have ever seen. Coming from the Northwest I like to think of myself as a pretty good mud rider, but New Zealand mud made me feel like I got the last ticket at my first cakewalk. This mud is made from clay, not good brown dirt, but red, sticky clay. After a run your bike weighs 100lbs, but you only get to feel that if you don’t break your arm on the way down. Going straight is your only option and if there is braking involved you might as well just mail it home. The only way to enjoy this
experience is to own a good set of mud tires, we’re talking about a set of tires so insane you can’t buy them in America because they scare little children. With Maxxis Wetscream’s equipped it was time to start the rallying! This was one of those experiences that was truly Kiwi.
We also got to get out and enjoy the night life of Blenheim by crashing a family friends wedding, where Sam ended up talking to everyone and we ended up doing some amazing dancing. After the wedding we went out to the bars to enjoy the 3 A.M. last call and some other good times, ending with a great rally session on the dirt roads driving home with our designated driver in the rally van. We killed the last of our time at home with laps around the property on the XR, making puddles with the hose and mud pits in the Peony Rose gardens, and training a little on the pump track and the road bikes to get us ready for the races. In the end I had an amazing time with Sam and his family and I can’t thank them enough for everything.
After several weeks of hanging out in Blenheim it was time to repack the truck, load up the laundry and hit the road for the next part of our racing adventure.
Stay tuned for part 3 with lots more pics and Racing in Rotorua and Auckland!
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