Well hello there!
We’re finally doing it - the blog is live! This month marks 10 years since I moved home to Clarence and swapped out winter ski season passes for my first bike - a Giant Reign by the name of Raphael (forgive me for naming him, he was my first!!). I didn’t know yet that this was the start of a string of events that lead to the creation and operation that is Middle Hill MTB. It seems fitting after a decade to finally start getting some of the stories down (whether or not anyone reads them is yet to be determined!!).
As soon as I got Raphael home, dad was talked in to giving me a lift up to the back of the farm - the first ever shuttled lap! The farm tracks at Middle Hill are steep and rough, and while incredibly scenic they’re not actually all that fun to ride down. I quickly realised that what I needed was a trail! So, with zero knowledge of how to build such a thing I set out with a little grubber, a blunt pruning saw and a rusty old machete. I was on a mission to re-discover the places I’d ridden my pony as a kid, now overgrown and impassable. In the process I discovered a new passion, and the dream of mountain bike trails at Middle Hill was born.
The task at hand was enormously ambitious and had my friends and family rolling their eyes at my new venture. When I proudly showed off my unfinished and unrideable track they were not convinced! However, there are a select few who saw what I saw and believed in the vision right from the start. I spent all my spare time up the hill, and managed to convince my friends to come and dig despite none of us being mountain bikers! Raft guides in bare feet, snowboarders in the off season, locals, foreigners, family, friends. We chipped away at the hillside, learnt as we went and slowly but surely, a trail was formed (even if it was still unrideable in places!).
There was a lot of dirt to be moved, and we needed help. It arrived in the form of a rather large earthquake (more on that later!!) ripping open a crack right where we wanted the trail to go. Not long after, Morgz showed up (more on that later too!) and put on a clinic in moving large rocks in to place to form proper berms. Finally, Wharekiri Ridge was complete! Eight years later those rocks haven’t moved an inch and the trail is still a crowd favourite.
And so it began! With a lot of help from friends, plenty of good times and hard work, we were on our way. This blog is going to jump all over the place between family history, recent events and future dreams so if you’re interested, keep an eye out for new posts and watch the story unfold!
