Finding community in New Zealand racing

My heart was beating so hard I could feel it through my ears in my full faced helmet.  I was about to drop into my first stage of almost 30 across a week of racing in New Zealand.  There are various ways to race MTB, with Enduro having only timed “downhill stages” with tons of pedaling in between to access these stages.  This was the start of the weeklong NZMTB Rally, a backcountry Enduro race around the northern tip of Southern New Zealand.  I was feeling ready after 2 months of riding across various zones in NZ.  

The plan was to stay smooth, avoid crashes, and attempt to keep my bike running smoothly without any mechanical mishaps.  The plan, unfortunately, fell apart immediately.  Day 1 was brutal as I had 3 separate crashes, a broken chain at the very start of a long pedal stage, and a shredded tire that I was forced to ride flat until the finish line.  What a beatdown.  I felt the wind had been taken out of my race sails.  In a new place with new people, the loneliness of the situation was like a wave pushing me to the bottom of the ocean.

But that’s when the spirit of the race changed everything.  That night I was missing dinner because of the time needed to repair my bike for the next day.  I was struggling to get the parts I needed for all the repairs, and felt like riding the next day was a lofty goal.  Out of the periphery, a fellow racer came up and asked me what I needed.  Turns out, he was willing to lend parts and a hand while I took a break to have dinner.  The tides were changing, at least in the loneliness category.

Joe pushing through Stage 4 on Day 1 with broken chain

Let’s just say the race never went to plan.  Mechanicals continued to plague my times, despite feeling good on the bike.  But strangers kept steping in to lend a hand.  By mid week, the amount of parts given to me by new faces far outnumbered the amount I could buy on my own.  These riders became true companions and support squad throughout the week, and looking back, I couldn’t have finished without the help of the riding community in the race.  

Now jokingly named the Hi-Line Factory team (Highline is a term for an alternative but probably more fun line down a trail), this group of riders from around the world has now become some of my closer comiserators of shred.  I went into this race hoping for podiums, but I walked away with friends and stories that will hopefully last a lifetime.  We all have different reasons to ride, but it turns out, the biggest reason is because we all love the community it surrounds us with.  

Lined up with new friends ready to race