On the surface, running multi day single track mountain biking trips looks like a great time. That’s because it is. It’s also really hard work behind the scenes – having all the logistics taken care off-stage to ensure that the on-stage show appears to be seamless and all according to script. But all that hard work is enormously rewarding, and all the more worth it. Our latest, and biggest trip of the New Zealand summer was the perfect case in point.
The BKXC North Island Escape
After months of planning and preparation and planning we began our North Island Escape trip on January 20th with mountain biking social media dude, and all round amazing guy – Brian Kennedy – also known as BKXC. The idea was simple – come join us in New Zealand, shoot some epic single track footage in our amazing forest trails, and get some of your followers to come and join you.Â
Within 48 hours of Brian putting the word out to his subscribers, all the 12 spots on the trip were taken. Yup – that took us by surprise, so got in gear and started planning. While our first instinct was to create a trip packed with steep singletrack at the rowdy end of the spectrum, we all agreed that mountain biking in New Zealand’s North Island has variety for all types of riding. So we packed in 9 days with a mixed bag of tight and technical, flow tails of varying degrees of difficulty, some easy back country riding, heli back country and of course some burly steep goodness on the hero dirt in Rotorua.
And it wasn’t just about the riding – we ensured all the important stuffed was wrapped around the riding… Incredible scenery, great food, expert hosting and guiding, all sorts of shuttles (helicopter and jet boat shuttles anyone?) and fantastic places to stay. We’ll let the video here of the first day do the talking, but stay tuned for more of Brians episodes of this trip in the coming weeks.
Episode One
