When you join a New Zealand Mountain Biking trip, you’ll be joining a team of people dedicated to ensuring the experience is unique, authentic and completely hassle free.
About Us
A genuine, kiwi experience in a spectacular place
It’s the simple stuff that makes all the difference – outstanding guides, great flexibility in all inclusive trips, the most beautiful forests in New Zealand, incredible riding on the best dirt in the world and a real exploration of our incredible landscapes.
Legendary kiwi hosts
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE BIKE.
A good guide ensures you’ll have an enjoyable experience – an outstanding guide makes sure you’ll come away feeling absolutely fulfilled having experienced personalised service and expert local knowledge.
Meet the Team
We’re a tight knit bunch of passionate riders here at new Zealand Mountain Biking. If we’re not out riding, we’re either in the shed fixing bikes, talking about bikes, or looking at videos of other people biking. You get the picture – we’re obsessed, and we’re equally obsessed with biking in the backcountry – especially here in the North Island. Meet the team behind all of the emails, taking you on trips, and ensuring that you’ll have the best experience
Jamie Garrod
Founder & Guide
Founder, guide and jack of all trades – Jamie has over 25 years of experience riding bikes (starting at the age of 3) from freestyle BMX to epic backcountry adventures. Jamie’s entire working life has been dedicated to guiding and sharing adventure with people from all walks of life. There aren’t many places in the world he hasn’t explored on his bike, in a kayak or on foot. We just wish he’d shave off his dodgy mustache.
Sam Roil
Backcountry Specialist
Sam is about as local as you get in Rotorua. He knows the Redwoods Forest like the back of his hand and pretty much the rest of the North Island, having spent almost every minute of his spare time getting out into the backcountry. With a guiding history in various locations in the Central North Island, Sam is THE man to show you our wilderness areas.
Mike Dawson
Guide
A former Olympic Kayak Athlete – Mike has caught the mountain biking bug and switched the water for the dirt. He is the king of constantly dreaming up adventures and expeditions to the most random and remote parts of the planet, and although he’d never admit it he’s New Zealand’s present day Shackleton! He is always out for a good time and to show people the best parts of the country he loves – New Zealand.
Christy Hammond
Guide
Christy grew up riding bikes on the port hills in Christchurch and has been playing on two wheels since the age of 12. Over the past seven years he’s been living out of a backpack traveling the world working guiding riding and rafting trips in spectacular places. We lucky to have been able to keep Christy right here in Rotorua as our lead guide.
Christy’s cool calm manner and dedication to running awesome trips for people matches his prowess on a bike. Not only is he an amazing riding guide, he’s an experienced raft guide also, so when you come on a trip with him, there’s a good chance you’ll have him take you down the river too!
We’re all still kids at heart. And at the heart of being a kid is riding a bike. The new found freedom and independence you discover when you first learn to push off on two wheels on your own. The freedom to explore places you can only get to by bike, sharing distinctly New Zealand experiences, the stoke of fresh air, wild places and unforgettable hospitality – it’s what drives us at New Zealand Mountain Biking.
Our Safety Process
With many years of collective experience in our team, we’ve worked with AdventureMark New Zealand and Skills Active to put in place solid safety protocols and training for our guides to ensure that our trips are run with the highest level of risk management and safety management.
Being a backcountry operator, we also have a range of equipment, and the training to use it, available to get us to safety as quickly as possible if things go wrong. We update our wilderness first responder first aid knowledge regularly and do practice runs to keep us on our toes!