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MTB – Sharing the STOKE!

In this powerful and inspiring episode of MTB: Sharing the Stoke, host Jamie sits down with 13-year-old mountain biker Amelia Twist and her mum Toni to talk about a ride that’s about so much more than just bikes.

Amelia, a passionate Mountain Bike rider from Tauranga, is on a mission to challenge New Zealand’s outdated school sport rules that exclude homeschooled students from receiving medals or joining teams in School Sport NZ events. Despite being able to race, homeschooled athletes are denied the same recognition as their peers—a rule that affects over 4,000 students nationwide.

To fight this injustice, Amelia and fellow homeschooler George are planning a 730–800km winter bikepacking mission from Cambridge to Wellington, where they’ll deliver a petition directly to Parliament. The goal? To ride for change and raise awareness for the overlooked voices of homeschool athletes.

We dive deep into Amelia’s riding background, her inspiration from bikepacking legend Lael Wilcox, and the logistics behind this bold midwinter adventure. Amelia shares the behind-the-scenes challenges of preparing for a long-distance ride in harsh conditions, from gear needs to legal action—yes, there’s a judicial review in motion, and support is growing fast.

Whether you’re a rider, a parent, an advocate, or just love stories about young people making big moves, this episode will get you fired up. Amelia and George aren’t just pedaling for podiums—they’re pushing for fairness, inclusion, and the right to compete.

🔗 Follow their journey: ⁠studentsport.nz⁠

📣 Support the cause: Sign the petition and spread the word

📸 Instagram updates: ⁠@studentsportnz⁠

🎧 Tune in for:

• Amelia’s favourite Rotorua trails & races

• The injustice behind School Sport NZ’s medal ban

• Winter route planning from Cambridge to Parliament

• How you can join the ride or support the cause

This isn’t just a ride. It’s a movement. Don’t miss it.

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At New Zealand Mountain Biking, we run epic mountain biking tours across the scenic North Island, New Zealand. We also help riders build confidence and skills in our MTB and eMTB private lessons on the legendary Rotorua trails.

Join us and listen to our NZMTB podcast as we meet different riders to find out what gets them stoked! We want to share our favourite trails and what other riders love about mountain biking. Brought to you by New Zealand Mountain Biking. We specialise in putting together mountain bike trips and are based in Rotorua, NZ.

Here we talk all things riding. Mountain biking is a heap of fun and we want to share what makes it so good for people and share stories to keep you stoked about new places, trails, gear, and skills. Thanks for listening!

The best way that you can support this content is by booking a ride/lesson with us so that we can continue to just talk about mountain bikes!

You can learn more about who we are and browse our website and book your ride today!

At New Zealand Mountain Biking, we run epic mountain biking tours across the scenic North Island, New Zealand. We also help riders build confidence and skills in our MTB and eMTB private lessons on the legendary Rotorua trails. If you race or you want to get into some racing and you want to improve those skills, get in touch for some lessons!

You can learn more about our trips here to book your ride today!

Check out our YouTube channel to see us ride as I chase people down all of the trails in Rotorua and NZ!