The Coastal Crew NZ

It is that time of year! And with that comes our annual Christmas tree ride! It is also a time to celebrate our mate Pete and all his awesomeness!

2014 was the first time we put up the tree. We rode all the way to the top of Campbell Mill road and picked, what was then, a small pine tree to decorate. It was actually pretty good!

The second year not so much… We picked a branch off one of the nearby trees and cable tied it to the trail name post at the top of the link track. We thought it was clever! But the next week when we went past, the ‘tree’ had wilted and browned and look quite the sorry state.

Come 2016, we were just going to do the same thing but maybe pick a living tree and decorate it at the picnic table. Enter Santa a.k.a Big Pete! While standing at the top of the Link looking for a tree, Pete came walking up the horse track with a massive post on his shoulder and a bunch of planks under the other arm!

What you will see there for the next few weeks, is the same tree that Pete built and carried up that hill. We would say it was his forever present to the friends and family and to us, his biking whanau! It sure does bring us all back together! Chapeau Big Dog!

Take some time and take the family up there, or go up alone. You can even carry a beer up there to enjoy. Stop at the picnic table, sit for a moment and raise your can to the ever young Pete! We miss you buddy!

It was a cold dark and windy night. The trees were screaming under the weight of the wind russhing through their leaves. But in the midst of all the turmoil, 12 Brave souls fought off the temptation to stay indoors with a cup of hot coco in front of the fire and headed to the hills, spades and pitch forks in hand! Well, it was dramatic, but not that much! Huge Thanks though to Campbell Walker, Logan Fenemor and whitehead (who does not even MTB!) for helping out the Crew last night! We were able to widen and clean up about 250m on the start of Bathtub and clear some drainage for about 1km down the track. All that in just 3 hours! Thanks peeps! It helps when more people invest in our summer riding!

Dig night is on! Meet at Maungakotukutuku rd end of Campbell mills rd and jump in a vehicle at 6pm Wednesday if you are keen to lend a hand. We will be clearing the top part of Bathtub and shaping and creating better drainage. Bring a shovel or spade or any trail digging tools you have as well as some lights. We will do a couple of hours as usual and celebrate with some beer, just remember your own beer!