Zones Episode Two: The Road To Rai - Video
There’s a brand new 'big bike' jump line coming to life in the Rai Valley near Nelson, New Zealand. It will be one of the biggest jump lines in New Zealand and will sit strong among the biggest in the world.
The line currently consists of jumps ranging from 30-60ft, with the aim of getting an 80ft double rolling towards the end of the year, as far as we know the 80ft double will be the biggest big bike jump in the country and will be right up there on the world stage. The late great Kelly McGarry was a big inspiration in making this jump line happen!
The crew of Reon Boe, Emmerson Wilken, Adam Lynskey, Joel Tunbridge, Myself and filmers Scott Robb and Sam Cameron, set off from Queenstown and made our way to Nelson, riding in several unique locations along the way...
Adam Lynskey, hyped to be rolling into the first day of riding.
Let the games begin!
On our first day of riding we had to put in some serious push time to get up into the alpine, in the hunt for scree.
Emmerson dropping one of the more gnarly shoots of the day.
Joel Tunbridge
Adam Lynskey
Emmerson and Joel scouting lines.
Emmerson Wilken
Scree shoots, party trains, walking miles racked up, a dislocated shoulder, numerous over the bars and bangers in the bag - we were all pretty damn wrecked as the sun started dropping behind the hills on day 1!
It was always fun to get in a few skatepark laps when we could...
And it still blows me away how many small towns have the raddest parks here
Adam and Joel, just doing it for Danger!
The hype was real.
The man, the myth, Shane Mitchell head digger operator and builder, put in some serious hours getting things done, shot bro!!
When things are as fresh as they were, it takes some serious hours getting things dialed.
Glorious hits - when the clay lost enough moisture it was all hands on deck to try and get the jumps rideable...
Which was proving a bit of a mission, rolling speed was causing us problems all week.
The weather gods had been good to us on the first day, which meant by about 6pm we had got the first two hits rideable, lines were eyed and the sending started.
The learning curve - Kurt and Shane inspecting where Reon landed after things got super wild on his guinea pig hit.
The result, more dirt.
There are few young riders out there that are as calculated as Adam Lynskey, he works massively on feel and if he is 'feeling it', everyone is in for a treat!
That evening Adam was feeling it, this was his first hit of the jump and he found the pocket perfectly, at this point we all new things were onnnnnn!
Joel was super fired up to get into things, as the crew was getting sorted to run the line, Joel picked up his bike to find his shock had starting dropping oil, gutted!
He just sent it anyway.
Emmerson Wilken...
Getting after it!
The dirt battle was continuous all week.
Kurt Lancaster, the ultimate Kiwi and the man who let us turn a serious amount of dirt on his property's hillside...thanks bro!
Slappin lips.
Joel Tunbridge.
Reon Boe.
Adam Lynskey.
Property owners Kurt and Olivia, have built themselves a couple of super fun jumplines lower on the hill. We made the most of them while we were waiting for the clay to dry higher up.
Adam Lynskey vs...
Joel (Runga) Tunbridge.
On the left Runga full steeze...
And on the right Runga, full ejection on the 60ft step up.
Reon Boe
Emmerson Wilken
Joel, Reon and Emmerson...
Rolling in tight for the train session.
Runga getting after it, as the light faded away on the final day of the trip.
After five days on the road and six days in the Rai Valley, this mission had come to an end. We didn't quite manage to get done what we had in mind, but we will be back! A massive shout out to everyone who helped turn this project into reality, you all know who you are, and a special thanks to Scott Robb from Parallax Media and Torpedo 7.
MENTIONS: @huss
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Name of the last track anyone?