​This was the first inkling that something was wrong. I thought I was turning my mountain bike. I was still heading straight on over the track. I wasn’t riding it anymore. I was flying through the air. I was on my way towards what plane crash investigators sometimes refer to as  'an uncontrolled contact with the ground'.

My elbow hit first. It skidded along the track. Then my hip and my knee did the same. My skin brought me to a halt. The stinging began. I watched the first beads of blood well up. And my first thought was, “I wonder if I will be alright for my run tomorrow”.

Trail Runner NZ Magazine Article

​​Within the last 18 months there have been some significant challenges to the environment that we as trail runners and people who enjoy other active pursuits  have long considered our playground. Large swathes of the Waitakere Ranges have been closed by the Auckland Council after the mana whenua placed a rahui on the area in an attempt to combat Kauri Dieback. The Taupo IRONMAN 70.3 swim was cancelled in December 2017 due to water pollution, which in itself is shocking in a lake as ubiquitous as Taupo. As we head into another summer of spending a lot of time outdoors in wild spaces I’ve been thinking how athletes need to get active on conserving the spaces we play in. We need to be the Kaitiaki, or guardians, of our wild spaces, if we are to have any hope of continued use and enjoyment.

You’ve already spent a pretty penny on your bike, so why not squeeze every ounce of pure blissful joy out of it? Regular preventive mountain bike maintenance will keep your mountain bike rolling safely for longer. Doing your own bike maintenance also saves you labour costs, and proves an invaluable skill to have in your back pocket in case a mechanical threatens to ruin your ride. It's quite easy to maintain your own bike, and it can mean the difference between riding all day or walking home.

​Article by Dr. Tim Leeming. Exercise Nutritionist, Chiropractor.
 
We’ve all sat on the nutritional rollercoaster at some stage.  Some of us are constantly stuck on it, riding front row, craving the next popular trend in food and health!  Pun intended… 
 
Not many would argue that the path to understanding how to eat for optimal health is like that of a swing or a pendulum.  Cycling back and forth between extremes, from one thing to the other.  Low fat to high fat.  Carb loading to low carb.  Macro counting to forgetting macros altogether.  These are just some of the more popular examples from the past few decades or less.