MTB: Blazing happier trails beyond the big smoke

FAMILY TIME: Nick Lambert (left) with Riley, and Kimberley with their other daughter Devin. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

It's a familiar story for a lot of people (including me).

Packing up the car most Fridays, bikes on the rack, dropping into the late afternoon traffic jam on the Southern Motorway, heading from Auckland to Rotorua for a weekend on the mountain bike trails.

Two days of riding, then - hearts sinking a little - the return to the big city late on Sunday and another week of work. And the inevitable question: could we live in Rotorua?

In 2002, Nick Lambert and his wife, Kimberley Edwards, decided the answer was yes. They have never regretted it.

Nick's a biker from way back, racing BMX in the early'80s and working for Avanti just as the first mountain bikes arrived. It was a case of right place, right time, in more ways than one.

I've worked with Nick on quite a few projects and he's a hugely talented graphic designer. Remarkably, self-taught.

He was assembling bikes and packing orders at Avanti when he got sick. Light duties meant office work.

Nick started pasting up artwork for Avanti catalogues. Ten years later he was working in the studio of a major advertising agency in Auckland. In six years he progressed to managing the studio and becoming a key part of the creative department.

In 2001, it was time to leave the rat race and start his own design business, Zero Seven (www.zeroseven.co.nz). And move to Rotorua, a year later.

"Kimberley was raised here and it was our heartfelt home long before we lined up the logistics to move down," says Nick.

Zero Seven has thrived. However, it's in a different business environment to Auckland.

"There definitely isn't the same opportunities for high-profile work," says Nick. "But being a smaller city I tend to meet and work with people in industries that I wouldn't necessarily encounter in Auckland."

The business of mountain biking has been good to him too.

"I was involved from day one with graphic design and production for New Zealand Mountain Biker magazine, back in 2003. That also sparked my interest in photography, which has developed into a creative outlet I'm passionate about."

The move also inspired Kimberley to launch Monkey Kids (www.monkeykids.co.nz), a store specialising in high-quality toys and baby gifts.

"She probably wouldn't have started it in Auckland. In Rotorua, with its lower costs, it was possible to start from scratch and build the business up."

Then, there's the lifestyle.

"We wanted to raise our children in a healthy environment, with lots of outdoor sporting opportunities and easy access to forest, lake, beach and ski fields," says Nick.

"I take our daughters, Riley and Devin, mountain biking year round and, with the range of trails, they are able to improve their skills and fitness, progressively."

He has found the ideal balance between work and life.

" I can go from my front door to the forest in minutes, do a quick, hard ride and then be home within an hour and all in the middle of day. And I still get more work done than if I was battling big-city traffic and corporate meetings."