The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Local Focus: Community digs in for new Carterton mountain bike park

Patrick O'Sullivan
By Patrick O'Sullivan
NZ Herald·
29 Jan, 2019 01:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Daryl Hind's Rivenrock Mountain Bike Park has heads turning and wheels spinning. Photo / Patrick O'Sullivan

Daryl Hind's Rivenrock Mountain Bike Park has heads turning and wheels spinning. Photo / Patrick O'Sullivan

What started as a fatherly gesture from Daryl Hind to his son Henry is fast becoming one of the best mountain bike parks in the country.

The family theme runs through Rivenrock Mountain Bike Park, with tracks graded to suit different levels of ability to attract young and old.

"We get parents, children coming out," Daryl Hind said. "Playing as a family, laughing as a family and getting on with life."

"Our original motivation was our son. He does get crook."

Henry suffers from severe cyclic vertiginous migraines, which can leave him debilitated with vision loss for up to three months at a time.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"When he is well, his escape was a pushbike and, when he was housebound, he was looking at YouTube bike park trails, so all the ideas and the concept and everything has basically come from that.

"We purchased the farm next door around about eight years ago and we made a few tracks for my son and his cousin.

"They invited a few people out and they thought it was quite good – had a bit of a ride around.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We thought long and hard and the end result was we purchased the adjoining farm and we have been here for the last three years.

"We cut the boundary fence and got in and started building a proper mountain bike park."

Hind said dozens of locals have pitched in to help develop the park.

He continued to farm the land around the tracks and all returns from the bike hire and shuttle service went into continual development.

Discover more

Sport

Para equestrians: Long may they rein

20 Mar 10:30 PM

"We didn't appreciate just how much growth there was in this hobby/sport/industry for want of a better word. So once word got out what we were aiming to achieve, there was a lot of pressure at the gate.

"We knew we opened too soon but we thought let's get the people on here, let's measure what the rumour was."

The early opening helped foster the community effort.

"People spoke out about what they liked, what they wanted to see and what they didn't like. For us, that then made it a whole lot easier - it's no use having this idea and concept of building this thing and have only three per cent of the people use it."

Other mountain bike parks have alos lent expertise, helping expand New Zealand's reputation as a mecca for mountain bikers from all over the world.

The current 21km of tracks was expected to double in two to three years.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The feeling is that it's a good thing to do, it's the right time to do it, Hind said.

"We are here for the long haul. I hope everyone enjoys our ride."

Made with funding from

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

Vege tips: Winter, time for onions and strawberries

21 Jun 05:00 PM
The Country

The ABCs of wool in 1934

21 Jun 05:00 PM
Opinion

Why NZ needs its own Clarkson's Farm

21 Jun 05:00 PM

Jono and Ben brew up a tea-fuelled adventure in Sri Lanka

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Vege tips: Winter, time for onions and strawberries

Vege tips: Winter, time for onions and strawberries

21 Jun 05:00 PM

OPINION: Kem Ormond is busy with onion seed trays & preparing the ground for strawberries.

The ABCs of wool in 1934

The ABCs of wool in 1934

21 Jun 05:00 PM
Hill farming and Arabian horse breeding in Taumarunui

Hill farming and Arabian horse breeding in Taumarunui

21 Jun 05:00 PM
Why NZ needs its own Clarkson's Farm

Why NZ needs its own Clarkson's Farm

21 Jun 05:00 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP