Photos: Jude Heath
We had a successful opening of the Firepit dirt park in the Motueka Valley on Sunday. We where impressed by the turnout; we probably had a couple of hundred people. We had 100 riders riding on the dirt park and pump track, with ages ranging from 3 up. Cool to see so many young riders out there ripping it. There was a great atmosphere, with a couple of DJs – DJ Roy and DJ Moo Tree – laying down some epic tunes.
We had a continous stream of riders on the park from the opening at 11am. For the official opening at 2pm Todd Adams a teacher from Motueka High school and Tasman District Councillor Trevor Norriss said a few words. Trevor acknowledged the history of the land as the original training ground for the young Josh Coppins. He also talked about what a unique place Ngatimoti is and how people travel from far and wide to appreciate the valley. He thought the concept of the bike park was fantastic and has fully supported the concept from early discussions with Damian Stones. Kelly McGarry leading New Zealand mountainbike free rider encouraged the riders to help maintain the track and also spoke very positively about the park. After the speeches we had the comp which was judged by Kelly. First up was a large contingent of Groms, it was great to see all the young people having ago. There was a large crew of local BMX’s throwing down some tricks for the crowd. It was great to give out some prizes for their efforts.
It was really good to see community support for the event, with whole families turning out for it. We had some really great support from our sponsors, including St Johns which sponsored an ambulance (that fortunately we didn’t have to use). Other sponsors included: DMR , which supplied some super solid V12 and V8 pedals and mountainbike grips ; Village Cycles, which generously supplied us with spot prizes; Skullkandy , which supplied earphones; Santa Cruz, which sponsor me and keep me motivated to ride; and Corsair and Unit which sponsor Kelly McGarry, who has been intimately involved in the design and building of this park.
Funds raised from the day will go towards equipment for the park. To provide some background on the park, it was inspired by parks in the Queenstown and Wanaka area. I felt Nelson needed somewhere where the kids could progress their riding. The construction began in December last year and was completed recently. The jumps were built out of leftover clay from the Ruby Bay bypass. Tasman District Council provided most of the funding for the project, providing $12,000 for materials and diggers. Sponsors included Fulton Hogan, Bikeworks , Porter Hire , Ground Effect, and local members of the community. I’d also like to thank the Ngatimoti Reserve Board for its support.
If you are planning to come out to ride on the park please check if the park is open at www.firepit.co.nz
More photos over here
Results:
Grom (under 15 MTB and BMX)
B Line Shredder – Coke Eades
C Line Shredder – Daniel Ehson
D Line Shredder – Samuel Ehson
MTB (open)
1. Cameron St John
2. Hemiora Soundy
BMX (open)
1. Aiden Lummer
2. Ungy Watson
3. Mr Puha
4. Casy Scott
5. Lee Nultal
