Unforgettable Adventure - Easton riders in NZ
Remember that video that was going around last spring? It had Graham Agassiz and DH legend Nicolas Vouilloz going full tilt on some of New Zealand’s best downhill tracks? Sam Blenkinsop made an appearance, then went home with a big, bloody gash in the palm of his hand. Remember that?
Photography by Harookz
 | That trip was unreal, and we've been reminiscing about it all year. A couple of weeks ago, Harookz told us he had a stockpile of images from that adventure. He said that a lot of these shots have never seen the light of day. We instantly thought of our buds at Pinkbike and decided to share the album. Looking through these images gives me a nice break from the monotony of office life. I can't help but drift off into a deep daydream of the land of deafening cicadas, rivers loaded with eels and steep, rugged singletrack. We hope you enjoy these pics as much as we do. - Dain Zaffke, Easton Cycling |
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 Aggy steezin for no reason |
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| From waist deep pow days to the NZ heat, Aggy, Dylan Dunkerton and Kyle Norbraten (from the Coastal Crew) make a seamless transition to the city of Nelson. |
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| Sam Blenkinsop's weapon of choice on the WC DH circuit. |
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| Aggy displaying that the Entourage is the one bike to ride it all including all-mtn action |
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| The NZ National DH course was rated 5 stars by Aggy |
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| Leaving behind deep snow back home in BC for this in NZ. First world problems. |
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| Blenky getting his scrub on in Nelson. |
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| Massive towering ferns played tug-of-war with the trail for our attention while the deafening sound of the singing cicadas trapped us in a trance. |
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| Aggy and Norbs getting barrelled in a different kind of green room. |
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| Any day you get to shuttle in the bird is a good day! |
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| After 24+ hrs of travelling from Nice to NZ, Nico was picked up from the Nelson airport and shuttled straight to the chopper. He killed it with no warm up with the absence of any jet lag complaints. Straight up legendary status. |
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| Blenky and Aggy on rails. |
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| Lord of the Rings over here, Narnia over there. Mackin RV's courtesy of Britz allowed us to take it all in. |
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| Concentrate on staying light on your wheels and go as fast as you can - 10x World Champ Nico's last words before disappearing ahead of the group down another hair ball section of roots. |
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| Aggy found this natural gem and was fired up to send it but was forced to leave it behind unridden due to wind. One of many reasons to head back to NZ. |
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| Classic Aggy: 110% effort, 5th gear pinned, no fingers on the levers. |
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| Influenced by Aggy, Nico got down with some freeriding on this scree slope in Craigieburn. |
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| The moment we rolled into Christchurch, we witnessed the extensive earthquake damage. The positive spirit amongst the people as they rebuilt their city was a humbling experience. / Blenky, Aggy, Cam Cole and Vouilloz. |
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| Cam Cole's bathroom / Dain installs the new Havoc 35 setup on Blenky's all-mtn rig. |
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| L to R: Cam Cole's garage / Aggy hand feeding tame eels at the Jester House Cafe / Nicolas Vouilloz hasn't raced in a while but the man can pin it! |
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| Dylan and Kyle taking 5 from filming to log some time in front of the lens / Aggy sets flight on a berm to berm transfer with his fresh Havoc 35 cockpit. |
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| Norbs earning his beer on the Wharfedale Track in Oxford. |
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| Bicycle Tetris, level 10 / Mark Dixon and his family hosted us, put us up and fed us gourmet meals during our stay in Christchurch. There was no shortage of post ride grill and bevy treatments. Huge thanks to the Dixon family from all of us! |
Photography by Harookz
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Member since Mar 12, 2005
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Either way I'm watching the video again because it was unreal.
I have a habit of looking at the pictures then going back and quickly reading. My bad.
Next year.....
Flights are soooo much. I will be there one day!
$350nz per month for the 12 months you are over there. $4200nz plus the plane ticket home. And you must prove this also.