The view from the top of Flying Nun.

We are spoilt for choice when it comes to trails in this country, from north to south there are trails everywhere. From bike parks to backcountry, there is something for everyone. When it comes to picking just one favourite trail it can be hard, but we gave some people the hard word and made them pick, and these are their favourites, their Local Dirt.

Joe has been riding bikes for 24 years. When you have been riding mountain bikes for that long, when you have a favourite trail, that’s kind of a big deal.

After being sucked into biking by the sheer beauty and form of the bike itself at the ripe and mouldable age of 14, Joe has never looked back. Starting in XC racing and becoming a pretty amazing bicycle mechanic along the way, after 20 years Joe decided it was time for a change of pace. Making the switch from XC racing to enduro and trail riding was a change that is not regretted. The switch in mindset from being a super-pro to weekend warrior wasn’t a hard one.

The bike skills from XC were a direct crossover to trail riding, so made it easy to give every trail a go.

Christchurch City in the background.

Joe’s favourite trails are fast and flowing, but he enjoys anything that helps with learning new features and gaining new skills.

And now enough about Joe, and onto The Flying Nun itself. “The Nun” as most Christchurch riders call it,  is a quick drive, or ride if thats your jam, up Dyers Pass Road and then a right turn at the Sign of the Kiwi. Just a short ride up the road, a small gravel road and you are there. The view from the top is the track is amazing – Lyttelton Harbour, hills and the sea and as you drop in Christchurch city comes into view as do the Southern Alps.

One of the jump features on the trail.

The trail is filled with steep and swooping rock corners, awkward technical rocky sections, wooden bridge features and small jumps scattered here and there. While not suited as a first trail to ride – you really need to have cornering dialled for this as panicking and grabbing your breaks in a rock corner doesn’t end well…. This trail has a bit of everything that Joe likes to ride, due to the diversity of features. Riders with a basic understanding of mountain biking will really get a kick out of this rollercoaster of a trail.

The way the trail has been put together to flow from fast rolling berms into drop jumps and rocky features really keeps you on your toes and the faster you go the more fun there is to be had. There is even a built-in break spot halfway down the trail – so you can either ride up and do the top half again or have a break before dropping into the second half of the trail – which takes you almost all the way back to The Sign of The Kiwi.

Epic views all the way down…

It’s not hard to see why this is Joe’s favourite trail, it’s not only a really fun place to ride your bike, it’s also a great place to watch the world go by.