Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

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 / Rotorua Daily Post

Graeme Simpson: Jonathan Dodd - mountain biking runs in my family

By Graeme Simpson
Rotorua Daily Post·
17 Dec, 2017 01:34 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

Jonathon Dodd and Nicky Blakely are important contributors to the local cycling scene.

Jonathon Dodd and Nicky Blakely are important contributors to the local cycling scene.

'Mountain biking runs in the family' could be Jonathon Dodd's motto.

He's chairman of the Rotorua Bike Festival and a major contributor to the local cycling scene.

Over to Jonathon:

My family and I've recently chalked up 10 years since we did our own 'Moving Out with Tamati' and escaped Auckland for Rotorua.

So at the risk of being self-indulgent, I'm taking the opportunity Graeme has given me to write this column, to recount how we came to be here and what we've ended up doing within the local scene, hopefully to inspire some readers to get more involved, and for everyone to appreciate just how damn good the place is.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It all started with rowing, not riding. Competing at a Blue Lake regatta in the 80s impressed me so much that when my future wife, Nicky, and I had to pick a summer camping spot a few years later, the Blue Lake it was, and remained so for many years.

Fast-forward 15 years and we had a good life in a posh part of Auckland, with two handsome young sons, a huge mortgage and mediocre mountain biking over an hour away at Woodhill.

Within the space of 30 minutes one evening we realised we could ditch the mortgage and set up in Rotorua, thanks in no small part to a transferable job and a boss whose first words when I told him of the shift were: "You're going to go mountain biking every day aren't you?" He wasn't wrong.

Cameron, our oldest boy, is a professional mountain bike trail builder and a demon downhill racer, and Hamish, the youngest, is one of the country's best young cross-country mountain bikers, recently selected for the MTB National Performance Hub.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Nicky rides every week with her 70-something father and takes advantage of Rotorua's location with tramping every other weekend.

The journey here has been a busy one.

I've organised biking events, been a committee member for Cycling Rotorua (the road-cycling club), written a local bike shop's website, marshalled at all sorts of races, maintained the old Genesis MTB track, worked with the advocacy group Rotorua Cycling Action, helped with a search and rescue mission that needed mountain-bikers, got to know a Tour de France stage winner, taken visiting Lions fans heli-biking, been in a Graeme Murray photo-shoot, written up business awards entries for two local cycling businesses, made some fantastic new friends and riding buddies, and of course experienced the obligatory broken bones.

My wife and sons have also been active contributors to the scene in their own ways.

That list may seem like a brag. But look again and these are mainly instances of helping and giving, not using or taking.

It's through volunteering time and skills in the local community that friends are made, connections forged, warm fuzzies earned and opportunities presented.

Combine the fantastic people you meet in the mountain-biking community with the easy-going people found throughout Rotorua and that's a powerful combination.

Rotorua may have less than a tenth of the people that Auckland has but the riding scene offers double the opportunities.

So when local tempers occasionally flare over issues like trail design, maintenance and other 'bike politics', remember just how good it is here – and if you volunteer and put a bit extra in, it just gets better.

www.rotoruabikefestival.com

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Rotorua Daily Post

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Sport

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

03 Jul 10:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM

Amelia Twiss and George Fisher made the journey over 10 days.

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

Rugby showdown: Local teams gear up for Baywide semis

09 Jul 06:00 AM
Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

Five Steamers players making waves in the Māori All Blacks

03 Jul 10:00 PM
'It’s a big deal': Young gamers chase international esports glory

'It’s a big deal': Young gamers chase international esports glory

30 Jun 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

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
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • 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