Take the strain out of uphill cycling…with a helicopter. 
What were you doing around the end of November? Our new Cycling buyer Mike Sanderson was out in New Zealand taking helicopters into the hills and cycling back down. Seems like fun, right? Mike is an avid biker and always looking for the next thrill on two wheels, he recently passed through an article written by travel writer Jeff Kavanagh, who wrote up their experience in New Zealand last month.
The two men join two Americans and their guide in a helicopter to the summit of Crown Peak, some 1754 metres up. The route down is a selection of four wheel drive tracks, single tracks covered with uneven rocks that pose as a danger for any inexperienced riders. Mike has been racing and riding mountain bikes since he was 13 years old, but at age 30 still considers himself a learner. A great quote from Jeff’s article came when he asked Mike about sustaining injuries while biking:
“it’s no real surprise he has, and he runs through a catalogue of serious injuries crowned by a shattered pelvis, the result of sailing into a tree after a high speed jump went awry”
Like many a mountain biker, Mike doesn’t let the injuries bother him and maintains that an extreme sport wouldn’t be extreme without a little danger thrown in. The Heli-biking trip came as part of Mike’s belated honeymoon, something he had always wanted to try and was given the go ahead by his new wife.
Mike joins us from Raleigh and comes with great experience both personally and professionally in the cycling industry and looks to help take the GO Outdoors cycling department to the next level.
If you’re a keen mountain biker, you may see Mike at some events (he raced at the Forest of Dean just this weekend) let us know if you see him on the starting line!
A huge welcome to GO Outdoors!
Brandon
