NZ’S FINEST MTB FREERIDER CONOR MACFARLANE

Loaded his fully spec’d Land Cruiser with bikes, dig gear and two friends to explore uncharted terrain.

New Zealand’s South Island is a paradise for Mountain biking, from a snatched hour of single track to an 8 day expedition or from the intensity of the Skyline Bikepark in Queenstown to Vinyard tours of Alexandra, you can design a bike trip to suit your style of riding (and eating (and drinking)). The one thing that won’t change though is the scenery, so bring a hardrive because you’re going to fill up every last kb of storage on every device you have taking photos of landscapes. Conor Macfarlane is New Zealand’s most talented freeride mountain biker, he lives in Queenstown and works flexible hours as a builder. This gives him the freedom to chase an endless summer between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The thing that makes Conors riding stand out is its diversity, his CV is one of the most varied you’ll find anywhere in mountain biking. He has competed at Red Bull Rampage the pinnacle of freeriding, but is equally at home racing the Endurance World Series or shredding a Crankworx Whip Off contest. This versatility is what has built Conors global reputation as a sender with finesse. It has also made him the perfect test pilot to help us develop the Mons Royale bike range. Despite all the travel Conor is never happier when he’s exploring in his own backyard and that was the inspiration for this little mission.

There are one million people living on the South Island, which has a land mass of 150,000km2. To put that in perspective England has a land mass of 130,000km2 and has 53 million people. That means there is still quite a bit of wild land to explore and there is no better way to take it in than with a decent 4×4. Conors 4.1L 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser decked out with a roof tent, awning and bike rack is the boss mother when it comes to a landscape like this. No matter how hard they tried to create some drama by bogging the old best it just kept coming up smiling. There’s a reason why Toyota’s are so popular in NZ…

Conor, took photographer Jay French and filmer Jono Drew along for the ride, but the price of admission was a stint on the tools. Everyone got stuck in and Conor estimates he spent 10 hours on the shovel, which considering he looks like he’s made of oak and works as a professional builder means he probably shifted three times as much dirt as a mortal. Of all the features they created this gap to wallride, gap out was Conors favourite. The rock feature isn’t actually rock though it’s a coprolite deposit, in layman’s terms that’s dinosaur shit. This particular pile was made by a Conorsauraus Rex.

The real joy of a trip like this is not having to burst the bubble and return to reality at the end of the day. Two Esky’s full of cold beer, good mates and a sunset, what more do you need.

This shot is so perfect, Connors back tire is parallel with the horizon, just to his left the cloud has dropped down to brush the hilltops and has caught the light and off in the distance under the sun the glaciers are reflecting the last light. When they set off on this trip they would have been dreaming of bagging a shot like this. Mission accomplished.