Forbidden 'The Gathering' NZ

With the first dry weekend in Wellington for quite some time, the stage was set for the inaugural ‘The Gathering’ NZ. Situated on Mt Victoria, in the heart of central Wellington, riders were greeted with clear skies and low winds (very uncommon for Wellington), brief rainfall the night before meant that trail conditions were almost perfect with low dusty levels and maximum traction.

After some chat, bike ogling, and locating a rather lost Jerry, the riders set off ready to make the most of the afternoon’s light. With Mt Victoria offering the options for multiple laps via an access road (232m Vert top to bottom), riders had the option to opt in and out, as they refueled before jumping back on for another lap.

After several top to bottom laps, down the likes of Hippies, Bomb Hole, V, Park Bench, and Water tower, the group decided to stop and session a section on TTS. Taking time to discuss line choice, braking points, and how much to commit before putting theory to the test and trying it for real.

As the afternoon shifted to early evening group naturally decided to session Mt Vic’s Infamous ‘Hospital Jumps’, with each rider trying to one-up the last. As the session went on more and more ticks came out and the riders started pushing the limits of just how far a whip could be brought back. With riders cheering and egging each other to go further and further.

Rumors of freshly delivered pizza soon brought all the riders back to base camp, where pizza and beers were, fortunately, waiting for them. Standing around eating pizza gave riders the perfect opportunity to trade riding stories and connect over their love of riding. The team at 3Sixty Sports had gone the extra length and surprised riders out with some custom ‘The Gathering’ tees, made especially for the event.

And just like that, the inaugural ‘The Gathering’ NZ was complete. With ideas already being thrown around for 2023, it looks like a tradition may have been born. Based on a shared love for riding and some high pivot witchcraft created by the legends at Forbidden Bicycle Company.

A massive thank you to the team at 3Sixty Sports for coming down and helping organize the event, the iRIDE crew for running the on the day admin and providing the local trail knowledge, Joe Houghton for taking photos on the day and helping organize the event. And of course, the legends at Forbidden Bicycle Company for creating bikes and a brand that people feel apart of and passionate about. See you all for 2023!!!

See all the pics from the day here

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