John Pyper Interview

In April, Imogen Smith ventured to Alice Springs for the Easter in the Alice MTB race, and to discover the network of flowing trails in our red centre. She also found countless people who are passionate about mountain biking, and helping it grow in Alice Springs. This is the full interview with John Pyper, event director for Easter in the Alice and Club President of the Central Australian Rough Riders (CARR).

AMB: How long have you been in Alice Springs, and what got you involved in mountain biking and the club?

JP: I was born in Alice Springs and have lived here most of my life. I have a track endurance/road background through SASI, AIS and the national team both as a rider (1000kgs ago) and then as a coach. When I returned to Alice Springs in 1997 I joined the NT Fire and Rescue Service and started coaching junior track and road riders. I then got approached to coach some junior mountain bikers. I love all types of cycling but was blown away by the casual and relaxed attitude of mountain bikers and immediately fell in love with the discipline as it seemed like the perfect sport for Alice Springs.

In 2009 Mountain Biking in Central Australia was in desperate need of proper structure, management and a strong voice and thus the Central Australian Rough Riders (CARR) was formed by a small group of committed people to give the sport some clear direction. CARR isn’t the first MTB club to be based in Alice and the Alice Springs Mountain Bike Club was very active in the late ‘90s and early 2000s and the people involved back then are responsible for a lot of the great trails we ride on today.

AMB: What’s your role with CARR now and how long have you been doing it?

JP: I am the club president and have shared the role with Ben Gooley for the past 5 years since the club was formed in late 2009. Although I am the club president my passion and main role is junior development. I also look after the strategic development for the club working with Government, Land managers, NT parks, Tourism NT and Aboriginal Land organisations to help develop the sport in the region.

AMB: How big is the club? What is the balance of men and women? How many mtb riders to you estimate there are in Alice Springs?

JP: The club peaks at 180 members at different times of the year due to the rolling membership.

We have between 40 and 50 female riders, again depending on the rolling membership. I was informed by MTBA a year or so ago that we had one of the healthiest female memberships in the country and is something that we are constantly trying to develop further.

I think there is probably another 100+ mountain bikers in Alice Springs. Not everyone wants to be involved with a club and that’s fine but I also think that a lot of people don’t realise that CARR isn’t your normal type of sporting club as our focus is not mainly on competition but rather one of whole of sport.

AMB: How active is the club? How often do you hold events and what do you put on?

JP: The club is very active in the community. We hold a great variety of events throughout the year from XC to enduros and now one of the best stage races in the world!

We are a bit different out here and have a climate the rest of the country, in fact the world is envious of. During our winter when the nights are bitterly cold and the days are sensational we hold our longer point-to-point and marathon-type events. In the summer it is to hot to ride during the day so we ride early in the morning or at late afternoon and at night – it is still between 23 and 27 degrees at night here during the summer. Instead of set lap races our XC races are all 1 hour long called the “Hour of Power” and you get to do as many or as little number of laps as you like. That way the rockets get to go flat out and the recreation riders feel no pressure to go any quicker than they want to. All our club races usually attract between 40 and 60 riders of all ages and ability.

We have a couple of special events throughout the year including the Firefly 12hr night enduro in February that always attracts 50+ riders and is run from the grassy banks of the Todd River at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station through the Alice Springs MTB trail network.

We have the Subway Mt Gillen 6hr enduro in August which is basically a day of fun on the bike with most riders dressing up them selves or their bikes and just letting loose in the Araluen trail network on the western side of town. This event gets nearly 100 riders each year with kids races and fun side events going on all day.

We participate in local events like the Bangtail Muster Parade which is a local traditional parade on the first Monday in May. We encourage anyone but mainly the juniors to dress up and we all ride down the Todd Mall in the middle of town on our bikes spreading the MTB cheer.

The club has trail maintenance days and helped organise an IMBA trail maintenance workshop last year to enable locals to be able to build and maintain sustainable trails not just for the present but for mountain bikers in the future.

We also have weekly club social rides throughout the year and a very active Facebook social riding group that encourages riders of all abilities and ages to just come out and have a ride in a casual and relaxed atmosphere.

AMB: We heard that a truck-full of Alice riders went to the Scott24 hour… sounds like a great story, can you tell me about it?

JP: This is a pretty big story but here goes.

As part of our junior development program I take a group of junior riders to the Scott 24 each year to enable them to ride within their own ability but also within a team environment to develop their skills off the bike. I have also been trying to get more adult riders to come so that as a mountain bike community we can develop further by seeing how other regions have developed the sport and bring fresh ideas home.

Whilst at the 2013 National Championships in Stromlo I was talking to one of the parents of our junior riders Craig Pankhurst who owns the Central Australian Driving School about the high cost of local Alice riders attending interstate events especially 24hr events. It is not just the travel but also the infrastructure that we then have to hire whenever we attend an event and it becomes a very expensive exercise.

Craig turned to me and said “What if we bought a 40 foot semi trailer down to Stromlo with all the bikes and all the camping gear then all the riders will have to do is organise their travel?”

I am constantly being reminded daily by my awesome wife Emma and monthly by the CARR club committee that the world isn’t quite ready for some of the outlandish ideas I come up with in regards to my approach to life and the development of mountain biking but at that moment in time I knew I had found a bloke who was as mad as me!

“That’s an awesome idea – I’ll be right back” I said.

I raced over to Russell Baker and said “Russ – If I bring down a semi trailer to the Scott 24 this year with a bunch of riders from Alice can I park it out the back in the camping area”

“I guess so but you will have to park it on the boundary fence” was his reply

I’m sure he thought I was joking because who drives a semi trailer for 3 days over 2,600km to a bike race for the weekend then turns around and drives home?

We do and that’s when the hard work really started.

With the support of our good mate Theo Van Luenen (another parent of a junior rider) who is also the voice of reason when Craig and I get a bit excited; we started putting together the boldest plan for the largest group of NT riders of any discipline to attend an event interstate.

We were also launching the 2014 Lasseters Easter In The Alice Mountain Bike Muster and we decided we could use the opportunity to help advertise the event. This would also give us another avenue to be able to return the kind support of local sponsors that were going to be needed to pull this off. Craig supplied the truck and the trailer and kindly let us cover the whole side of the trailer with a huge transfer to advertise the event and the sponsors who supported us – we were underway.

With the support of the Central Australian Driving School, Chambers Engineering, Tourism NT, Van Luenen Diesel Services, Ultimate Ride Bike Shop, MacDonnell Range Holiday Park, AA signs and design, Alice Hosetech, Creative Gifts and Parks NT we were able to raise enough money to be able to take the biggest local club team support vehicle in history to the 2013 Scott 25.

In true NT style we arrived at the Scott with our massive semi trailer and parked with the caravans and gazebos in the powered site area. We actually bought 2 generators with us but it was the only place we could fit. What were the generators for? Well as you guessed it we don’t do things by half up here and we had a huge trailer with only 32 bikes and swags in it. The trailer is an insulted refrigerated trailer so Craig had a commercial size reverse cycle air-conditioner he just happened to have in his workshop put into a special frame which was mounted at the rear of the trailer keeping those sleeping in it at a balmy 23 degrees over the frosty weekend. A huge canvas barrier with closing door was made and fitted by Craigs’ sister in law in Renmark SA (where we stopped on the way down and Craig proved he is the worlds worst fisherman) to keep the warm air in. We borrowed the Alice Springs Swimming Clubs Bain Marie, got a large microwave oven, 2 fridges, some gas heaters and then proceeded to set up one of the best 20m long team marques ever off the side of the trailer.

In the end we had were able to form 5 teams with a total of 32 riders for the 2013 Scott 25 – this is the biggest group of riders from the NT to ever participate in an event outside of the NT. We had our usual team of 8 juniors which was great. We had 2 teams of 6 mixed, and 1 team of 6 men but for the first time in the history of the sport we were able to form a Female team of 6 called the Easter In The Alice Divas which was bloody fantastic. The Divas team was special as it was made up of a mix of Masters, Weekend Warriors, Recreational and Junior riders. The ladies had a ball and we were so proud of them that the club nominated them in the 2013 NT Sports Awards in the NT Sports Team of the year category. The ladies made it through to the final 3 but were pipped by the NT Thunder AFL team. Whilst they didn’t win the ladies impact on female mountain biking will be felt for many years to come.

When we go to interstate events we have a tradition where we also contact any former Alice Springs riders and invite them along if their local club is not attending. At last years Scott 25 we had 2 juniors from NSW along with 1 junior and a senior rider from SA come along which again says a lot about the culture of our club and the way we are developing our sport here in Alice Springs.

So after many months of very hard work our little club proved again that we are capable of great things and the spirit of the people that live out in the desert is something we can all be very proud of. This was definitely not the trucks only trip and we hope to go to many more events and enjoy the great camaraderie that comes with mountain biking in Australia.

At this point I would like to say that the CORC club have gone out of their way to assist me over the last 3 years when I have needed help to get juniors to the Scott 24 and other Canberra events and is another example of the type of people that this sport attracts.

AMB: Are visitors from out of the Territory welcome at club events…?

JP: ABSOLUTELY – Race events are on the Club website and MTBA events calendar.

Anyone from anywhere at any time is welcome on a ride in Alice Springs.

AMB: Seems like supporting juniors is an important part of the club’s work… What does the club do to help them get into the sport?

JP: I have developed a dual pathway program for juniors in Alice Springs.

I developed a program called Dusty Demons (DDs), which caters for riders from 2yrs of age – Its not restricted by age but that’s the youngest we’ve had on a strider bike.

We have cleaned up some vacant land, built a short course track right in town with different variations for age and ability that is accessible by the towns paved bike path.

In 3 x 8 week blocks throughout the year on a Monday evening we get between 40 and 50 junior riders with up to 12 junior females come down and we have races for Striders/trainer wheels, U5, U7, U9, U11, U13.

The races are purely designed around participation and we have a novelty event at the end of each session called a helmet race where the kids in a le-mans style start run to their helmets and put them on then run to their bikes which are all mixed up like their helmets and then they complete a lap of the course. If you have ever seen Camel racing which is complete chaos then it is very similar. The sessions go for an hour and the kids just have fun on their bikes in the dirt and learn some skills as well. I am in the process of building a pump track and a purpose built skills area for the kids.

DDs also participates in things like the Bangtail Muster parade and there was 40 kids at the Telegraph Stn just after the Adult riders left on stage 3 of the Lasseters Easter In The Alice Mountain Bike Muster as we always have a huge Easter egg hunt after a quick helmet race on Easter Sunday – Helmets with linings are great to collect eggs in!

We have parent days where we help educate parents on the types and sizes of bikes for their kids. We are involved with the NT Government schools sports voucher scheme where parents get $150 vouchers that go towards helping for junior sporting costs (registration etc). Where the cost is only $35 we also supply clothing for juniors as well so parents get full value of the voucher.

All our events have categories and appropriate distances for juniors. We have an U13 category where the juniors ride with a chaperone at events at their own speed. This helps them develop the skills, awareness and confidence needed to ride with groups of riders of different speeds and ability in the future in at both events and just general social riding.

The junior program then splits into 2 pathways. 1 for kids who just want to ride at club or a social level and 1 for kids who want to ride at a competitive level. Each pathway has specific infrastructure to allow the juniors to develop at their own pace. This also allows juniors in the U17 and U19 age group to switch between both programs to allow for the increase in school work as they reach the end of high school if need be. We target specific events for the juniors such as the Scott 24 or similar type events where they can ride at their own pace and enjoy the team camaraderie we all enjoy. Then we target national rounds, national champs and 1 day races for the riders that want to ride more competitively. Although there are 2 pathways the program is inclusive and all the juniors ride together regardless of ability and all participate together at club events so they can all appreciate the type of riding each one enjoys.

AMB: How long has it taken you to get Lasseters Easter in the Alice off the ground?

JP: 5 years.

I came up with the idea before the club was formed but I wasn’t sure about the format. We wanted the type of event we would travel to ride in at a price that allowed every rider to be able to enter. The committee were very supportive and agreed we needed to tweak the format for a couple of years until we would be satisfied it was ready to launch to the rest of the country. I also travelled to different events around the country to see what people really liked. At the end of the process we think we have come up with an event over 3 days that every type of rider will be able to afford to participate in and enjoy regardless of age or ability – we want everyone to enjoy it without compromise.

AMB: How important have the community been to getting this event going?

JP: The support from the whole Alice Springs community in making the Lasseters Easter In The Alice Mountain Bike Muster a success has been nothing short of amazing. Our naming rights sponsor Lasseters Hotel and Casino didn’t  just sign on and ask for an unrealistic immediate return. Instead Lasseters sat down with us and asked us what we needed and how could they help to make it a success. Lasseters then committed to a multi year agreement to ensure that we could make it happen and were actually the ones who came up with the idea of starting and finishing the first 2 stages indoors in the Alice Springs Convention Centre. They even let us cut a hole in their perimeter fence so riders didn’t have to go around the boundary each day when they finished – not to many organisations have major sponsors that are prepared to give that level of commitment.

Our gold sponsors, Subway Mt Gillen and Penny Farthing Avanti Plus were the same committing immediately to multi years and then sitting down and asking exactly what we needed. Penny Farthing being a bike shop was a great fit as it allowed us to supply prizes from a local bike shop that we knew riders would love. Subway Mt Gillen not only supplied all the volunteers with shirts they also fed them with great nutritious food. Subway Mt Gillens’ support also allowed the riders to have treats at each water stop with copious amounts of Subway cookies – I know the Subway cookies were the reason some riders were able to finish the epic 87km bunny buster final stage!

The NT Government also came on board as a gold sponsor and are very keen to see the event become a great success. The current government has a fantastic track record in regards to supporting mountain biking. The NT government has already committed $150,000 to the new Alice Springs MTB Trail Network at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station so they are very keen to see the event reach it’s full potential. This is very reassuring from an organisational perspective as it means we don’t have to keep fighting to keep the event going but just concentrate on making it the best it can be.

The Alice Springs Town Council (ASTC) have been huge supporters of CARR and mountain biking and have gone out of their way to ensure we have access to any infrastructure needed to be able to run the event professionally without any compromise in line with the best events in the country. This level of support from a local council is very rare and is one of the great things about living in Alice Springs.

We had a number of fantastic event supporters like Easy Car Wash who supplied tokens so riders could clean their bikes only a couple of hundred metres from the event hub. Central Australian Driving School (CADS) with the huge trailer from the Scott that was parked out the front of the event hub all weekend, Van Luenen Diesel Services who stored equipment in their yard so we could have 24hr access to it, Lhere Artepe aboriginal corporation and the NT Lands department who assisted is getting all the permits for the courses without a single drama, Ben and Nicole Hayes who own Undoolya Cattle Station that the first 2 stages crossed who were so obliging and helpful with access to their land, The Alice Springs Desert Park who couldn’t do enough to assist us gain access to their land to hold the start of the final stage and Parks NT who we have built an incredibly strong relationship with over the past 4 years and have been a driving force in helping establish the Alice Springs MTB Trails network.

Every MTB club around the country struggles at times with volunteers as the events are so much fun to ride in. We decided to approach other sporting clubs to help us and in return we will help them with their events. This year we had support from both the Alice Springs Running and Walking Club and the Alice Springs Triathlon Club. This allowed us to have extra water stops for riders and has formed a great bond between the clubs which is great for the whole community. We also had assistance from the local Emergency Services unit and Sports Medicine Australia who have been very supportive of the club for a number of years now with all our big events.

In short the whole community has gotten behind us from small businesses to sporting clubs. This enables the Lasseters Easter In The Alice Mountain Bike Muster to be run professionally while allowing us to keep our small town feel and famous hospitality. That is our greatest resource, our members and our awesome community. It is something we are fiercely proud and protective of but is also the thing that we want to share the most with everyone else. We welcome every rider with open arms and open trails to have one of the best mountain biking experiences in the world.

All the combined support has enabled CARR to produce a world class event that people can enjoy for $100 – goal achieved!

I may be the face and voice of the Muster but the credit for the success of the event lies squarely with the clubs vice president Andrew Ballestrin, the CARR committee and all the members of CARR. They build and maintain the trails, They ensure the local culture is alive and well and they are the ones that pull it all together to enable so many others to have the time of their lives whilst visiting our town and our trails – they are just brilliant people. I said I may be the face and voice of the muster but without the support of my family and my incredible wife Emma the muster would still just be an idea floating around in the abyss between my ears. It is impossible to exaggerate the level of support Emma gives me to enable me to pour in the thousands of hours it takes to run an event this size – she is the most amazing person in the world!

AMB: What does the future hold for the race? What are your goals for it?

JP: The future is very bright for the event. All our sponsors are on board for years to come and we have been approached by a number of potential sponsors who are keen to get involved as well. The feedback we have received from riders has been fantastic and the whole Alice Springs Community wants to see the Muster reach it’s full potential.

The main goal for the event is for it to become a major mountain biking festival that has one of the best stage races in the world, whilst retaining the local feel and hospitality it is famous for.

The clear blue sky above the Alice is basically the limit – which is just the way we like it here in mountain biking heaven!