As the final touches are made to Wakefield’s enormous new pump track off Pigeon Valley Road, locals can look forward to the grand opening which is on Saturday 22nd May at 1.30pm. “The asphalt is going down this week which is the final piece in a five-year-long puzzle for me,” says project manager, Dan Shallcrass. McGazzaland, which was named by children at a nearby school, is a tribute to Wakefield’s late Kelly McGarry, a world-famous freeride mountainbiker who died aged 33 in 2016 after suffering a cardiac arrest while riding a Queenstown trail.
The initial concept of the skills park began two weeks before Kelly died. He had a conversation with Dan about wanting to give back to his hometown after finding global success as a mountain- biker. At the time, Kelly, a former Waimea College student, said, “It’s great to come back to Nelson and see everyone so stoked on riding and every little thing about bike riding. If I can offer something back to the kids, I’m gonna.”
With those words fresh in his mind, Dan pushed on with the community project turning it into the huge adventure park it is today. “That conversation was the motivation behind my whole involvement,” says Dan. “When I started on McGazzaland, there was nothing out here. We just started building dirt jumps and things took off from there.”
Located on piece of TDC-owned land between the Wakefield Fire Station and the Wai-iti River, the site is larger than a football field.
The park has dirt jumps for bikes but also an asphalt-covered pump track for scooters, skateboards and even e-bikes, so older folk can have a go too. It also means smaller riders can build their confidence, too.
“We’ve had funding from the Lottery Grants Board and the Rata Foundation, which is a big part of how we have done it,” says Dan. “We have worked closely with Wakefield Community Council and the bulk of work is done by volunteers.”
The project, costing around $200,000, has been a labour of love and one that those involved are proud to have been part of. “Kelly was one of a kind,” says Dan. “When I rode the track for the first time last week, he was on my mind. He’d be stoked to see what we’ve created. But he’d also be bummed that he’s not here to ride it.”
The crew is also made up of some of Kelly’s Queenstown friends, who have commuted back and forth to work on the project. “He was in my inner circle of close friends,” says Tom Hey, who has done ground works at the site. “We also ran a construction business together. Our aim is to make McGazzaland a destination for riders. Kelly would have loved that.”
The next stage is to raise enough funding to put in a permanent skate bowl to replace the temporary one which is currently there. For more information and updates, see McGazzaland on Facebook.