BY: ROB HOFFMAN
Kelly McGarry— a wild Kiwi with a passion for pushing limits and backyard barbeques —is one of mountain biking’s most recognizable figures. With unparalleled intensity and a charismatic riding style, his first person Go Pro videos will have you sweating more than a dolphin in Taiji, Japan.
With a 6 foot 5 frame and long blonde hair, McGarry looks like Thor ditched Valhalla to take up mountain biking. He rides with a meandering rhythm, pounding his bike through the silt like an extension of his own two feet.
Though McGarry has always had an infatuation for bikes, he admits that before 2006 he would have never imagined turning it into a career. He mostly rode Motocross in his younger years, but soon the financial weight of the sport bore in and he made the switch to BMX. “When I was young instead of doing my homework I’d be out riding my bike.” McGarry laughs. Around the age of eighteen, McGarry outgrew his BMX and sought out an alternative that would better suit his towering frame. Mountain Biking was a perfect fit, accommodating both his size and love of the outdoors.
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As McGarry grew into adulthood, he got his Master Carpenter Certification, never expecting to actually derive a sustainable career from biking. But the itch to bike and travel persisted inside him, and in 2006 he booked his first overseas flight to Whistler for the Crankworx competition, his first ever slopestyle event. Mountain biking began to pick up for McGarry, and in 2010 he solidified 5th place at Crankworx. Everything started coming together, and a few years later he would become the mountain biking giant he is today.
These days McGarry engages life with a big smile and his laid back New Zealander charm, cultivating good vibes and radiating with infectious positivity. Maybe it’s because he’s spent the last nine years in perpetual summer, moving back and forth between Queenstown, New Zealand and Whistler, British Columbia, shredding some of the finest scenery on Earth. But the continuum of two-wheeled mountaineering and backyard barbecues is fueled by an incredible dedication and focus, which unlike many riders, goes undisturbed by the temptation of a winter season on the Whistler slopes.
McGarry’s most prominent career highlight was his run at Red Bull Rampage, 2013. You can hear the Red Bull announcers nearly soiling their pants in the background as McGarry throws a backflip over the 72-foot canyon. Don’t believe me, fast forward to 1:10 and witness the glory for yourself. He took home second place and the “People’s Choice Award” at Rampage, although personally, after seeing the first place run, my chips would have been on McGarry. The YouTube commentary shares my opinion.
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In the end, I get the feeling that McGarry (or as his New Zealand boys refer to him, McGazza), doesn’t care too much what place he comes in, so long as he gets to go home after and share some backyard beers with his crew. He describes a perfect day for me, “After having a big day on the bike, when I’ve got in a full day of riding with my friends and I’ve been pushing myself, I head home and have a BBQ with the boys and chill and look back on the day—that’s what’s really great to me.”
As his fans will contend, McGarry is one of the most down to earth, gold-hearted dudes you’ll ever have the pleasure of speaking with. As one of the biggest names in Mountain Biking—and aside from his unmatchable style on two-wheels—McGarry’s eternal modesty and simple approach to life will carve a path for up and coming athletes for years to come.
This is what McGazza has to say himself:
How do you convince yourself to get back on the bike again after taking an intense spill?
Did you see my crash at Rampage? That was terrible man. I crashed so bad. The worst crash of my life. I thought “well there goes my Red Bull Rampage.” My bike was history and I was feeling like a truck had backed me down.
Then I went home and got a massage and physio and started feeling okay physically, but mentally getting over that crash was pretty tough. To actually get myself to go back to the top [of the run] and roll in, and potentially have that happen again…that was so hard!
But you’ve gotta push through that and learn from your mistakes. And I’m so glad I did. Part of me just wanted to chill and watch the event from the side-line, but I pushed through the physical and mental barriers so that I could ride and not have any regrets about not riding, and so my crew back in New Zealand could be proud that I got out there.
Somehow there were no broken bones—I guess I’m a pretty big dude, hard to break. You can’t kill a weed—I’ll just keep coming back!
What’s your favourite terrain to ride?
The Red Bull Rampage style terrain is actually my favourite. It’s what we call “free riding” because there’s no real defined trail. You’re just riding what Mother Nature put there. Down the hill you can ride your own interpretation of the terrain.
You said you get a certain buzz from hitting jumps?
Yeah definitely man. On some of the courses like Red Bull Rampage, you’re so worked up and nervous at the top. Especially at competitions, you’re really nervous because you want to do well and not get smashed up. So there’s all this tension at the top, and when you ride down and get through the course good and make all your jumps, once you get over the last jump and exhale it’s such an awesome feeling. I’ve never come across any other feeling like it. All the adrenaline dies down, and it’s absolutely awesome.
Has the point-of-view perspective of the Go Pro been a game changer for mountain biking?
Yeah definitely! Go Pro is one of my biggest sponsors and they really support me. I’m real stoked to be working with them, and having the Go Pro POV camera has changed a lot about our sport. It allows the viewer to see exactly what I see, and puts them in my shoes and it’s an awesome perspective. For everyone else who doesn’t do the sport, it’s amazing to give them that window into what we see when we ride. And for me, it’s really cool to see the perspectives from other different sports around the world.
How did you get the nickname McGazza?
It’s kind of a “down unda thing” mate! Haha. You know, with people down here if your friend’s name is Sharon, she’ll be called Shazza. If your mate’s name’s Barrie, it’ll change to Bazza. Even other things like if you need to go out and grab some beers, you might take the vazza — you know, for van haha. So I guess it’s kind of a joke down here, but literally everybody calls me that. You just can’t fight stuff like that, just roll with it and embrace it.
Is it important to create your own downhill biking style?
Absolutely, style is really important in Downhill Mountain biking. There are guys that can do every trick under the sun, but look like a robot on a bike. You gotta ride with flow and have your own style that’s not the same as every other dude out there.
Do you think that surrounding yourself with nature makes you a happier person?
Definitely. I grew up in the country in a bit of a farming area, so I’ve never really been a city person. I’m not into the hustle and bustle—it doesn’t really make me happy. But when I’m at the top of the mountain, and I climbed up and it was hard work to get to the top, and I look around and see everything out there in the world, damn that feels good. That’s why I do it, and it definitely makes me really happy. I’m stoked that my job involves that.
What’s the most important quality to have as a mountain biker?
One of the most important qualities is you’ve gotta be able to take a beating. There’s a lot of guys out there that rip hard, but at some point or another you’re going to come in contact with the ground. If you’re not built to take a beating, or you’re just a wiener, you’re probably not going to last too long. You take a hell of a beating in some of the crashes, and you’ve gotta just get back up and keep going.
At least that’s one of the most important qualities.
Do you plan to keep riding for the rest of your life?
I think as long as I’m still genuinely having fun with it and stoked, I’ll keep going. Obviously you can’t keep riding off cliffs your whole life, but you can explore different avenues and move onto different parts of the riding scene. At this stage here, I’m still stoking hard and getting that buzz, especially from going off big jumps. But after I’m not comfortable doing that I’ll probably just move to a different avenue of the riding scene.
