Four Forty Mountain Bike Park opened to the public for the very first time back in November 2014. The man behind the vision for the Park is Byron Scott. Byron is a good mate of ours who we go way back with. Having shared too many rides and cold ones with him to mention we can fast forward to April 2023. The bike park is about to wrap up its 9th full season of commercial operation. Even though it was so late in the season we couldn't hold ourselves back when Byron asked if he could join us on the
VIRIS BRAND NZ's journey as a retail partner. For you guys that means real products in a real store that you can see with your own eyes and touch with your own hands. There are many reasons why stocking VIRIS BRAND products at Four Forty makes so much sense for us. Byron’s commitment to the customer experience is one of them and we could chew your grandma's ear off about the rest. But we just think it’s cool that you can have a quality riding experience on the bike and supplement that with a bit of shopping in a beautiful rural setting that encompasses all that is good about New Zealand mountain biking.
Want to know a little more about the bike park itself? Well, Byron and the team continue to work on the evolution of the trails and park infrastructure at an almost constant rate. The bulk of the trail construction and maintenance work is taken care of by nationally renowned trail-building company Trailpro. Sizable investments have been made at the park in recent years. One of the most visible of those is a new base building including office and retail space that is larger in size than most dedicated urban retail spaces. This building replaces what was a little too rustic to be safe for public use sheep shearing shed but maintains its rural character with a nod to the land's previous commercial uses. This asset signals the permeance of the park and Byron’s intention to continue to improve all aspects of the customer experience. That's a good enough reason for us to crack a Redbull and send another lap and why this partnership is so valuable to Liam and Cam. Surrounding the base building over 4000 native plants have been placed as further evidence of the thought and care that has gone into all aspects of the park’s current existence.
It has been no easy feat to reach this level of development with nothing but private investment from Byron himself. It has been Byron’s enthusiasm for mountain biking, quality trails and seeing diehard customers return to the park to ride year after year that has fueled the efforts required to open and operate the park each season. Byron compares the journey to this point to a crawl across the desert; “you are halfway across the desert what do you do?”. You are a legend mate. It is this bullish approach combined with Byron’s creative problem-solving that results in an approach to life and business that most would shy away from. That's another cheers from us.
Today there is 22km of trail that exists in the park with a variety of trail styles and grades, the quality of which is rivaled by few commercial bike parks globally. The attention to detail in the construction of the trails and as a result the ride experience at Four Forty can only be described as a true feeling of flow. This is what keeps the core local and regional customers coming back and is now starting to attract users from an increasingly wider geographical area. From narrow, off-camber hand-cut lines and a national downhill racetrack; to fast-flowing digger-built lines and flowing jump lines the park has evolved significantly. 440 has been home to a swathe of national and regional events since day 1 including Auckland Downhill Champs, National Cross Country and Downhill Series rounds, the annual 440 Gravity Enduro, National Secondary Schools champs and of course none other than the Dodzy Memorial Enduro.
Just as much as Byron is stoked to have established a key relationship with us as a supplier, we are stoked to join the Four Forty Park journey. We look forward to shredding trails and supporting events at what we reckon is one of the best niche gravity-riding locations in New Zealand.
Find out more about Four Forty here: