LOUISE KELLY
Louise Kelly is a 26 year old enduro racer living in Nelson, New Zealand. Originally heralding from a small village called Garelochead in Scotland, she moved to New Zealand as a child but didn’t start biking until just 6 years ago.
Video by Upstream Films
When I started it didn’t begin in the hills but I quickly gravitated towards them as I discovered the great range of trails around Nelson. As I got more confident I started hunting out harder trails and bigger challenges for myself and quickly progressed.
I’m originally from Scotland but have spent most of my life in Nelson, New Zealand. Outside of biking, I am a qualified strength and conditioning coach so I love to spend a bit of time in the gym. I am also a black belt in Judo and blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so I usually try do 1 or 2 sessions in the dojo a week, and also fit in a 40 hour work week.
I come from a really sporty family so as a kid I’d always be doing activities and I would always ride bike to school. I did some triathlons and things but it wasn’t until I decided to do some riding for some extra fitness that I realised just how fun mountain biking is!
I did my first proper enduro in 2018 and it was the infamous Mammoth enduro in Nelson, NZ. It was a massive 9 stage race in the rain but that’s what got me hooked. Since then I have been doing lots of enduro races and downhill races in NZ.
My riding style is pretty loose! I’m definitely a point shoot rider and love riding super steep, fast tracks the most!
Mountain biking gives you such incredible freedom. It connects you to so many new people and places - what’s not to love!
I love to ride my local trails around Nelson because it’s where I learnt to ride and where I found the love of mountain biking. My favourite track at home is a track called Putakari, it’s rocky and fast. I love it because it’s got it all and I always have a massive smile on my face at the bottom
I’ve build my bike up to be pretty beefy. 170 mm of travel front with the DVO Onyx 38 up front to save my body in big hits. Although my Claymore is set up for big hits, it also climbs really well so ultimately I’ve set my bike up to do everything I want it to do!
I’ve got big race plans for the year ahead. I have already done a National downhill round in Christchurch where I won and raced the enduro national champs where I came 2nd. That was great as it was in front of my home crowd. I’ve got more local races before I head over to Europe for the EDR season and may even head over to Deviate HQ and my birthplace, Garelochead.
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