Freeriding Journey to backflip that made history

Growing up in the Chatham Islands, about 500 miles off New Zealand, Robin Goomes had a unique upbringing.

- Andy Cochrane

Growing up in the Chatham Islands, about 500 miles off New Zealand, Robin Goomes had a unique upbringing. She would often tag along with her mother, a conservation ranger, helping with pest control, feeding burrowing birds and planting trees around the island.

"I always looked up to her, but she was different from your average mum," says Goomes. "She was very hands-on, and taught me how to weld and how to shoot." After learning how to hunt possums, Goomes began making money by plucking possum fur and selling it. "That's how I paid for my first dirt bike, when I was 10."

Goomes's unusual childhood put her on a path towards becoming one of the top freeride mountain bikers in the world, including the first woman to land a backflip in competition.

When she was growing up, the Chathams had a population of 600 full-time residents, spread across three islands on small farms and settlements. In high school Goomes moved to Christchurch, but didn't like it initially. "I had so much less freedom. On the Chathams I learned to drive when I was 11 and would borrow my mum's car to set up possum traps. On the mainland I couldn't even ride a dirt bike up the street."

Living a few blocks from a BMX track, Goomes found a new outlet. Despite a late start in the sport, she competed in both the South and North Island titles and won New Zealand Nationals.