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After 10 years of dominating the US Downhill MTB circuits, John Kirkcaldie retired at the tender age of 30. Returning home to NZ, as far as we’re concerned he’s only just started going fast...

John, or JK as he is more widely known is a born and bred New Zealander. His efforts on a mountain bike have taken him all over the world and paid the bills for almost 15 years – but that’s just half his life.

Born to a mother and father just like the rest of us, JK started out riding his BMX all over the place – like many kids have before. But it was a fateful day when he saw downhill mountain bike racing on TV and was instantly caught by the bug, and decided to give that a go instead. He saved up enough money to buy himself a reasonably good quality MTB and started going to the local and national Downhill races. From the get go, JK proved he was a natural, cleaning out the clubman and intermediate level grades pretty early on. It wasn’t long before he was mixing it up with the big boys, with just as much success, eventually taking on the pro classes and winning seven NZ MTB titles (four in Downhill and three in 4-Cross).

The natural progression was to go overseas and soon he was racing in the US National Downhill circuit, where he secured a spot on the prestigious Maxxis MTB Team. He officially turned Pro in 1998 and stayed Pro until 2006, when he retired from the sport. During that 10 year stint, JK picked up two US National titles (’01 ’02), won the US Open of MTB in 2006 and throughout his career, was never outside the top ten - ever!

Being based in the US, his season consisted of seven months on and five months off although it was never really ‘off’ time, as he needed to stay bike fit for the following season. At the end of 2006, he decided he’d had enough of the constant travelling. “I’d reached all my goals and was starting to feel burnt out,” JK explains. “I figured it wasn’t worth digging it in for another few years when my heart wasn’t really in it. So I decided to call its quits in 2006 after 10 years being a Pro, and I also wanted to get out while I was still on top.” His spot on team Maxxis didn’t go to waste as JK managed to line up another promising young NZ rider get onto the team which was obviously successful as he’s still riding for team Maxxis right now.

“I always qualified for the World Champs events easy as, but for one reason or another it never worked out. Some years I had bad luck and others I was at the top of my game and just put too much pressure on myself.” This left him without ever gaining a World Championship – but it is something that JK doesn’t regret.

2006 was also the year he came back home to Taupo and put himself into relax mode. Obviously not being a paid racer anymore, he needed to eventually find work, which wasn’t hard as he is a builder by trade. But having been a factory racer who has raced regularly all over Europe, including places like Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, France, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, and outside Europe in countries such as Japan, Canada, Hawaii and OZ, it wasn’t the easiest thing to slide back into the 9-5 way of life.

It was inevitable that for someone who was so far up in his sporting code, there would be an itch to get out and do something. MTB wasn’t turning his wheels so he decided he would get into the next best thing – motorbikes. “I started by getting myself a Honda CRF20R and then moved onto a CRF450 ’09. I’ve been doing a bit of MX for fun but nothing serious. I’ve also done some 40km loops and I am enjoying blasting through the trees”. He’s only done about 10 months of proper riding, and by proper I mean competing and not just riding for fun.

Round 3 of the NZ enduro champs in Akito was JK’s first dip into endurance racing waters, where he finished an impressive fourth place in the E3 class aboard his CRF450. He then went to the final TT-R Enduro just out of his hometown of Taupo and got two positions further ahead, finishing second behind Jason Davis. “I really enjoyed those two enduros, but I’m still a little tentative in the tests. I’m finding it hard to go from cruising pace straight to full speed - but that will come. I’ve done one of those Dirt Guide cross-countries too, and that was great. Though I kept getting caught out with the front on tree roots and crashing.”

It’s not an easy transition from pushbike to dirt bike, but with early results like that, and JK’s obvious natural ability on two-wheeled machines, it would be safe to say there is more to come from the Taupo local. “Most things are different compared to mountain bikes. I mean sure you definately have an advantage over someone who hasn’t done any kind of riding, but it’s still all quite different. The front brake is about the only thing that’s the same. The clutch is all new to me, and the rear brake being on your foot, then there is the throttle too. Even how you ride the bike is way different, corner entry and leaning into the corners instead of leaning away from then. You really need to pick good lines when on a MTB and momentum and corner speed is paramount to how fast you can get down a hill. I can pick good lines in that respect and I think I can jump pretty ok too…”

JK also entered the Red Bull City Scramble and was looking good until an unfortunate incident inside the infamous skip bins managed to break his ankle! With some time off restricted to the couch, he has set some goals for him and his bike for the near future - top five overall in enduro as well as cross country. “They are realistic goals I think and I’m just going to keep working towards that. Also, I’d like to have a main sponsor who looks after me bike-wise, so hopefully that will come too.” We’re sure knowing how JK managed to succeed in the world of MTB, that those goals probably aren’t too far away…

From DRD#48