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PO Box 38170
Wellington Mail Centre
Lower Hutt 5045
Phone:
04 560 0333
Fax:
04 5600 400
Physical Address
Pelorus Trust Sports House
93 Hutt Park Road
Seaview 5010
Location Map (pdf)
Media Contact
Sarah van Boheemen
021 599 103
03 383 0024
Staff Contacts
Staff Profiles
Stephen Connell, Business Manager
Hi, I’m Steve. Like many people, I started out in cycling as a kid. I can clearly remember getting my first bike, a red three wheeler for Christmas. My love for the sport has grown over the passing years & still remains strong. Before coming to New Zealand in October 2005, I’ve had the good fortune to have travelled for close to 20 years & have lived in 6 countries for extended times during that period & visited many more. I was born and raised in Ireland. My bike has been a fellow traveler and I’ve made a number of friends in a lot of places through the sport of cycling & a shared love for the bike.
Over the years, I’ve done a good bit of road racing in a number of countries, tasted some moderate success – but more importantly - have had some experiences on the bike that will stay with me for the rest of my life. What I love most about the bike is the feeling of the “here and now” when being on the bike. I’ve also really enjoyed racing on a few teams (as an amateur) and the camaraderie of training and competing.
By profession I’m a chartered accountant. In BikeNZ, I look after the numbers and also give financial support across the different segments of the business. If you need to contact me, please call me at 04 560 0322 or Stephen.connell@bikenz.org.nz
Benji Hall, Marketing Communications Manager
 I distinctly remember my first bike being a hand me down from older cousins, spray
painted black with yellow wheels, and being awesome for a 5 year old! A couple years
later came the best Christmas present ever- a brand new BMX. I proceeded to badger
my dad to build me a sweet jump using fence palings, which all of the local kids would
roll over outside our house. The same BMX would have bits of wood tied to it as I biked
to friends’ houses to build tree huts. The bike featured prominently in the early years!
In my teens mountain bikes were the rage, and again after much badgering of parents I
received a Milazo ‘Crazy Horse’ for Christmas. This was true independence as I rode
anywhere and everywhere on it to go to school, on back country rides, or even to the ‘mall’ to hang with friends.
As the stress and busyness of life take hold after School and University- mountain biking became an escape. The
search went out for the smoothest fastest single track out there, and despite Wellington offering some amazing
single-track mountain biking- I have never grinned so much as hurtling around Rotorua’s Whakarewarewa forest.
An OE in Lyon, France meant the bike became the everyday means of transport, with longer rides exploring the
countryside and vineyards a weekend exercise. This everyday experience with the humble bicycle developed a deep passion for cycling, and the answer to most of the world’s problems!
At BikeNZ I’m involved in both the marketing and communications side. Happy to chat anytime about RideStrong, or your slice of why the bike is king.
Bryan Simmonds, High Performance Logistics Manager
 I have been cycling ever since I started racing with the Wanganui Cycling Club when I was 12 years old. I raced at a national level through till my mid 20’s. Some notable achievements include being beaten by Bruce Biddle in the ¼ finals on the NZ Pursuit Championships around 1970, I was beaten so easily that Bruce’s slow time probably cost him a ride in the final for gold. Also being beaten by Vern Hanaray into second place in a stage of an Air NZ tour from Christchurch to Greymouth, possibly the longest stage on any tour in NZ.
I got involved in coaching from the late 70s, then into team management and administration before moving to Auckland University to complete an electrical engineering degree. I concentrated on my family and career until our son got involved in cycling in the early 90s, then got involved again in coaching and team management, including NZ Cycling Section Manager at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
At the same time I was a member of the Cycling New Zealand Council and the BikeNZ High Performance Panel.
I joined BikeNZ in March 2007, and the main focus of my role is providing logistical support to the various parts of the High Performance programme.
Hughie Castle, High Performance Officer
Hi, I’m Hughie and I work at BikeNZ because I’m a sports nut, always have been and always will be. At school I was involved in soccer, hockey, athletics, cross country, and you name it. I took up rugby at Uni starting out at wing cause I was the skinny white girl then made my way into the forwards to my favourite position of flanker. Since working at BikeNZ I’ve started mountain biking with commuting to work and surviving Karapoti. Now I’m getting into triathlons.
At Uni I completed a Bachelor of Sport and Recreation from AUT. I worked at Womens Golf NZ for 18 months before heading overseas for 2 years travelling and working around Europe. On my return I joined BikeNZ in September 2005.
My role as HP Officer is wide and varied but I mainly provide admin support across all areas of the HP programme and the first point of call for all Drug Free queries.
Tim Carswell - National Track Coach
 After competing in a wide range of sports during my years at Primary and Intermediate Schools, I decided to try a new sport upon entering High School. Mainly due to the fact that my grandfather had been a cyclist, I decided that cycling would be my choice. Initially I thought this may have been a mistake as my first race ended up with a last placing several kilometres behind the other riders. I persevered, however, and by the time I left school in 1989 I had represented New Zealand as a junior and was the National Sprint Champion.
My international cycling career spanned a period of ten years from 1990 until 2000. During this time I participated in both track and road racing (predominantly in Europe and the USA) and was a National track team member for six of these years. Upon my retirement in September 2000 I almost immediately started coaching.
Following this cycling experience I have had continual professional development as a coach by attending training courses in New Zealand and overseas, and by an extensive run of coaching positions in New Zealand teams. My goal is to coach high performance track cyclists to reach their maximum potential at the highest levels of competition. I continually strive to learn, to gain new experiences and to innovate on my path to becoming a World Class coach who can achieve this goal.
In total as a coach and an athlete I have attended: 3 Olympic Games, 3 Commonwealth Games, 7 World Track Championships, 15 Track World Cup Classics, Numerous Continental and National Championships
Mark Elliott, High Performance Director
 I have been with BikeNZ since July 2007. Leading the programme through to the Beijing Olmpics was the short term goal – onwards it is about creating a platform for Performance support through to 2012 and onwards to 2016. I have a background of twelve years within high performance sport in New Zealand from a variety of positions including Performance Director for the New Zealand Winter Performance Programme and Triathlon New Zealand.
I’m a proud dad, with my wife Jude, of Hamish (6) and Manaia (3). Biking is a huge part of my life – with over 8 bikes in the family, including Manaia’s half bike. Our 1979 Kombi gets overloaded most weekends over summer carrying our MTB and Road Bikes around the Central Otago area. In my spare time I coach double Olympic Medal Triathlete Bevan Docherty and have a passion for Telemark skiing, coffee and chocolate – in that order.
Andy Reid, Performance Programme Manager
 After realising that running hurt too much and was not good for my body in the long term I took up cycling while in Dunedin at Otago University. It was track season so naturally I just got straight on the track and after 3 races found myself with my legs propped up with more lactation than a mother of twins. This interest in lactate got me focused on training for cycling and specifically for events that require both power and endurance.
So after spending more years in Dunedin where I completed my PhD, or should I say submitted it (as someone once said a PhD is never finished, only submitted), I moved to Europe and worked in construction (knocking down Wembley stadium). Once I had survived the UK winter of 02/03 and got enough money under my belt to get my own flat in Queens Park, I then got a lecturing job as a dance science lecturer at LABAN the premiere contemporary dance school in London...to be honest I’m still not sure how I ended up working there but it was a great chance to learn about movement science relating to movement quality, not just quantity.
So there were more jobs, a wife, 2 kids, two stints in Limoux at the BikeNZ European training center, 4 World Road Championships as an assistant manager / coach and finally I began working full time in the office at BikeNZ in December 2007.
My job is to build the support programme around our High Performance athletes so that we can support and challenge them to make continual improvement to close the gaps on our prime opposition - British Cycling.
Because of the various experiences I have had in cycling as a sport scientist, coach, and manager you will also sometimes find me driving behind the peloton in Europe, holding a stopwatch on the side of the track, offering my thoughts on training to anyone who cares to listen...in short I’m a utility back in rugby speak and can play many different positions if required.
ANDY NELSON, EVENTS MANAGER
My first bike was an automatic 2 speed purple Raleigh 20 with back pedal brakes, great for skids! BMX came along and I couldn’t afford a HMX 500 so had to pimp the Raleigh 20. I removed everything that wasn’t essential to the forward motion of the bike and spray painted it Gold! My next Bike was a Raleigh Arena 10 speed which gave me the freedom to explore Wellington.
While studying Physical Education at Otago University I purchased a mountain bike and used to love getting into the hills or above the snow line when I wasn’t studying, going to lectures, surfing or kayaking.
Have been working in the recreation/leisure industry since finishing University and am passionate about empowering people to be active. Ride on!
SIMON GWYNN, MEMBERSHIP SERVICES & ADMINISTRATION OFFICER
My first ever cycling experience was waking up on Christmas day when I was four years old and finding a Red Chop per Bike from Santa Claus. Through the next few years my cycling career was limited to racing my twin brother up and down the drive way as fast as possible, jumping over the pot holes and home made ramps, as well as riding to school every so often. It wasn’t until we raced at the Paramana Duathlon that we came to the conclusion that we needed to upgrade to mountain bikes. My mountain bike was awesome as it had a Bike Max on it which told you how fast you were going and had its own alarm system! The guys at school were very jealous. After a long break from riding (way too long!) I am slowing getting back into it which has included racing the 2010 Karapoti Challenge.
Previous work experience in the sport sector includes working for both the New Zealand (Beijing Olympic Games) and Australian Olympic committee (AYOF 2009), in both team services and events.
I am the Membership Services and Administration officer and as my title says, I am the man to talk to about memberships and licensing. I am also the office database guru. If you have any queries or need information please contact me on 04 5600331 or simon@bikenz.org.nz
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