Words Lester Perry
Images Sam Baker

From elite competition to growing a grassroots community, Jeremy Presbury and Sam Shaw are making moves; welcoming Wanaka locals into their ‘Could bE Keen’ crew.

If you’ve logged into any corner of the internet over the last couple of years, chances are you’ll have seen a friend, work colleague or relative posting about a local run club they’ve joined. Groups of like-minded people of all ages, from all walks of life, and all levels of ability, get together to put one foot in front of the other and go for a run, usually pre-dawn, and almost always finishing with a flat white at a local cafe (oat milk, please).

Wanaka has become a fast-growing hub for those seeking an outdoor lifestyle. People from around New Zealand and the globe move to the thriving town for a whole host of reasons, but access to outdoor pursuits is at the top of many people’s lists. Gravel roads and tracks have existed for eons in the region, but it’s been the hoof prints of sheep— rather than bike tyres—that have been found on them. Like most regions in New Zealand, the area has seen a rapid growth in people intentionally riding on gravel. Although the number of gravel riders has grown, until recently, it was just groups of friends and sporadic get-togethers, organised by the mountain-bike-focused Bike Wanaka, that brought people together to ride as a group on the roads and gravel in Wanaka’s vicinity.

Just as Wanaka is a melting pot for outdoor types from all backgrounds, cycling brings together those with starkly different histories. Two such riders are Jeremy Presbury and Sam Shaw. Jeremy originally hails from the boards of the Invercargill Velodrome, while Sam headed south to Wanaka from Rotorua’s famed mountain bike trails, and years on knobbly tyres.

Jeremy Presbury
Jeremy’s journey to gravel began at the age of nine, aboard a borrowed fixed-gear road bike. “I still remember walking into the Kew Bowl velodrome to pick which one I wanted. From then until the age of about 16, I was always riding and racing bikes at a very social and not-very-serious level.” Jeremy didn’t fit the stereotype of an athletic kid, so he enjoyed the technical and social side of riding more than the physical competition.

“Once I started to grow a bit and learnt that training actually made a difference, I started to perform on the track and that led to me being selected to ride at the junior world track champs in Invercargill, in the sprint events. Fast forward to the following year and my second junior world track championships, which were held in Glasgow. I found myself on the second step of the podium in the sprint. This was certainly a highlight of my racing career,” explains Jeremy. “Following that, it was the big move to Cambridge to be a part of the elite track squad. That involved a couple of stints in the States and a few trips elsewhere for various races. I was only there for two years before deciding that I had had enough of being an ‘elite athlete’. I decided that I wanted to give something else in life a go, which ended up being a building apprenticeship.”

A broken foot from waterskiing, and a nudge from his former partner, were all he needed to make the move from Invercargill to Wanaka. “I grew up holidaying here with my family, and my Dad has also been coming here since he was a kid, so we all felt like we had a real connection to Wanaka. I got a job for Breen Construction as an apprentice builder and now, seven years later, I’m a project manager for a branch of the business, called Breen Homes.”

Sam Shaw
Like many, Sam’s entry into a life on bikes came with the freedom bikes brought him as a youngster. “I was also going everywhere by bike, commuting to mates’ houses, school, and any excuse to go to the dirt jumps, I’d be there. Very similar to how I am now—keen to cover all bases,” laughs Sam. His parents and sister were riding trails in the Whakarewarewa forest, so it wasn’t long before Sam was keen to join them. He ended up on a Giant STP jump bike, his first actual mountain bike, and he was hooked. Laps of ‘Hot Cross Buns’ after school, downhill races, dirt jumps and commuting; the STP was Sam’s gateway drug, and he was hooked for life.

A thirst to be faster than his mates, and compete alongside some of his heroes, led Sam to his first competitive endeavour, the Colville Classic. The once-iconic race began in Coleville and circumnavigated the northern tip of the Coromandel, returning riders to their starting point, the Coleville School. A shorter 24km course option gave Sam his first taste of racing, guided through the day by his sister Annabel Burley (nee Shaw), while his parents took on the complete 72km. “We finished up with the Red Bull girls handing out freebies—I think I was about 13 at the time, and drank about seven Red Bulls and spewed everywhere.”

By age 16, Sam was pushing hard to compete at the front of the Open category in cross-country, taking on other notable young guns of the time, including his cousin Olly Shaw and good friends Paddy Avery, Dirk Peters and Tom Bradshaw, among others. His goal was to be in the mix with Elite riders like Mike Northcott, Stu Holtham and Clinton Avery et al. Current pros, Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze, were hot on Sam’s heels in the next wave of riders climbing the ranks behind him. Sam calls out Gabby Molloy and James Dodds as big inspirations behind his riding, particularly with their help to dial in his trail riding and the skill base he eventually put to the test on the Enduro World Series circuit.

Sam’s riding career has spanned the globe, and he’s taken on a multitude of disciplines and races, but it was on home soil that he became a “World Champion”. In 2017, the Single Speed MTB World Championships visited Rotorua. Dressed as a hospital patient, Sam held off a 500-rider field to take the coveted win and its victory tattoo. The years following the Single Speed win, Sam spent life bouncing around the globe chasing MTB races and working to keep the dream alive, but always rebounding to his home base of Rotorua between adventures. That is, until he upped sticks and moved to Wanaka.

Since arriving in town three years ago, Sam’s been a busy guy. He’s been married, had a child, and is a year into a building apprenticeship. Settling into life in one place has allowed him to put down roots, and with it has come a change in his riding. Mountain biking, while still a passion, has taken a back seat to riding gravel, primarily as he can begin adventures from his front door. “I love getting places fast, and the practicality of being able to ride and explore nearly anywhere; you just need a road or a trail.”

Could bE Keen: the story
Things began to simmer in early 2024, before Could bE Keen (CBK) was officially formed. Jeremy and Sam rode together semi-regularly and started to bring in their respective friends each week for a couple of laps of the ‘Mount Barker Classic’. After moving to Wanaka, they both identified the lack of social cycling groups, like the ones they had previously been part of in their hometowns. Jeremy breaks down how the initial seed was planted for CBK: “Sam and I had both chatted a few times about our upbringings with cycling and how good the social riding and racing scenes were in Rotorua and Invercargill. We both felt like that was missing from Wanaka. We have so many amazing people, and places to ride, in this town so we thought we could get something going to hopefully make social riding a thing here. Also, whilst trying to encourage as many new people into the sport as possible.”

Sam adds; “For me, personally, this has all come from my roots in Rotorua, the local cycling and MTB clubs were so active and involved in hosting events and activities that we always had something to do growing up (also once grown, too). Tuesday crit night, Wednesday cross country nights, Thursday road race nights, night racing, weekend social rides, and racing. I feel spoiled to have grown up in such a community, with so many people putting their time into consistently hosting and organising so many rides and events,” adds Sam.

Similar to a run club, CBK now regularly brings riders together to experience the area’s gravel offerings. On any given ride, you’ll find riders out for a chat—cruising in party mode at the back— while up front, riders chop off, keen to tear each other’s legs off. Then, of course, there’s the sharing of stories over coffee once they’re back in town.

Although they’ve both enjoyed success in high- level competition over the years, the pair are keen to ensure CBK caters to every level of rider, explains Jeremy. “We intentionally set out to create a community that revolved around inclusivity and getting people to just show up and give it a go. Hence the name, Could bE Keen. The ‘E’ stands for Everyone. Cycling can be a pretty cliquey sport, so we wanted to make sure everyone felt welcome to come along. The growth within the community over the last five or six months has certainly been a lot larger than I think either of us expected it to be. It’s been so rewarding to see the number of people that continually show up to our group rides, and also the number of new faces we still see rock up each week.”

With the help of Sam Baker of Vacation Studio, CBK found a visual identity. He puts together graphics and layouts for the weekly gatherings. Combining quality graphic design with his photographs from CBK rides means there’s a cohesive, professional look to everything CBK puts out.

It comes as no surprise that brands are eager to support people who create authentic connections within a community they’ve helped bring together. “We realised the club had gained a lot of momentum quickly and we were keen to get some brands involved. We reached out to MAAP, with the connection of HEATWAVE (Wānaka’s local stockists of nice kit). The Specialized Bikes connection came through past connections from Jeremy’s racing days.”

Although CBK has been a focus for the lads, racing has still been on their minds. They’ve taken on numerous gravel races around NZ, both singing the praises of Edition Zero and East Coast Gravel. Jeremy chimes in; “They’re two events that are quite different in the challenges that they offer up, but very similar in the way they are both organised. If you’re looking for gravel races to enter in NZ, you don’t want to miss either of them. Plus, how many races are out there where you could possibly be standing on the start line with a world tour pro like George Bennett?”

In May 2025, they’ll jump the ditch to take on the Seven event in Nannup, Western Australia, to see where they stack up against an international field. Racing will continue through the remainder of 2025, with the pair planning to ride the Tour Of Southland and further push their boundaries by chasing some notable FKT’s.

It’s clear to see that, although Jeremy and Sam are from distinctly different cycling backgrounds, community has been a cornerstone for both of them throughout their lives. Although forming CBK has been just another step in the evolution of each of their cycling journeys, it has been an important one—not only for them, but also for those who have become part of their homegrown community.

Check out @couldbekeen.nz on Instagram to see what the CBK crew are up to.