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Millington mountain men maul biking rivals

Flagstaff Team

Millingtons
Family affair… The mountain-biking Millingtons, (from left) David, Joe and Charlie

Joe Millington, 13, didn’t think he would get into mountain biking until he competed in his first race last year and won it.

Now he’s about to win the under-15 division of the Auckland Schools Mountain Biking Series, racing with the Takapuna Grammar School team.

“If you’re good at something, you tend to like it,” says his dad, David Millington, who supports the team.

Older brother, Charlie Millington (15), came second in round 4 of the under-17 division, and needs to win the upcoming final round to win his age group in the series.

The ultimate winner is judged on their best three placings. Joe, having won all four rounds so far, with the final round in September, cannot be overtaken.

Joe also came third and Charlie fifth in the North Island schools competition.

The family has a house in Rotorua, a five-minute bike ride from the forest trails, where the brothers bike most weekends. They also train at Woodhill Forest on Wednesday evenings.

Success has come with its fair share of crashes, which David says is just ‘law of averages’.

Mum Michelle has had the worse crash, suffering a badly broken arm.

“I went head first into a tree stump,” says Joe.

While David and Michelle have raced, they most enjoy the likes of the Timber Trail and the Otago Rail Trail.

The boys’ older sister, Kate, has also been a keen rider, but is now in Wellington following her passion for ballet. David says despite supporting the TGS team, they are so good he can’t presume to coach them. The team started as Joe and Charlie, but six TGS students have contested the Auckland schools competition.

This article originally appeared in the September 6 edition of the Devonport FlagstaffDownload PDF.