Patrick Avery was a young man with a huge future. He tragically passed away in early December after suffering a heart failure while racing near his hometown of Rotorua.
Paddy, as everybody called him, was a keen mountain biker, and represented New Zealand at the Worlds in Canberra, but he was far too much of a renaissance man to devote himself entirely to one thing.
Fishing with rod or spear, hunting with bow or gun, riding moto, building trails, learning to surf, playing the guitar or hitting jumps on his mountain bike were all things he attacked with passion and flair.
Everything he turned his hand to was done with fun and enjoyment front and centre – that probably explains why he was so good at so many things.
Paddy’s belief was if something is not fun it is not worth doing. And by extension, if something is fun, do it as well as possible for maximum enjoyment.
Paddy was a well-loved member of an outstanding sporting family. His father Murray represented New Zealand and Australia in wrestling, his mother Maryann is a very successful mountain biker, brother Clinton races as a pro on the roads of Europe and sister Monique has been the world XTerra champion in her age group.
Patrick shared a lot of interests with James ‘Dodzy’ Dodds, so it is no surprise that they were good friends. Paddy really admired the way Dodzy approached life and the things he wanted to do. Paddy had worked with Dodzy in his trail building enterprise and had travelled on that project to South America.
It is doubly tragic for the mountain biking world that two such prodigious talents had to leave us behind so soon, but you have got to figure that wherever they’ve gone will have buffed trails by the time we get there.