Kiwi racing cyclist Nathan Dahlberg reportedly dies on mountain in ...

“Our 7-Eleven teammate and lifelong friend Nathan Dahlberg died today on a mountain in China. As I write those words, it occurs to me that he would have loved his eulogy to start that way,” McKinley said.

“Here’s a tribute to one of the most unique, thoughtful, and kind people I have ever met.

“Nathan was a philosopher, not by choice but by necessity. He crafted a worldview that allowed him to tolerate what he saw as the insanity of human behaviour. He was somehow both a cynic and an optimist.”

McKinley recounted his first meeting with Dahlberg in the 1980s when he travelled to Belgium to cycle in Flanders.

“They [the American cyclists] came back a few months later broke and defeated, but towing a prize much more valuable than bike race glory - a grizzly New Zealander with sardonic wit who settled in nicely to the Northern California scene.

“In 1989, we made it to the 7-Eleven Pro Cycling Team. We were both mentored by Mike Neel and spent months in the rural mountains of Norcal.

“After his pro cycling career ended, Nathan returned to New Zealand, but never sat still for long. He invested time in promoting cycling in the APAC region through the Marco Polo Cycling Team, spreading his wisdom and wit to dozens of young fertile minds, god help them.

“He spent time with his kids in NZ and traversed every meter and height of the South Island. But his heart and soul were in the high mountains of Western China and the Himalayas.

“Somehow he mustered funding to make epic, Shackleton-style journeys to conquer the highest peaks in the region, sometimes as a guide and sometimes completely solo. I think he found peace among those snowy peaks. The mountains didn’t move. The mountains were silent and wise.

“And for Nathan, unlike in life, the goal in the mountains was finally clear: Ascend as high as you can, then see as far as you can see.”

Teammate Sean Bragstad, of Canada, also remembered Dahlberg online.

“Nathan was one of a kind, a true adventurer, who found meaning and purpose in life’s suffering, both on and off the bike. I’m proud to have called him my teammate for a couple of years. May the wind be at your back, Nathan,” Bragstad said.

New Zealand cycling race organiser Mike Gane also shared news of Dahlberg’s death online, saying: “We’re going to miss that man.”

Gane said: “Nathan loved big challenges and was up to all of them. He was such a great character to be with. But of course, there was so much [more] to him than just cycling.

“I had the pleasure of working with him in our cycle shop when he was back from the northern winters. And the stories he would tell - he often had us in fits of laughter telling the antics of the young Kiwi travelling with other young wannabe professional cyclists as get made his way to the pro teams.

“He rode a number of Nelson to Christchurch bike races, 425kms, with us. While I did it on a tandem ... Nathan always did it solo. Mostly with a big grin as he watched us mere mortals slugging away ... while he seemingly just cruised along and ended up winning.”

The Herald has approached Cycling NZ and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment.

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.