Trail rage mountain biker pleads guilty

A Christchurch man has pleaded guilty to assaulting another cyclist on a Port Hills track.

Aaron William Dalton, 45, pleaded guilty to assaulting fellow mountainbiker Jordan Brizzell on the Flying Nun Track on April 8.

The trail-rage incident was captured by Brizzell, 24, on a camera mounted on his bike helmet and the video on youtube went viral, attracting nearly 160,000 hits.

The video showed Dalton would not give Brizzell space to pass on the popular Port Hills track and a scuffle ensued, which was caught on film.

When Brizzell got to the car park he phoned the police, and when Dalton turned up he took a photo of him.

Brizzell said he had bruising on his neck and jaw, a sore neck, and grazes on his ankle and arm.

Dalton pleaded guilty at a Christchurch District Court session today.

Judge Oke Blaikie remanded Dalton on bail by without conviction to July 23, after a restorative justice conference.

Dalton refused to speak to media outside today's court session, but his lawyer, Jonathan Eaton, said he questioned the "newsworthiness" of the case.

"He's been humiliated, hasn't he," Eaton said.

"All we are going to find is everybody wears cameras and takes cameras because they might be able to put themselves in the media."

Brizzell said he was not surprised by Dalton's guilty plea, but did not want to comment further at this stage.