MTB

Rotorua's Winter MTB Series 2016 Kicks Off with a Bang

By Nduro Events

Rotorua’s Winter MTB Series is fast approaching and is set to be a scorcher. “We’ve already cracked the record for entries this week”, said Tim Farmer, Event Director for NDuro Events and that’s ahead of the 2015 edition of the Winter Series that saw a record number of racers flocking to the Redwoods for their racing hit during the colder months.

With the energetic team of NDuro Events at the helm, the Winter MTB Series also benefits from strong local support with CycleZone Rotorua joining the party for all three rounds as title sponsor, as well as Cowbell Coaching partnering for Round 1’s Short Course, The Coffee Club catering to all your pre-race triple shot macchiato requirements as well as gearing up as Mid Course sponsor, Polynesian Spa stepping up to support the Long Course and Croucher Brewing bringing award winning craft beer to the table as well as getting behind the Enduro Stages.

Enduro Stages? That’s right! Running from July to September, the Series boasts a huge range of options to fix everyone up with a challenge to help you stay motivated through winter including Short, Mid and Long course classic single loop XC options, in addition to the race within a race, where you can duke It out against your mates on the most rad parts of the Mid and Long courses for Enduro honours. Pain is temporary, bragging rights last forever.

So, here’s the run down on what’s in store for Round 1 on the 7^th July…
 
The Route
Round 1 looks like a doozy with some old school hard work rewarded by a remix of some of our Redwood favourites.

In the 42km Long Course, expect a fast start nailing it out towards Green Lake before diving into Taura. The translation of the Maori word Taura is tether, rope or cord. In this case, it represents the tether that connects the outback trails with the inner trails of the forest. This stunning hand built trail was only finished in late 2015 and will encourage riders to drop it likes it’s hot for Enduro Stage 1.

Once you compose yourself after those shenanigans, it’s back to some work on the super smooth, all weather winning, zig zag climb of Yellow Brick Road to earn your right to a few high speed sections and fast flowing corners on Roller Coaster. Then it’s back to work on the Marmite of the Whakawerawera’s, Old Chevy - love it or hate it she’s there to stay so you’d better crack on and get the job done. After ticking that off, there’s a bit more grinding on Nice Road before shredding the triple whammy of Dragon’s Tail, Be Rude Not To and Mad If You Don’t, which is bound to leave smiles for miles. Then it’s time for some more work rewarded by more fun courtesy of Corridor. After Corridor, it’s time to put the pedal to the metal on the classic Exit Trail for Enduro Stage 2 before Rockdrop delivers you home to the finish line. Phew! Hand me a Croucher ale, fine Sir.

The 32km Mid Course skips Old Chevy – “Phew!”, I hear you Mid distance riders say! And the 14km Short Course heads for home on a more direct path from Green Lake but still takes in plenty of fun including the not to be missed Yellow Brick Road. Podium finishers in the Short Course not only pick up NDuro’s stunning snowflake medal, which got the thumbs up from double XCO World Champion Catharine Pendrel last year, but also win 8-week training programmes courtesy of Cowbell Coaching to help them step up a distance or smash their Short Course goals for the rest of the Winter Series. 
 
The Riders
It looks like things are in for a big shake-up in 2016, with 2015’s Winter MTB Series Men’s Champion, Dirk Peters, yet to enter and the Women’s Champion, Annika Smail, away from racing busy starting her own family of mountain bikers. Meanwhile, 2015’s Enduro King, Carl Jones, misses Round 1 while he’s in British Columbia shredding hard in Whistler. So, it’s all to play for.

In the Long Course, Manavati’s Gareth Cannon is sure to give it some Jindal after forming part of a strong Kiwi Under 23 contingent in the Cairns World Cup earlier this year. The Wellington Ian duo of Ed Crossling and Kim Hurst will be back in force after strong outings at last month’s Crater Classic. Ed was Winter Series Champion back in 2010 so is sure to want to push hard from Round 1 but the Long Course field can expect to be kept honest by single speeder and local man, Garth Weinberg, who bagged Series Champion honours back in 2009.

In the Mid Course, local shredder Lisa Horror takes to the start along with the young gun from Hamilton, Hunter Morgan. Long course regular and the current World 24 Hour Solo Under 23 Champion, Tristan Haycock, drops down to the Mid Course while he recovers from injury. This will be his third Winter Series so we caught up with him for the low down. 
 
For more information about the Winter MTB Series click here http://nduro.co.nz/our-events/winter-mtb-series/