The Galaxy Travel NDuro Winter Series 2011 is underway. YHA Rotorua sponsors the event and I was there at the first race of the series!
I had expected it to be fevered. High-energy and buzzing. But it was more of a quiet readying, an inward gathering of strength before hitting the single track. “Mountain bikers are generally laid back,” one participant had told me when I commented on the mellow atmosphere.
Hundreds of people had gathered at Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua for New Zealand's most popular Mountain Bike Race series – N-Duro on 12 June 2011. It was the first race in the winter series. There was a short course and a long course, 20km or 40km through challenging uphill and downhill tracks. It was a classic, old-school style mountain bike race through the Redwood forest.
I attended the start of the race with Haylee, hostel manager at YHA Rotorua. We walked up Long Mile Road through the Redwoods to the starting line. Cars, vans, trucks and trailers parked on the sides of the road. People were readying for the race, unpacking their gear, oiling chains, setting helmets in place and strapping transponders to their ankles. It really struck me as a family affair. Wives, husbands, children, grandparents had all gathered to be a cheering section. Fathers and sons of all ages, brothers, sisters, mothers and daughters raced side-by-side.
The ten year history of N-Duro in Rotorua had gathered quite a momentum of followers. I got that sense during registration the day before. N-Duro set up a registration table at YHA Rotorua and, though there were never long queues, there was a steady influx of registrants – both locals and out-of-towners. They pulled into the carpark with bikes on the roofs and back tyres. Some even came via bike, sweating and clicking as they walked across the courtyard in their cycle shoes.
Hundreds of people registered and competed.
On race day, the 40km competitors hit the starting line first. At the 5-4-3-2-1, they were off – a surge of cyclists hitting the track and soon disappearing up the forested hill and around a bend. There was no pushing, no jostling as friends have complained can happen in road races. The 20km racers went next.
As the last of the competitors disappeared from view, I wondered about a father and son duo. I’d spoken to them before the start. Because of rain in the days prior, there had been a lot of talk of the track conditions. The dad, in his early 60s and his son in his early 30s, came from Auckland and had never raced in Whakarewarewa Forest before. They were expecting mud, but the track itself was uncharted territory for them.
And there was no shortage of mud! Just over an hour after the start, the competitors began to cross the finish line. It looked like they were not only wearing a lot of mud on their clothes, faces, helmets and bikes, but they were proudly wearing a quiet sense of triumph. Definitely.
The N-Duro Winter Series continues:
Race 2: Sunday, 17 July 2011 – Green Lake Carpark
Race 3: Sunday, 14 August 2011 – Long Mile Drive
Visit their website for more details.
Were you a compeitor in the race? We've got more pics here!
Going to the races? Book your accommodation at YHA Rotorua. Visit www.yha.co.nz, call 0800 278 299 or email info@yha.co.nz.
By Wendy O'Callaghan