Mountain bike madness

Picton hosted its first ever round of the Mountain Bike New Zealand National Cross-Country Series, with a huge community effort key to putting on the event in Marlborough.

With the ongoing fire risk at Wither Hills Farm park the decision was made to relocate to the trail network in Waikawa.

The Picton mountain biking community worked hard to repair trails and bring them to standard for the race, which included a mix of steep climbs, smooth tracks, and bumpy descents over a 5.6km lap with 175m of climbing.

The pace was furious from the outset for each with a big field sprint around Queen Charlotte College’s playing fields before diving into the trails.

Caleb Bottcher won the Men’s Elite title, while Josie Wilcox took the Women’s. Local athlete Finn McKenzie continued his great form from the Coast 2 Coast, winning the men’s Junior title and Millie Donald the women’s Junior.

“I got off to a strong start in the Senior and Master’s field and led the pack through the fields up to the first climb, here I slipped back a few places and had some great battles with Vaughan Watson and Alan Newton”, said contestant Alex Roberton.

“My race was about pushing as hard as I could sustain on the climbs and recovering where possible on the challenging dusty descents”.

“I kept drinking as much water as I could throughout the race to battle off the searing heat and it certainly helped keep mistakes to a minimum.

“All the marshals around the course were highly encouraging and given the great track design and work done by Peter Webster and the whole team”.

Spirits were high at the race finish with everyone commenting on the fantastic course and conditions.

The national competition is now wrapped up after the 4 round cross-country series, with stops in Te Miro, Rotorua, and Nelson.