Every limb is aching, sunburnt, skinned and sandfly-bitten, with a ferry ride to/from hell to top it off, but damned if that wasn’t the Best Weekend Ever! The second annual Dodzy Memorial Enduro at Nelson’s Wairoa Gorge really put the buzz in buzzword, and it probably hasn’t worn off yet for the masses treated to a perfect couple of days of good times on the trails.
And oh, what trails… everything that you hear about these trails is true. The work that has gone into this place is mind-boggling, it’s full of incredibly fun, hard, techy, fast, tight, flowy, rocky gems cut on some seriously steep terrain. Everyone from top to bottom was challenged, and a lot of the time the trails won, dishing out broken wrists and ankles, bending minds, breaking bikes yet still unable to wipe the smile off anyone’s face.
The racing almost seemed secondary to the party, but stick a number on a bike and it’s game on. The field was stacked with fast girls and guys, and everyone was pinning it. The top of the Elite results sheet looked like an EWS race, with Rosara Joseph and Justin Leov getting to stand on the biggest logs at the end of the day. Justin dominated each stage, but was pushed hard by Jamie Nicoll along with some great rides from Kurt Lancaster and Conor Macfarlane. In the women’s race, the stages were shared between the top three but Rosara being the most consistent to best Harriet Harper and Gabby Molloy, closely followed by Anka Martin.
The age groupers were giving it just as many beans, and racing was tight in every category right through to the old fellas. Check out the full results over here…
The lineups for the shuttles were like a big social gathering, catching up with old friends, friends you know but have never met, friends you think are someone else (it’s Dave, right?). Camaraderie on the track was high, slower riders happily giving way to quicker ones in some tricky situations. Everyone had a story to tell, usually punctuated with an ‘awesome’.
The most sought-after prize of the weekend though had to be the riding holiday for six people at the Gorge… our crew were more than a little gutted to be leaving for a date with a bout of sea sickness, but this lucky dude will be pretty popular with his mates right now…
This event is unique due to many factors, the great trails, good organisation, and the memory of a great friend to many. What better way to celebrate a legacy than by spending a couple of days just having a blast. Yeah boi!
Male Elite
1st Justin Leov 28:56
2nd Jamie Nicoll 30:23
3rd Kurt Lancaster 30:29
4th Conor Macfarlane 30:36
5th Cameron Cole 31:21
Female Elite
1st Rosara Joseph 35.37
2nd Harriet Harper 36.09
3rd Gabby Molloy 37.00
4th Anka Martin 37.26
5th Meg Bichard 38.07
Amazing place to ride. Haven’t been pushed that hard on my bike for sometime. The wet and greasy Saturday was a massive contrast to tacky and drifty Sunday. The Quote of the weekend was from Cam Cole ” Awesome to ride with so many industry people that have been around awhile, but are rarely seen at events” basically meaning, great to ride with the old dudes. Nice to ride with you too Cam.