Holy Shit! Really that is the only appropriate way to begin this post, because Ian Goldschmidt has just put together an Enduro event so damn rad that it will rival the Trans Provence. He is just about to release the dates for 2015 but read on for all the other relevant info at hand.
The event will be a three day, eight stage affair following the Enduro World Series format. The event is based in sunny Marlborough and will include stages on the best all-mountain trails in New Zealand, possibly the world. Day one starts on Friday 13th March at midday on the Mount Robertson Loop track (700m) out of Whites Bay. Day two will be Nydia Bay including timed stages off Opouri saddle (520m), Nydia Saddle (347m), Kaiuma saddle (387m). Day three moves to the Wakamarina track and will include an incredible helicopter shuttle to Fosters Hut on the Wakamarina with three timed stages and approximately 1200m of singletrack descent.
Dates will be set to fit in the busy mountain bike event calendar and will squeeze in with the ever popular Craigieburn enduro and the Queenstown Bike Fest enduro. The event organiser Ian Goldschmidt (part of the www.Coppermine.co.nz team) is promoting Havelock as a central location for racers to organise accommodation and base themselves for the event. The race is limited to 100 lucky riders and entry will open at 6am Monday the 1st of September. Department of Conservation Concession is still pending but is expected to be granted in the next few weeks.
For more details as they become available and the chance to win a free entry, check out www.facebook.com/NZEnduro
This video is basically an advert for the event. Most of this clip is of days two and three!
Looks stunning, what an awesome idea.
AWESOME those trails are frickin’ rad.
remember that one time…
That one time you wore a mouldy old jersey we found in a hut?
My favourite trails. Nice photo of the hell with me holding court Caleb!
I love these trails but disagree with allowing racing on them. Please, just leave them for trail riding.
One day out of 365 with a limited amount if racers will not ruin or take away from the trail riding aspect. Trail riding is not much different from racing, just add two clocks.
Agreed. Anyone who has ridden a track the day before, and the day after, a race can attest to the fact that the wear and tear of racing is significantly greater than trail riding is on a track.