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- Written by Kate Stewart
Tour of Taranaki – Queens Birthday Weekend
The three day tour started off with the age groups and grades taking off around a circuit that challenged a lot of rider’s bike skills, with the strong winds and unexpected gusts. The wind picked up in the afternoon and the conditions were described as ‘a storm’ at times. So the afternoon’s individual time trial was cancelled by the organisers for the rider’s safety. After a rest up in the afternoon the riders returned the next day in the pouring rain for a long hard 70km stage. But that was not all for that day, the ‘keen’ riders changed and dried out their gear before returning that afternoon for a 50km stage that was a real test of the riders endurance. With one stage to go Bike Manawatu had many riders relying on the last stage to determine their General Classification time or sprint ace and King of Mountain points. The last stage was a 27km circuit with one Hill climb and a Sprint ace on each lap. Under 17 girls and D grade did two laps whilst under 17 boys, A, B, and C grades completed three laps.
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- Written by Glenys Taylor
Attached is the 2012 BikeNZ Road and Track National Championship Calendar.
Print this out, put it on the fridge and count down the days until another fantastic season of racing!
Read more: 2012 BikeNZ Road and Track National Championship Calendar.
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- Written by Vaughan Hunt
From the Tour of New Zealand website
New Zealanders have a reputation for living the dream, a love of the great outdoors combined with a passion for recreation and adventure. Join us in an event that celebrates our enthusiasm for life and our environment; Tour of New Zealand - a nine day staged team cycle race covering the length of Aotearoa.
A little bit wild, a whole lot of fun, Tour of New Zealand is a celebration of our cycle trails, a competitive challenge for mountain bikers and road cyclists, an opportunity to raise money for charity and a chance for New Zealanders to come together to celebrate cycling and the great outdoors.
On Day One, teams in the north will line up beside the lighthouse of Cape Reinga, and in the south, at Bluff, with the backdrop of Foveaux Strait and Stewart Island.
When the starters' guns go off, cyclists will hit the road, heads down, legs pumping, racing, as they embark on an incredible journey through heartland New Zealand.
Eight days and some 1,000 kms later, the teams will converge in Wellington for a criterium on the last day of the event.
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- Written by Glenys Taylor
Edition 1
June 2011
Greetings,
When we first started tossing about ideas for this event about two years ago, we were confident there would be strong interest in a ride that took in some of the best trails in New Zealand, but we have been blown away by the interest so far! Since we announced the Tour of New Zealand at Parliament last month, we have been fielding calls and emails daily – from interested cyclists and supporters based around the world. Interest has been huge; already over 150 teams have registered their interest in competing and that includes cyclists from Australia, USA and China. More than 50 teams contacted us within the first 24 hours. It’s great to be part of an event that is generating so much excitement. So now, in between talking Tour with enthusiastic competitors, we are busy oiling the wheels and putting together the deals that will benefit all our competitors, crews, charity partners, sponsors and supporters. Because so many of you have jumped on board and because so much is happening we want to keep everyone up to speed with a regular Tour Talk newsletter. We want your stories, team tales and ideas as we count down towards April 2012 and the start of this country’s biggest team ride.
Tour Team Tally
| 3 bike | 4 bike | 5 bike |
| 39 | 36 | 77 |
| Team ‘home’ | North Island Race | South Island Race |
| North Island based | 64 | 18 |
| South Island based | 15 | 47 |
| Overseas based | 6 | 2 |
| Total (152) | 85 | 67 |
| Male O | Male V | Fem O | Fem V | Mix O | Mix V | Fam O | Fam V | Corp O | Corp V |
| 27 | 35 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 18 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 2 |
What’s On Your Mind?
Our website is a work in progress and we invite you to keep checking the site as we announce new partnerships and develop our event planning. Current content provides information regarding the scope and scale of the Tour, routes, team options and an overview of the event. Over coming months we will be working alongside our key sponsors and new partners to bring together exciting deals for travel, accommodation, cycle maintenance, Tour suppliers and transport options – for cycles, cyclists and support crews. With the Tour covering the length and breadth of the entire country, there is unlimited potential for local and national support. We are finalising many contracts and sponsorship agreements that will offer benefits to our competitors as well as to those individuals, organizations and service providers that align themselves with this unique event.
We welcome any offers of support at any level from public relations and promotional advice, to bike mechanics and parts suppliers – local knowledge is invaluable – through to special deals from North or South Island suppliers for food, beverages, accommodation and vehicles. As we confirm logistics, partnerships and sponsorships, information will be updated on the website. Keep checking and please don’t hesitate to contact us for further information or to discuss an idea to enhance the event.
The Stories Behind the Scenes
Many of our initial registrations of interest have come from groups and individuals who have some amazing stories to share; a paraplegic from the North Island is putting his team together; a youth Trust dedicated to creating health and education opportunities for young Maori will be entering a team; and we are talking with some of this country’s top athletes as they work out the best way to mentor, support and participate in the Tour. Let us know if you have an interesting story to tell. It’s great to share this information with fellow competitors via our facebook page and the media is always interested in remarkable and inspiring stories.
Entry Fee Inclusions
The Tour team entry fee is for the cost of participating in the event and covers the organizational and logistical expenses associated with arranging an event of this scale. We have worked hard to maintain this fee at a realistic level and we are confident our Tour competitors will get maximum bang for their biking buck. The team entry fee is the same for every team, whether there are three, four or five bikes. There is the potential to involve from three (3 bike team going all the way) to 80 cyclists in a team (5 bike team transitioning at every point) over an eight day Tour route. Divided between members, the team entry fee can potentially be ridiculously reasonable. There will be daily goodie bags for competitors, spot prizes, entertainment and sponsor giveaways along the route, and competitors can be assured of professional event planning and management from start to finish.
Each team is responsible for the costs associated with being involved in the event, including accommodation, food, transport and, where applicable, for the ferry crossing from the South Island. We welcome your creativity in offsetting these costs either by seeking sponsorship or fundraising. Every effort is being made to ensure the cost of organizing and participating in the event is maintained at a reasonable level and we will be offering excellent deals wherever possible, as we extend our sponsorship and preferred supplier agreements.
Accommodation Options
Our aim is to make the tour affordable for everyone and to this end we are working to secure special rates on accommodation options for all budgets. It is the responsibility of each team to arrange and book accommodation along the route. We are currently negotiating special deals that will be available to Tour competitors and crews. Accommodation venues will include maraes, motels, hotels, backpacker hostels, camping grounds, halls and homes. Daily start times will vary and will reflect the logistics of teams and support crews getting up and out from a different venue, every morning.
Each evening there will be a post race party at a venue close to the finish line. We will be encouraging teams to use this social gathering as a chance to share a meal, talk about the day’s ride, relax and unwind in preparation for the next day on the trails. Our vision is that food and beverages will be available for purchase and facilities and services will be available for bike and body care and tuning. As we confirm sponsorship agreements with Tour partners, information will be included on the website. If you can help, please contact us now with any offers. These post race parties will provide excellent fundraising opportunities for community groups and clubs at the same time as providing easily accessible services for our competitors.
Tour Transport
Teams are likely to be coming from all around the world to line up at Bluff and Cape Reinga so talks are underway with international and national airlines to find the best Tour deals. It is up to each team to arrange transport from stage to stage. We are currently negotiating deals with camper van companies and car rental agencies so we will be offering you some very special rates as we confirm agreements. We appreciate the difficulties of getting mountain and road bikes to each transition point so we will be providing the option of transport for bikes at a nominal fee.
In closing, we urge you to talk Tour with your friends and colleagues and get in quick if you want to be assured of a place on the start line of what will be the greatest team cycling event this country has ever staged. Entries open 1 August 2011.
Happy Cycling
Race Directors Ghene Snellen & Peter Yarrell
Visit our website or contact us to discuss ways you can be involved:
- Details
- Written by Glenys Taylor
As this is the first newsletter for June we would like to make special mention of our members who joined in May.
We hope you enjoy being a member of Bike Manawatu and are able to continue enjoying the benefits of membership and riding in the Manawatu.
In the first newsletter that was posted at the end of January we had 135 financial members. At the end of April we had 213. And we had more members join in May. So we are growing and new members are being welcomed on the website at the end of each month. Members who have not been associated with a club in the past have just been sent a copy of “Getting Started in Track & Road Cycling – A beginners guide”
New members for May
| Kevin Palmer | Kevin Fee |
| Don Priest | Nick Dobson |
| Val Devery | Luke McCarthy |
| Mark Wright | Cameron Young |