Race Report: Days 3 & 4 at the NZ MTB Rally
It’s already been 3 days since the beginning of this very first NZ MTB RALLY, the 120 international riders have already had a impressive overview of what Nelson Tasman has to offer in terms of riding, after one day experimenting the steepness of Wairoa Gorge and the next cruising on the best flow trails between Takaka Hill and the Golden Bay.
After a night in lodgings at the Kaiteriteri beach, racers were looking forward to an 80-minute sunrise boat cruise across to Cable Bay. An awesome experience, with breakfast and coffee served onboard to top off the experience. Unfortunately there was no sign of the pod of a dozen-or so dolphins that accompanied Matt Fairbrother on his lonely 6-hour kayak crossing the night before, whilst continuing his self-supported challenge.
Unsual shuttle, that's for sure
Only kiwi-designed bikes such as Zerode, (event title sponsor) had the privilege of coming on the boat! (The rest were transported by road around the bay, overnight)
After a 20 minute warm-up ride on the road from the beach to Cable Bay Adventure Park, the riders headed to the first race stages of the day, shuttling and pedalling up to reach the best trails of the Bike Park.
Cable bay Adventure Park offers a wide diversity of trails, from really flowy easy trails to advanced technical stages
A wide variety of transition techniques were on display
Mitch Docker, professional road cyclist turned enduro racer debutante is on a steep learning curve. Most importantly, he’s now starting to get into the flow and really enjoy the raced stages
Today 6 stages were all hand-shaped in native forest, playing between the ferns under an impressive canopy which might have been a set from Jurassic Park. Cable Bay Adventure Park, our hosts is a showcase for the amazing Nelson MTB community. A crew of around 30 dedicated volunteers have build this entire park by hand over the past 3 years, through regular Tuesday-night digs. It has already gained renown within the NZ MTB community having recently hosted the NZ Enduro National Champs. From our perspective, it was as simple as amazing dirt, raw, narrow, challenging singletrack...and heaps of grip, all day long.
The last stages were in pine-tree forest, offering fast, steep and dusty trails to the already-tired riders. But only smiles were to be found at the finish of each of them.
Today's feed station was probably the best of the week (so far!): amazing sea-views from the eagles-nest position, and delicious food, prepared and served with love from the proud staff at the park who gave riders another great example of warm kiwi hospitality
When it comes to having a good time, Cable Bay has it all. Well-deserved beers and good food has been shared to celebrate the end of another great day of riding and racing.
Every day on NZ MTB RALLY is a new adventure, and Day 4 was no different. But all racers were especially looking forward to this one; the first of two Heli-Bike days!
Of course, the Heli-ride itself was worth the trip on its own...never mind the epic ride back down. It’s not every day that you get to the top of a mountain with your bike slug out of the side of a Helicopter, in NZ's renowned rugged but beautiful surroundings.
The Off-loading heli crew was surfing on Good-Heli-vibes all morning
Once at the top, the experience was bordering on unreeal: launching straight in the Coppermine trail with your bike, whilst being flown over directly above, by helicopters filled with more friends on their way - all whilst surrounded by stunning scenery
This guy needs his head looking at. Who else, when offered a free Heli-ride, would turn it down? Matthew Fairbrother - steadfast and resolute in his mission to compete the entire race self-supported. And being the fastest man on course, while he's at it
The Coppermine Trail (Stage 1) was built by miners in the 1890’s as a trade corridor to reach the remote mines of Chromite above Nelson. The mines proved less generous than was initially hoped, and mining stopped not long after it began. These days, it’s a shared trail (bike/walkers) but with ample investment from NZ's tourist agency it remains really well maintained for such a remote track - but extremely hard to race, due to its flat corners full of small rolling rocks and several pedalling sections which for sure take your breathe away if you’re aiming for a good result!
To reach the stage 2 and 3, half of the uplift was done by 4x4 shuttle and the rest of the climb on a beautiful singletrack with a stunning views across Nelson Bay and the distant Kahuranghi mountains above the Abel Tasman National Parl
Stage 2 was probably one of the toughest of the week : named “Peaking Ridge” by the local club, it’s steep, fairly straight, and crammed full of black beech roots and tricky corners! Pure back-country riding which flattered the most confident riders and challenged the rest!
Friendly reminder
The Last stage, in contrast to the shuttle-biased stages of the day, was fully pedal-accessed. After a long and sometimes steep climb, the riders enjoyed a beautiful panorama over Nelson city, before jumping into this fast and flow bike-park style stage straight into town and well deserved cold drinks
Matthew Fairbrother, although fully unsupported is still leading the race, followed by Chris Allman & PinkBike's own Matt Beer
Tune in to @nzmtbrally for regular updates and find all the results here
Author Info:
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
18 Comments
- 28 0
PauRexs
FL (Mar 14, 2024 at 13:41)
Try to do it unsported is already a feat... to lead the course after 4 days avoiding boats and helis... is absolutely bonkers...
- 17 0
tgr9
FL (Mar 14, 2024 at 13:12)
Give the win to Fairbrother, finishing so high while not taking the heli.
- 17 0
finnspin
FL (Mar 14, 2024 at 13:58)
No need to give him anything, he'll just take it by being the fastest. He is still in the overall lead after day 5. Insane performance.
- 8 1
on-the-move
(Mar 14, 2024 at 22:30)
The heli was probably the easiest part for Matt, that's a pretty simple club and there is a big event around that loop every year. Heli biking it was very excessive.
- 2 0
on-the-move
(Mar 14, 2024 at 22:37)
*Climb
- 2 0
commental
(Mar 15, 2024 at 3:00)
@on-the-move: I couldn't believe it when I saw this was what the heli was being used for. What a joke.
- 1 1
on-the-move
(Mar 16, 2024 at 1:16)
@commental: They just wanted to use a heli for something, but they weren't going to put them down something gnarly like Mt Starveall
- 12 2
jurassicrider
(Mar 15, 2024 at 0:52)
Respect to Matthew Fairbrother for doing this unsupported. I really don't understand the use of the helicopter here....are people just that lazy now that they can't even carry their own bike on a 800m elevation gain? This is a bit pathetic.
- 6 2
on-the-move
(Mar 15, 2024 at 1:05)
I think the whole point in the event was to do some shuttles and a cool boat ride and a heli ride and showcase some more mid level trails around the district. Because there are enduros in Nelson like the Dodzy, Aorere and the Mammoth which are all hard and pretty gatekept by how gnarly the tracks are and how steep some of the climbs are. This is just gatekept by how much money you want to spend.
- 2 0
Turboute
(Mar 16, 2024 at 20:51)
Maybe come and have a go next year then and show us all how easy it is
- 2 0
professed
(Mar 17, 2024 at 1:03)
Always whining and complaining on Pinkbike - tourist’s having a great time bringing money into NZ - ok let’s complain. No tourists, no shuttles, fires, floods - let’s complain. Ffs. These events are great and gave over 100 riders a chance to enjoy and share Nelson with the world
- 2 0
Turboute
(Mar 17, 2024 at 20:32)
@professed: yep, I came, I bought the whole family and am spending an extra week here sightseeing, spending money on coffee, peanut butter, zip lines, kayaks and extra shuttles. Can’t wait to come back and do it again
- 2 0
Archimonde
(Mar 15, 2024 at 0:48)
How many phones do you see on this picture www.pinkbike.com/photo/26343052 ? 
- 1 0
dagny
(Mar 15, 2024 at 15:38)
I’m in this picture and we were having a good chat but picked up our phones when the photo guy came around because we didn’t want to be bothered. Ironic that such a lame picture would show up in their race report.
- 1 0
watchtower
(Mar 15, 2024 at 21:41)
Matt is unreal, no two ways about that. #110 was my old race number from the '80's, ah, memories.
- 1 0
chrish
(Mar 14, 2024 at 17:21)
This looks incredible, I'm definitely trying to get a spot next year!
- 2 2
DJ21111111
FL (Mar 15, 2024 at 3:47)
@hamncheez @hamncheez @hamncheez @hamncheez @hamncheez @hamncheez @hamncheez @hamncheez
- 1 0
juliomadriz
(Mar 14, 2024 at 12:36)
ill
Login or Sign Up