NZMTBRally

We certainly value all feedback. The above is obviously the views of only one individual and does not reflect the feedback we have received, on the whole. We organised a detailed feedback questionnaire covering all these points and more, which more than half of participants have completed. Some highlights of that feedback are: - All but one respondent were satisfied (9%), very satisfied (32%), or extremely satisfied (58%) with their overall experience. - Of those who had an opinion, when comparing The NZ MTB Rally to other well-known world-class multi-day enduros, 28% thought it was roughly equivalent to, and 71% said it was better than others they could compare with. If you'd like to read a more balanced view on how most people felt about the event, check out our google reviews which are currently at 4.9 out of 5: (Hit the reviews tab at this link:) https://maps.app.goo.gl/4cPKTf6UmXsBTTPAA. To address a few points raised in the comments above: Having clarified directly with the rider who wrote this feedback, his concerns about excess wait times were entirely concerning the first shuttle or movement of each day (not for subsequent shuttles between stages). We deliberately made our starting order with slower riders in wave 1 and faster riders in wave 2, to allow the slower riders more time and less pressure to get around the rather long course. This start order was based on self-declared technical ability, on sign-up. It is possible that some riders, in retrospect, overestimated their own ability and would have been better off starting in the first wave...but for obvious. reasons once the waves were set, we were limited to allow any swapping around. Rider No 94 of 100 all-inclusive riders would have been at the very back of the starting order (being the very fastest in terms of self-seeding info we had prior to the race). That considered, we were aware that a handful of riders were eager to start earlier each day, where possible - and we accommodated this were we could (eg if there were a handful of spare shuttle spaces in the first wave, due to no-shows). This inevitably resulted in an even smaller number of riders from wave 2 attempting to join wave 1, that were unable to do so, and then had to wait around for a significant amount of time for the 2nd wave. This also caused a knock-on effect at breakfast. We arranged buffet breakfast to be served in 2 waves, such that the second wave was served fresh, not food that had been standing for an hour or so. We are aware of one occasion (the first day) when eager riders from Wave 2 tried to go to breakfast immediately at the end of Wave 1, and they mistakenly understood that the food had run out. To be clear, we absolutely did not run out of food at that time, or at any time during the event. A second wave of fresh food was put out some time later that service, and there was always ample to go around. A final point on the wait time for helicopters. With two helicopters carrying 5 passengers per run, someone has to go last and yes, it's going to take a while. We kept costs down by making sure that at no point were our helicopters waiting for riders to turn up (imagine a hideously expensive taxi sitting outside waiting for you with the meter running...and you'll get the idea). That said, we absolutely accept that this can't have been ideal for those at the back of the line and we have already put changes in place to improve this for the next edition, for small on-cost.

If anyone is keen to read and watch more about the race, there's a video and daily reports via this link: https://www.pinkbike.com/news/video-highlights-from-the-nz-mtb-rally-2024.html

@bonfire: ahahahah yes, good old NZ pesos ! More or less, depending on the change rates, you can get lucky :D

An a non-kiwi (like myself) you will probably find this hard to believe, but here in NZ, for any genuine accident (no matter how it was caused - be that at work, in competitive sport, at home, or at leisure) there is zero cost to the individual involved: That means no cost from start to finish - nothing for the rescue (including a helicopter or ambulance)and no cost for the emergency hospital care and after-treatment, even including after-care, rehab, physio, and psych treatment if you need it. Furthermore, if you need to take time off work and lose income, you are fairly compensated for that too. Remarkably, this even includes tourists and visitors as well as NZ residents. At a high level, this is one of the reasons why there are very few ambulance chasers and pretty much no compensation culture at all - because there's no 'net financial loss' to an individual and therefore technically nothing to legally be compensated for. It is such an amazing scheme which is paid for by a very modest national levy on all employers, from large companies to the self-employed. Regarding the heli-lift itself, this is provided by the local heli rescue organisation which is technically a public charity, and accepts donations from the general public as well as from the government. As organisers of the event, we will make a voluntary donation to the heli rescue service (regardless of if we use them or not - this is definitely not a pay-per-use kind of service!). Professional Doctors and paramedics on the scene first, were all there working the event as volunteers, just for the record. As far as we are aware, the only cost to the individual in a case such as Morgane's, would be the medical repatriation costs (in this case, back to France) but of course we are not party to Morgane's individual personal arrangements. What we do know is that she had plenty of offers to be taken care of here in Nelson from the local community when she came out of hospital, whilst she arranged for her trip home. But that's just standard Kiwi hospitality as far as I'm concerned. More details about all of this are on the event website here (click the Accident Insurance tab): https://nzmtbrally.com/travel/