Sponsor named for national cycling event in Napier

Kevin Murphy, Events Manager at Napier City Council and Lily Salter, Director Big Save Furniture (and her children), get ready for the Hawke's Bay Summer Cycling Carnival in January.

Napier business Big Save Furniture will be the naming sponsor of the Elite Road National Championships in the city between 7-10 January 2016.

"There's a growing passion for cycling in New Zealand", Director of Big Save Furniture, Lily Salter, said.

All ages and stages can participate in cycling, and find a love for it, which is exactly why Big Save have come on board as naming sponsor of the event.

"We understand many of our customers have active lifestyles which includes for many getting out on their bikes -we want to get behind that passion and celebrate cycling at its best," Ms Salter said.

After Napier City Council successfully won the bid to host the Elite Road National Championships for a three year period, it wasn't too long before the nationwide furniture company could see the synergies of supporting this premier national cycling event.

Cycling New Zealand Chief Executive Andrew Matheson says he is super thrilled with how the event is shaping up.

"Not only is Napier going to dish up an outstanding action packed Elite Road Nationals event, they have added a whole range of cycling events around it to extend it to 10 days of cycling action with the Hawke's Bay Summer Cycling Carnival".

The Summer Cycling Carnival 7 to 17 January 2016 will have something for everyone to get involved in whether a spectator, participant, a child, family or couple.

Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said the goal was to showcase the best of cycling, but also create something that engages with small children to the more mature cyclist.

"The Hawke's Bay Summer Cycling Carnival wraps up over 10 events over 10 days providing visitors to the region plenty of reasons to hang around a bit longer and enjoy not only the organized activities but also over 200km's of cycle trails, wine, food and everything else our region has to offer."

Spectators can watch the fast cycling action of the Big Save Elite Road National Championships from a range of points, including the Marine Parade (where the start and finish line is), the Botanical gardens and the King of the Mountain section on Puketiriti Road.

For those keen to participate there's a large range of events. For the more serious cyclist, there's the Traffic Design Group Flying Lap, the Tinelli Gran Fondo Ride or the Black Barn Vineyards Pain Train to name a few.

The Bay Espresso Criterium will bring Marine Parade alive with high speed action as riders tackle the 1.1km circuit - this is a great event for spectators to watch. Families can ride the track for a bit of fun before this event kicks off with The Big Save Family Fun Ride.

"We want our city to come alive and encourage both locals and visitors to the region to enjoy the summer days and all that the Hawke's Bay Summer Cycling Carnival has to offer".

For a full programme of events visit www.summercyclingcarnival.co.nz