Hawke's Bay is heaven for our bikers

The main aim of this annual event is to provide a fun bike ride for people of all levels.As birthday parties go the 21st Caltex Tour of the Bay was a great bash with hundreds of people on bicycles enjoying themselves, great stories and tired bodies afterwards.

The new 2011 courses led the riders along the fertile Heretaunga plains past flowering orchards, west through a picturesque valley of award-winning vineyards, then towards the Kaweka foothills dotted with frolicking lambs. This was Hawke's Bay at its best.

The main aim of this annual event is to provide a fun bike ride for people of all levels, and judging by the smiles at the iconic Oak Avenue finish line, the riders had a jolly time.

As the saying goes "winners are grinners", and in the iWay 10km, Bayley Stephens-Ellison's smile said it all when he took line honours ahead of Jenna and Will Tidswell.

Young Mitchell Heney meant business right from the start of the Raisey's Original 20km, hugging the bumper of the lead car coming out of the Sports Park.

Ruban Young and Alex Schroder kept him honest, only finishing about four seconds behind Heney.

The amazing thing to see was not only all these young local winners coming through, but also the great numbers of kids, lead by Vicki Butterworth from BikeNZ, as part of their school cycling programme.

The Pak'n'Save 50km was the domain of the masters. They may not be fit enough to ride the big one, but have just enough steam to roll the juniors in this shorter ride. Nigel Hulena powered away in the last five kilometres, leaving Austin Mortimer and Zane Alexander to fight over the minor placings.

Any national cycling event organiser would be envious of the line-up in the Hub Cycle Centre 105km, more than 400 riders on the start-line with many previous winners ready to claim the title again.

The recently returned pro-rider Patrick Bevan from Taupo, pipped retired pro-rider Brendon Vesty from Havelock North, on the line. This duo were instrumental in setting up an early 8 rider breakaway, and managed to sneak off the front at Ohiti with 31km to go. Reaching speeds of up to 58km/hour this twosome increased their lead and started their cat and mouse game coming into the finish straight. With more than 20 plus years on his side, the older Vesty pushed Bevan all the way but had to settle for second.

Celebrating the 21th Caltex Tour of the Bay this event has come of age, and showed Hawke's Bay leads the way when it comes to cycling. With a favourable climate, many kilometres of dedicated pathways, council-led initiatives and challenging roads, cycling in the Bay has definitely matured.