450 keen riders gear up for four day event

A thin elite field has given local riders a good chance at claiming the leaders' jersey in the annual BDO Tour of Northland.
More than 450 cyclists have entered the four-day tour which starts on Thursday, but the elite field stands at only 40 riders, event organiser Stephen Cox said.
"Most of the elite riders are overseas competing, but we have a few very good riders coming up to contest the title," Cox said.
Several of the Avanti Subway team are travelling north to ride in the tour, including Waiotira's Nick Lovegrove, who won the 2010 Fred Ogle Ride in November.
His teammate Matt Gorter will be another contender along with Whangarei's Ian Johnstone and Matthew Markby, who competed in the Lion Foundation's Wellington to Auckland Road Race.
"I was involved with the Wellington to Auckland race and being an ex-cyclist myself, I'm quite hard to impress but Matthew Markby showed a lot of potential," Cox said.
Last year's men's winner Mike Northey along with runner-up Roman Van Uden have not registered this year.
Meanwhile, Whangarei's Chubby Hale and Deanne Bell from Hamilton will be tough to beat in the women's race with last year's winner Kate Chilcott not registered to race.
"This year's event has opened right up for a local rider to take it out," Cox said.
The number of entries were up by about 50 this year in the second Tour of Northland Cox has organised after taking over the reins from Sport Northland in 2010.
Considering some events around the country had seen a 20per cent decrease in entries, the organisers were thrilled they had managed to attract more competitors.
Even the $15 entry fee increase had not deterred cyclists.
The event was accessible to most people.
"It's not too hard, and it's an unusual event to do as it is over four days and is a bit different to the normal one-day event," Cox said.
Cox has made several changes to the course to improve rider safety. Day one's course is "a completely different course, starting at Tikipunga Sports Park. Riders then head out via Three Mile Bush Road, Kokopu Rd, Titoki, Pakotai, Tangowahine Valley Rd and then take State Highway 14 to Dargaville.
We changed it because we found the old route which went out towards Dargaville via Paparoa on State Highway 12, to be quite busy and there was a strong crosswind which would push riders towards the centre line ... the new route should make it better for both cyclists and other road users," Cox said. Day four also has some changes, with an exit at Kauri in order to travel into Tikipunga via Vinegar Hill Road. The event now finishes at Tikipunga, not near the Kamo Bypass.