Climb challenge with infant in tow

A former New Zealand representative mountain biker will take on the Cycling Rotorua Hill Climb Fun Challenge with her son towed out the back.

Rotorua's Sonia Foote will tow her 5-month-old son Theo Leishman in a bike trailer up Mount Ngongotaha for the challenge, which is part of the upcoming Rotorua Bike Festival. She reckons that's about an extra 25kg.

"I know that dragging a child in the trailer up Mount Ngongotaha is not everyone's cup of tea."

She is on maternity leave from teaching at Rotorua Girls' High School, but has been going out every day with Theo in the trailer for his afternoon sleep.

"He gets a rest and I get to spin my legs."

Miss Foote said in the last few years it had not been easy for her to participate in the bike festival due to family commitments.

So once she took Theo for a "tootle" around the neighbourhood, she decided that was a way she could enter.

Hill Climb Challenge organiser Jonathan Dodd said mountain bikers and road cyclists would have their own categories and there would be a way of calculating how much power people were putting out.

That was so those with heavier bikes did not feel disadvantaged, Mr Dodd said.

However, race times were not what the challenge is all about, he said.

"The key thing is people should go and have fun, anyone can come up and have a blast.

"If you can look up at it (Mount Ngongotaha) and say I cycled to the top, all the better.

- The Hill Climb is on Saturday February 20 meeting at 22 Mountain Rd, with registrations from 12pm and racing 1pm to 2pm.