Bike festival boss in race to deliver (+video)

CRANKWORX Rotorua event director Tak Mutu has a stressful wait ahead of him next week.

And that's got nothing to do with him hosting the best mountain bikers in the world in his hometown. His first child, Maia, is due two days after the massive festival concludes next Sunday.

Mutu said the plan if baby comes early will be to hand the duties on to his second-in-charge, Ari Tibble.

"It's okay, Ari is smarter than me anyway," Mutu said with a laugh.

The five-day festival - which was first held in Rotorua last year - begins on Wednesday and runs until next Sunday, with thousands of people expected to attend the event under the gondolas on Mt Ngongotaha.

Last year between 25,000 and 30,000 people attended over the five days and this year Mutu is hoping for more like 30,000 to 40,000 people.

All the big events will be returning including the feature competitions - the slopestyle on Saturday and the downhill race on Sunday. There is also a free event for Rotorua residents on the opening night on Wednesday, the Oceania Whip-Off Champs.

"The whip-off was massive in 2015, and it's cool to see because the council have funded that day to pretty much be free to the public, with Rotorua residents coming in free," Mutu said.

He said they had built a new jump, which stands about 3.5m high, for that event as well as a huge take-off drop: "It's an absolute monster."

Mutu said they would also be staging something special in memory of the late Kelly McGarry, the Kiwi slopestyle rider and track builder who tragically died this year.

McGarry built the spectacular slopestyle course with track-building partner Tom Hey ahead of last year's inaugural event. Mutu said there would be a special tribute to him during the slopestyle next Saturday, and he had been working closely with McGarry's family and Hey in the lead-in.

All the big names in downhill and slopestyle mountain biking world will be in town for Crankworx Rotorua.

Crankworx - the world's biggest mountain bike festival - hold two other events each year, in Canada and France.