Cycling: Tribe to gather in Rotorua for what's now a family affair

Rotorua's NDuro Winter Mountain Bike Series will feature youngsters and first-time riders giving their all alongside senior pros. Photo / Ezra Newick

When avid mountain bikers Tim and Belinda Farmer were offered an opportunity to take over the NDuro Winter Mountain Bike Series they jumped at the chance.

"Tim and I are passionate mountain bikers, so we were really keen to put on the kind of event that we would want to enter," Belinda said.

NDuro takes place over the magnificent mountain biking trails in the Whakarewarewa Forest, with views of the lakes and landscape that make Rotorua a sought-after holiday destination.

The three events can be entered as a series or individually, and there are three distance options for each event, ranging from 12km to 55km.

The level of technical difficulty and competitiveness increases with each distance, providing children and first-time riders an opportunity to race, while also catering for competitive riders.

Despite juggling work, event management and a young family, Belinda is confident they have made improvements to the NDuro experience.

"We think about our riders and what we can do to make it a good experience for them.

"We looked at the trail running community - it is often referred to as a 'tribe', and we wanted to create that in the mountain bike community.

"Recently, we ran another event - the Craters Classic - and when we looked at our entrant list, we realised riders were starting to follow us - we were creating that tribe.

"I think what we have done well is communicate with our riders. It's all about communication, about being visible, being active on social media - and also giving back to the community. I was 32 weeks' pregnant with our daughter and was out raking a trail for one of our events. Tim gave up his entire Easter weekend to build another trail. We offer discounts to mountain bike clubs for their riders to enter our events and we get behind the young guys who are on their way to becoming elites."

Belinda would like to see more female participants.

"My big thing is encouraging women into mountain biking. Some of them are scared of racing, they feel daunted about having other riders on their tail.

"I tell them, 'just stop and let them pass - ride your own race, relax and enjoy it'."

The Farmers expect riders as young as 8 to compete alongside veterans on August 2, and they urge entrants to consider a weekend in Rotorua, riding the NDuro X 1.8km Cyclocross next Saturday as well.

NDuro Winter Mountain Bike Series

What: 12-55km single-lap Mountain Bike races
When: Sunday, August 2, Sunday, September 6
Where: Whakarewarewa Forest, Rotorua
Check out: http://nduro.co.nz/our-events/winter-mtb-series/