Who coasts furthest - wins
The X-Men tandem team: Rotorua L:akes Council's Dave Donaldson, pilot, and Martin Croft, stoker. [Photo: Alick Saunders]
It will be the Clash of the Tandems at the Rotorua Bike Festival in February. The Redwoods Coast' event was a hit at the first two festivals with big spectator crowds, and it is returning in 2015.
Tandems are not the biggest category in the Coast race - just the biggest bikes - and because of the special nature of the event, bigger is better. It is all about momentum. Riders start at the top of a steep, tar-sealed hill at the northern entrance to Rotorua's world-renowned Whakarewarewa Mountain Bike Park.
No pedalling is allowed and whoever coasts furthest down Nursery Road and onto the nearly flat Long Mile Road is the winner.
Rotorua Deputy Mayor Dave Donaldson, piloted the X-Men tandem team to victory in the two-person category in 2013, with stoker, Martin Croft on the back.
It's an oxymoron of a race', really. You start slow, gather speed - substantial speed - and coast, increasingly slowly, to a climactic stop, said Mr Donaldson. The Coast is also a great leveller with zero training required and minimum rules. It's all about technology and tactics.
When Martin Croft isn't hanging tightly onto the back of the X-Men tandem, the Rotorua Lakes Council events manager is one of the organisers of the Bike Festival.
The first two were really successful with a big growth in numbers and participation from 2013 to 2014, he said. And that's the key to the festival, really. It's inclusive and all about biking and the local community.
The 10-day Festival has 30 events across the whole spectrum of biking.
Everything from mountain biking to BMX and road and from the highly competitive to silly, like the Coast, added Mr Croft, although, not so silly as to be very, very serious in the tandem class.
The Festival also has a broad range of ages represented.
It says something about the remarkable nature of biking and our festival that last year we had riders from two to 72 years old, he said. It will be the same in 2015 with more casual events like Park Ride and the 16" Dual Slalom World Champs to top elite athletes in events like the National Mountain Bike Championships and the Rotorua BMX Club meet on the opening weekend, and Bike the Lake and the Giant 2W Gravity Enduro on the second weekend.
The Bike Festival will launch on Friday February 13 with Go by Bike in the morning. Then, in the evening there will be a unique opportunity for the public to Ride the Runway at Rotorua Airport, followed by the spectacular Flying Kilo for top athletes, with money and prestige at stake.
All events are free for spectators, with many just a gold coin donation or free to enter.
For more information on the Rotorua Bike Festival visit www.rotoruabikefestival.com