Bike Festival attracts world champs
Enduro world champion, UK's Tracy Moseley in action (photo: Sterling Lorence)
A matching set of Enduro World Champions will be in Rotorua for the Bike Festival in February.
Tracy Moseley from the United Kingdom won the Enduro World Series in 2014,
and Men's Enduro world champion, Australia's Jared Graves, is hoping to join her.
The UCI 2006 Mountain Bike Worlds in Rotorua was a good one for me, but it was the start of a run of 2nd places at world downhill champs, so it's nice to come back having finally got those rainbow stripes, after winning in 2010 in Canada, said Mosely.
In late March, she'll begin the defence of her Enduro world title at the first round of the third annual Enduro World Series in Rotorua.
Winning in 2014 was a huge relief, an amazing sense of satisfaction and a big goal achieved, she said.
She'll be looking for a three-peat after winning the inaugural EWS in 2013.
While she is best known for downhill racing, she also raced cross-country and sees multi-stage Enduros as a perfect combination of mountain racing disciplines.
You need the skills and technical ability of downhill, just not to such a high level, and the fitness and ability to suffer like in cross-country, but, again, not at that level, too, she added. For me, it's a great mix of those two disciplines and having experienced both helps a lot.
The Whakarewarewa Forest has always been one of my favourite places to ride and I'm excited to see how the trails have developed, she said.
She'll get a good preview of the Rotorua trails by racing the 2W Gravity Enduro on the last weekend of the Bike Festival.
Then we'll have some time in the South Island, race the NZ Enduro, in Marlborough, in March and then back up to Rotorua for the round one of the Enduro World Series, she said. I can't wait for great riding and some sunshine.