24hrs of Woodhill

The Bicyclette 12 Hours of Woodhill Mountain Bike Relay is just weeks away and in 2007 will be bigger, better and more exciting than ever.

The event starts at 10 on the morning of Saturday, November 3 and runs through the day and into the night at Woodhill Bike Park, 45 minutes north of Auckland.

The race is open to teams or solo riders and there are also 6-hour categories. Total team numbers are limited to 300 and these will fill fast.

This year the 12 Hours of Woodhill has a new organizer, Dean Watson, who has many years of event management under his belt. Based in Rotorua, Dean has run the very successful, 5-race NDURO MTB Winter Series in the Whakarewarewa Forest, just south of city, since 2002.

And he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships, in Rotorua, in August 2006.

“We also run the 24 Hours of Rotorua every February,” says Dean, adding with a grin, “at least there won’t be as much sleep deprivation with the Woodhill 12 hours.”

It won’t be the first time Watson has been involved in 12-hour mountain bike events, though. He was one of the organizers of the original Moon Ride in Rotorua, over ten years ago.

“Back in those days the event went from 8 in the evening till 8 the following morning – so it was all night riding,” Dean says. “There wasn’t much rest for the riders or the organizers. With Woodhill we’re looking to make it a competitive event over an interesting course. But we also want it to be a fun, social event, right on Auckland’s doorstep.”

Another advantage of being involved with the Woodhill race, for Dean, is bringing on board some friends as naming sponsors.

“We’re proud to have Bicyclette, Auckland’s newest and most innovative bike shop, as our main sponsor,” says Dean. “I’ve worked in bike shops and spent a lot of time in others around New Zealand and overseas. Bicyclette is definitely up there with the very best – cool environment, great products and excellent service. And the coffee’s pretty good, too. It doesn’t get any better.”

For Bicyclette’s Ian Scherger, the opportunity to get involved with Auckland’s flagship mountain bike event made a lot of sense, on all levels.

“Some of our team have worked with Dean on other events, like the NDURO and the Worlds,” says Ian. “Everybody who works in the shop – Gus, Gayle, Andrew and Carolyn – are keen mountain bikers and we all ride at Woodhill, so putting our hands up to help make the Woodhill 12-Hour even better was an easy decision.”

November will also mark Bicyclette’s first birthday.

“The whole idea behind the shop was to make owning a bike and buying the clothing and accessories an enjoyable experience,” continues Ian, over a mid morning latte in the café at the entrance of the shop. “Riding in the first Woodhill 12-hour, a few years ago, was one of the reasons I started thinking about getting into the bike business. So it’s great to be able to be a major part of the event this year.”
Bicyclette’s second year is looking like a good one.
“We’re really excited about the bikes we’ve got on the floor,” says Ian. “The Santa Cruz range just gets better and better. For 2008, TREK has an amazing new suspension system that just might be the next big thing and GT offer some of the best bikes for your buck. We’ll be showing off some of what we’ve got on offer out at Woodhill on race day.”

It won’t all be work, though.
“We’re all keen to get out for a lap or two and check out what sounds like a very cool course.”


For more information on the 12Hours of Woodhill and online entry check out the events page of the
Bike Parks web site - www.bikeparks.co.nz  
Bicyclette: www.bicyclette.co.nz