Former Mountain Biking Olympian Backs Inaugural Queenstown Bike Festiva

Big names in mountain biking will be on stage at the inaugural Queenstown Bike Festival (April 16-25) with the dynamic team of former Olympian Kashi Leuchs and mountain bike specialist Lawrence Mote already signed up to compete in the Outside Sports Brake Burner

The bike festival, spearheaded by Southern Traverse and adventure sports guru Geoff Hunt, is capturing the imagination of both competitors and sponsors wanting to be part of an event which has the potential to become as significant as the Queenstown Winter Festival.

“The idea for a festival at Easter has the backing of the cycling community who are keen to see Queenstown increase its growing profile as a leading biking centre, similar to Whistler in Canada and Morzine in France,” he says.

Hunt already runs the highly successful Tour de Wakatipu annually at Easter and has now added other existing and new events to create a 10-day programme catering for both elite and recreational bikers.
The headline events are the New World Tour de Wakatipu, 36km or 45km ride from Arrowtown via Lake Hayes and along the Shotover and Kawarau Rivers for both expert and sport riders, the three day Ben Lomond DirtMasters Downhill held on a challenging three kilometre course in the Ben Lomond Forest and open to elite riders only and the Outside Sports Brake Burner which is a six hour non-stop tag team or individual mountain bike Super D in the Ben Lomond Forest.

Other festival activities include a Kids Ride in Jardine Park, a Peleton road bike ride through the Wakatipu, a Wine Trail ride and an Around the Mountains ride on the far side of Lake Wakatipu.

“There is a very full programme planned and throughout the festival we will be screening the latest mountain bike movies and we even have plans for a gala dinner. There is a lot of input coming from all the different biking and cycling sectors in the Wakatipu who want to see the stamp of success this year to ensure it becomes an established Queenstown festival with a strong following in the future,” says Hunt.

Destination Queenstown, Skyline Enterprises and other bike industry members and tourism operators such as Outside Sports, R&R Sport, Vertigo, Bike Fix, and Fat Tyre are key players backing the festival.
Outside Sport’s John Knight says the concept of a Queenstown Bike Festival, where a range of biking events are grouped together, is fantastic.

“Everyone involved with the industry needs to be behind this and our company certainly wanted to be part of it from the start. It is just what Queenstown needs and I have no doubt that it will grow into a huge event just like the winter festival. It is perfect timing to launch this festival as biking is developing so quickly at all levels.”

Knight considers that Hunt’s vision of holding a World Cup downhill event in Queenstown within five years is “extremely realistic.”

“It is definitely a great goal to go for and a world cup event would do even more to enhance Queenstown’s biking profile.”

The appearance of Kashi Leuchs at the Brake Burner is a coup for the festival. Now retired from a successful professional mountain biking career, spanning 12 years and a consistent top ten world ranking and three Olympic Games appearances, Leuchs enjoys the social side of events as much as the competition.

“I last competed in the Brake Burner two years ago and this year I'm looking forward to teaming up with Lawrence ( Mote) again as Team Yeti. I love the team concept and this event is a good chance to get out the bigger bikes. The social aspect is great and there’s always a lot of camaraderie. The festival will be brilliant for Queenstown and I am sure it will bring a lot of keen riders at all levels to the resort.”