Crankworx Rotorua brings people from all over New Zealand and the world to Rotorua to experience some of the best mountain biking there is on offer. From elite athletes to kidsworx to spectators to industry leaders. This year Crankworx organisers had covid to contend with and a very changeable alert level system. They did an incredible job to keep the event running for the athletes and the international spectators with live feeds on RedBullTV. Even in Rotorua, we were watching the action from the comfort of our couches this year. The Zerode crew was still in town, so naturally, we went riding!
The Riding
In Whakarewarewa forest in Rotorua there are hundreds of kms of epic single track and riding trails in both pine and native forests. The trails make you feel like a hero in the beautifully drained soil that spends most of the year at “hero dirt” status. With some of the biggest variety of difficulty in the country in one place, there is something that everyone will get stoked on! We have videos of over 60 of the classics in Rotorua, they are all up on YouTube Check out the trails.
The Shuttles
In the forest you have the options of peddling, e-Biking, public or private shuttles. If you can make it happen, getting a private charter is the way to go! Get dropped off at the top of the trails and picked up at the bottom. We had Kim as our driver, and we had a crew of 7 in total riding. Myself, Rob & Leo who have intimate knowledge of the forest picked the trials to ride. The aim is to pick the best ones for the day and the riders so that everyone has an epic time! It’s all about getting the most out of your ride. The local knowledge on the trails is key! It was pretty cool to have them packed with a full load of Zerode Taniwha and Zerode Katipo.
The crew
The crew was all time! From Rotorua there was Leo, Rob, and myself. Leo is racing enduro for Zerode, Rob designed the bikes, and I have been an ambassador for the last few years and helped out with a few bits and pieces over the past couple of years. From Papamoa we had Phil who is all over the marketing. From Wellington we had the fellas from HQ – Ali, who does a bit of everything from sales to logistics, Tom, who is head mechanic, and Louis, who is another mechanic and their social media man who is starting in the new year. Â
From left to right – Phil, Rob, Ali, Tom, Leo, Louis & me (Jamie)
The Trains
It was a shame that we didn’t get to partake in much of the Crankworx action this year but we were stoked to be able to watch it on TV, and ride together! We spent most of the time following each other way too closely down some pretty steep trails going about as fast as we could just having the time of our lives! Check out this little video on one of the more mellow trails -Tukonohi, that we rode attacking and just having a blast!
