Downhill mountain biker and King of Crankworx 2023 Tuhoto-Ariki Pene.
The Crankworx festival which spans over nine days is expected to pump $3 million to $5m into the Rotorua economy next month.
The event, which will start on March 16, will celebrate its tenth anniversary of bringing elite mountain bikers and downhill riders from across the globe to Whakarewarewa Forest.
RotoruaNZ said Crankworx has generated more than $34m in direct revenue for the region during its nine years of operation.
The downhill racer was crowned overall winner King of Crankworx at the global mountain bike festival in Canada last year. The 22-year-old’s achievement meant he came out on top of all pro and elite male competitors in the four-stop mountain biking event.
Pene, his brother and his cousin, transferred their skills from BMX to downhill mountain biking when Pene’s father started driving shuttle buses at the Whakarewarewa Forest in Rotorua.
He said the ultimate goal was to win a world cup for downhill racing, but at the moment he was “chilling” and “just training, riding, having fun”.
However, Pene’s definition of “chilling” meant spending every day at the Whakawerawera forest training for Crankworx 2024.
“I’m out here almost every day. Me and the boys.
“When you’ve got a group around you, they’re pushing just as hard as you, that makes [training] a lot easier.”
Downhill mountain biker and King of Crankworx 2023 Tuhoto-Ariki Pene. Photo / Andrew Warner
His advice for aspiring mountain bikers and downhill riders was to “just ride heaps with your mates”.
Looking ahead to race day, Pene said he was back this year to “give it another go [and] rip it up”.
He said Crankworx was an event to “turn up to and have fun with”.
“It doesn’t matter how you feel, you just gotta switch on for the race anyway.”
RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson. Photo / Andrew Warner
RotoruaNZ chief executive Andrew Wilson said that Crankworx had generated more than $34m in revenue for the region over nine years.
“This is [the total] spend across our entire visitor economy ... making it one of the top events for us.”
Wilson said Crankworx was “hugely beneficial for Rotorua” and it was expected to bring about $3m-5m into the region this year.
“Economically, the event has a great financial ripple effect across the visitor economy. Socially, it’s an event which is driven [by] locals, staffed by locals and attended by locals.”
He said the event was “extremely valuable to our international desirability” and “cool factor”.
Wilson said a RotoruaNZ study in 2022 found the total value of mountain biking to Rotorua was more than $139m and the industry employed more than 1000 people.
“It is estimated that the mountain biking economy could be worth more than $200m by 2026,” Wilson said.
“He’s a very special person. Who knows what the season he has in store for him, but we always wish him absolute success [in] everything that he does,” Tibble said.
Crankworx 2024 Rotorua dates:
March 16 and 17: Crankworx Rotorua kicks off in the Whakarewarewa Forest.
March 20 to 24: Crankworx Rotorua continues at Skyline Rotorua.
There is no racing or expo on March 18 and 19.
Michaela Pointon is an NZME reporter based in the Bay of Plenty and was formerly a feature writer.
