Biking: Festival to kick off big year

Riders taking part in the 2015 Rotorua Bike Festival. Photo / Stephen Parker

This year is shaping up to be another memorable one for the Rotorua biking community, and the Rotorua Bike Festival will kick things off in mid-February.

This year marks 10 years since the city hosted the 2006 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships - which was a huge event for the city.

"That really was the first time that the international mountain bike spotlight was on us, and it was a huge success," said Dave Donaldson, Rotorua's deputy mayor and long-time cycling advocate.

"Since then our reputation has grown and the length of our trail network in the Whakarewarewa Forest has doubled."

Since 2006, Rotorua has also become a unique destination. It's the only mountain biking centre in the world to have hosted a UCI World Championships, a UCI Trials World Cup round, the Singlespeed Mountain Bike World Championship, Crankworx and a round of the Enduro World Series.

In 2015, this was added to when the International Mountain Bicycling Association awarded the city their prestigious gold status.

While there is a lot to look forward to this year, the Rotorua Bike Festival will get things going from February 12-21.

The festival will feature a huge range of different biking events and will finish with the World Endurance Mountain Bike Organisation (Wembo) 24-Hour Solo World Championships.