Crankworx Rotorua kicked off at Skyline yesterday. Photo / Maryana Garcia
Crankworx Rotorua kicked off at Skyline yesterday. Photo / Maryana Garcia
The whirring of bike wheels, pumping music and cheering supporters are back at Skyline this week for the ninth Crankworx Rotorua.
Last year, the festival’s Rotorua leg had moved to November due to Covid-19, but is now back on schedule.
Each year in the bike festival’s nine-year history, hundreds of local volunteers have donated thousands of hours of their time to help make it all happen.
Rotorua Daily Post spoke to some of this year’s volunteers to get an idea of what locals can expect from the world-class event.
Crankworx volunteer and avid mountain biker Mark Edwards moved from Auckland to Ngongotahā for access to Rotorua’s local trails three years ago. At about the same time, he thought he’d give volunteering at Crankworx a go.
“I thought I’d just try it out, and then you do get hooked on it. It’s like a family.”
Every year since, Edwards has given up a week of his work as an aluminium and timber joiner to experience Crankworx’s “wicked vibe”.
“Getting to meet the athletes is pretty cool, especially in my role, driving the guys up and down the course. It’s great to get the fist bumps and the high fives.
“If you haven’t volunteered before and you can get the time off, it’s just super cool.”
Crankworx volunteer Mark Edwards moved from Auckland to Ngongotahā for access to Rotorua's mountain biking trails three years ago. Photo / Maryana Garcia
Edwards’ advice to people thinking of volunteering was to “get amongst it”.
“There’s a lot of opportunities at Crankworx. If you want to be a part of the industry, this is the perfect place to get involved.
“If you’re looking for a sponsor or a chance to rub shoulders with some of the elites and get a taste for what they get up to, it’s the perfect place.”
Edwards said watching professional mountain bikers at their best was a great experience for any audience member, whether they were into the sport or not.
“If you’re a freaking golfer, I urge you to come up and watch a couple of events and see what the hype is about.”
Crankworx volunteer mobility driver Sharon Fleet has been volunteering at Crankworx for nine years. Photo / Maryana Garcia
Sharon Fleet, 65, has been there since the beginning. Every year since, the self-employed businesswoman takes a week off to help out at the event.
“I saw it as a way of giving back to Rotorua,” Fleet told the Rotorua Daily Post.
“I think it’s an awesome thing to volunteer and to meet new people, and just to be involved with some awesome activities.”
Over the years, Fleet has worked to support the event’s admin team and in the Crankworx Media tent. For the last five years, she has been at the wheel of the Crankworx mobility van, which helps athletes and spectators to access the tracks.
“I’ve driven right up to the top of Ngāti Whakaue land to the airstrip and back again, with the most wonderful people.”
For Fleet, meeting new people every year has been a highlight of her Crankworx volunteer experience.
“Meeting people, talking to people, helping people, it’s something a lot more of us should do.”
Fleet said whenever Crankworx rolls around, she prepares by finding out about where to park, the event schedule and where the closest chemist is so she can answer her passengers’ questions.
“Everyone is so positive, and they absolutely love the sport,” Fleet said.
“To see people who can’t walk riding in dual slaloms or downhill events is just unbelievable.
Henare was appointed Tourism Minister in February by Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
On March 1, Henare launched the Better Work plan, targeted at addressing challenges in the tourism workforce by providing education and good career pathways, pay and working conditions.
Henare said Crankworx Rotorua had become both a New Zealand and global brand that could be supported by the Better Work plan in “easy, pragmatic” ways.
“They have lots of volunteers here who can come and help,” Henare said.
“We should be asking ourselves how [we can] keep these people involved in the tourism sector in a paid and meaningful way.
“We’ve got this great team here who could potentially travel the country or even the world with their skillset. So, how do we capture that? How do we support it?”
He said the next step in the plan was to engage with local tourism and hospitality businesses.
“Tourism and hospitality are joined at the hip and they often also draw from the same workforce,” Henare said.
“[But] we can’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. We’ve got to be ears open to the industry here and how the strategy might actually support them and their aspirations.”
Henare said the first group he met with once he was appointed Tourism Minister was Te Puia.
“I met with Steve Chadwick and the team from Tourism New Zealand yesterday,” Henare said.
“I’m really an open book. I want to hear and engage with people.
