Dressed to the nines for cycling fun

Rotorua's Frocks on Bikes was a "huge success"

Locals donning fanciful frocks of all colours, shapes and sizes took to the streets to celebrate an annual cycling event.

Frocks on Bikes was held yesterday as part of the Rotorua Bike Festival.

Event-goers had a picnic in the Government Gardens before heading off on a leisurely ride around Sulphur Point, the Sulphur flats and back via Te Ngae Rd. Biker Hanneke Anderson said Frocks on Bikes was a great way to do something different on your Sunday morning.

"It's just a really fun event involving the community and will hopefully help motivate people to cycle around the city more."

Ms Anderson said this was the first time she took part in the event.

"I've always wanted to do Frocks on Bikes but in previous years I've always had something on and couldn't make it. This year I made sure I was free so I could do it."

She said her frock of choice came about from her love of the Victorian era.

"I just love Victorian era dresses and culture. Women used to ride horseback in these lovely dresses so I thought hey, riding a bike can't be too hard, but it was actually quite difficult so I don't know if I'd recommend it."

Frocks on Bikes organiser Natasja DuPlessis said she considered the event to be a huge success.

"I didn't know what to expect in terms of turn out as it was an open invitation, but I think about 80 or 90 people took part which was really great to see.

"It was beautiful weather so I think that would have encouraged people to come and take part. There were whole families participating, showing the event wasn't made just for ladies."

Ms DuPlessis said the event was a great chance to get more people interested in cycling.

"Some of the people ... had never been around Sulphur Point before so it was fantastic to show them the benefits of cycling around our city.

"Everybody came well prepared so there were no incidents of dresses getting stuck in spokes, thankfully."