The last day of Crankworx Rotorua was far from smooth sailing.
There was mud, rain and lots of rescheduled riding during the last day of the final stop of the Crankworx World Tour, with riders working around the weather to train and compete.
Ever a popular event for spectators, the Slopestyle event was held late yesterday afternoon, taken out by Emil Johansson from Sweden.
Before the event, German mountain biker Erik Fedko said it had been a rough week battling with the weather conditions.
"It was super rainy and windy, so we had one day of practice."
Normally, riders would have five days, he said.
The worst part was sitting it out and trying to relax, he said. It was good to be able to "get it [practice] done", but it kept having to be pushed back.
He said the general feeling was that the weather would clear by the time of the event.
"Hopefully, we can ride soon."
Fedko was one of more than 250 riders taking part in the event, which began on November 5. There were 325 volunteers on-site over the course of the week.
Crankworx Rotorua event director Ariki Tibble said it had been 20 months since it delivered the last full-scale local event, and it was hard to find the words to express how it felt to have so many international manuhiri back in their midst.
"Hosting visitors is part of our DNA, it brings out the best in us, and we feel more whole when we are doing it.
"It has been amazing to have Crankworx Rotorua back, and we can't wait to reset the calendar in March as we return to our original position as the first stop on the Crankworx World Tour for 2023."
The event also offered an opportunity for local vendors, and FTP Vegan Eats owner Kaya Sparke said it was great to be back. It was the third time she had been at the event with the food truck.
"It's honestly so good, this is one of our most favourite events. It's just such a good vibe and atmosphere."
She said it was also nice to be somewhere for a long period of time, not needing to pack up and leave.
"The customers are just so polite, so amazing. We really love it."
There were 58 sponsors, food vendors and expo sites at the event.
Saturday's Speed and Style event proved a crowd favourite as athletes attempted to out-race and out-trick their opponents.
Tomas Lemoine secured a clean sweep of all four Crankworx Speed and Style events this year, with a gold podium finish against Peter Kaiser.
Kaiser fumbled while attempting a backflip double bar spin and lost contact with the bike in their first run.
The other big event on Sunday was the Trek Official New Zealand Whip-Off, which was won by New Zealand's very own Matt Begg.
A woman, 25, has been charged with assault.