Cyclocross to roll, run and jump into Whanganui next month

Getting ready for the Awa Cross event are (from left) Ari Hetherington, William Hetherington, Oscar Bartley, Patrick Fitzgerald, Jed Bartley, Katy McCullum, Tyler Hetherington and Max Haden. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui kids and teens will be able to experience a new kind of cycling in the first instalment of Awa Cross at Kowhai Park.

Awa Cross is a cyclocross event being held on Sunday, February 5, as a partnership between Cycling Whanganui and the Whanganui Mountain Bike Club under the organisation of Cycle Sport New Zealand director and former national road and track cyclist Cath Cheatley.

Cheatley said the idea for the event came from being unable to hold track cycling events for the New Zealand Masters Games in Whanganui due to the velodrome being closed. Instead, it was decided to hold a Masters Games cyclocross event, with young people invited to try out the course as well.

Cyclocross is a form of bicycle racing originating from Europe, in which competitors race over a short course made up of mixed terrain, different surfaces and obstacles in a multi-lap race on specialist bikes that are somewhere between a mountain bike and a road bike.

The sport tests all aspects of riders’ physiology as they can dismount and push their bikes over the course - or even pick them up and run.

It’s especially popular in its native continent of Europe, but Cycling Whanganui president Ian Murphy said the sport was on the rise in New Zealand, progressing from a few enthusiasts to a more organised discipline.

“Cycling New Zealand is starting to organise a national championship and it’s getting some prominence, rather than just being a few weekend enthusiasts who’ve seen it when they were in Europe on their OE.”

He viewed the organisation of the Masters Games and Awa Cross events as part of the process of turning the sport into a more mainstream option for cyclists.

He was pleased Cycling Whanganui and the mountain bike club had come together to organise the event and hoped they would work together more in the future.

Cheatley said for Masters Games there were two groups of entrants, social and competitive.

The social division would be open to people on mountain bikes, e-bikes or commuter bikes, while the competitive one would be open to people taking the sport more seriously on gravel and cyclocross bikes.

Competitive riders will have to navigate obstacles on the course, while social riders will have the option to ride around them.

Awa Cross is being run in conjunction with the Masters Games event, using the same course but allowing younger people the chance to give the sport a go.

“If you’re setting up a cyclocross course, it takes a bit of setting up, and for one Masters event it’s a lot of work so we thought, let’s expand it out to the wider community and particularly the youth,” Murphy said.

There will be events for kids under 5, 5-8, 9-12 and older than 13 at a cost of $2 per rider, which is payable on the day.

Cheatley said the course would run around the riverfront area next to the children’s playground, stretching from the Dublin St Bridge to the fitness area, with under-5s using a shorter course.

“We’ll be using the road in front, the grass the stopbanks [and] a bit of the gravel down towards the fitness park,” she said.

The course was designed to not be too challenging and to serve as a taster for people to get into the sport.

Murphy said they have tried to make the event as accessible as possible with the small entry fee.

“We’re aiming for a fun, relaxed atmosphere.

“There’s always a competitive element, which most people actually want, but it’s not the be-all and end-all.”

Awa Cross wasn’t a race as such, with riders instead trying to complete as many laps as possible within a time limit.

Cheatley said they had worked hard to make the event as fun as possible for kids.

“We’re going to give them a really cool event experience, so they’ll get their own bike plate, their own special number, they’ll get a sausage afterwards and an event pack with lots of goodies in it,” she said.

Cheatley hoped for a big crowd as the sport was great for spectators.

“That’s the cool thing about cyclocross, you can see the competitors the whole time, so it’s kind of a real party atmosphere, you’re really close to the action,” she said.

There were plans to host a series of races in Kowhai Park throughout the year, Murphy said.

Cheatley thanked the local businesses that supported the event.

“Whanganui is a place where people get stuff done, you call on favours from friends and they just do it,” she said.

Awa Cross is being held between 3pm and 4pm on February 5 at Kowhai Park.

People can register for the event on Cycling Whanganui’s website or Awa Cross’s Facebook and Instagram pages.