Downhill event successful
With up to 3000 spectators cheering them on, a field of more than 100 mountain bike racers literally flew down a specially prepared race track in Victoria Park recently as the city hosted a downhill event as part of the National Mountain Bike Series.
The second of six events in a national series was a marked success and City Council Port Hills Ranger Nick Singleton hopes it will become a regular feature on the mountain biking calendar.
"We started planning early for this event to ensure success," he says. "It was infinitely better than the race we staged four years ago. That one had a lot of problems with spectators and traffic.
"We now have a great working relationship with all involved and I'd like to think this could become an annual event at Victoria Park."
This time there were no problems with traffic as the Council's City Streets Unit and Works Infrastructure came up with an effective traffic management plan that had the course well prepared and marshalled to ensure the safety of both spectators and competitors.
The Port Hills Ranger Team worked together with Bike NZ, local mountain bike club Gravity Canterbury, Works Infrastructure, the Council's Transport and City Streets and Community and Recreation units to ensure spectators and competitors all had a safe and enjoyable day.
"It was a team effort and the feedback from competitors and spectators was extremely supportive," Nick Singleton says.
|
