Mountain biking broke new ground
today as 12 intrepid bikers competed in the country's
first ever Winter Gravity Cross at Cardrona Alpine
Resort.
With many of the
riders never having ridden on snow before, it proved
to be a challenging event. If it's hard to imagine
what it was like one of the competitors allegedly
compared it to 'a combination of riding through deep,
deep sand then hitting sheet metal.'
In heats of four
at a time, the riders battled it out for a place in
the final which was eventually won by 35 year old
Graeme Morgan from Queenstown, who calmly described
the race as 'chaos.'
Other riders reckoned
the sport has a future. Glen Sisarich, New Zealand's
current Mountain Bike Champion, said that although
'it was a real feat to keep my balance... I can really
see myself getting into the sport.' Corey Robinson
concurred: 'it was fast and exhilarating.'
The organisers
are looking into sourcing venues so they can take
the sport on tour in Europe this winter. As Corey
puts it, 'Awesome!'
