Follow My Diary: Tito and the TransNZ Enduro

This year I have been lucky enough to spend a few months exploring the South Island of New Zealand. Driving around for many different projects was the perfect scenario to get to know the diversity of the island. I knew the beauty of the place from a previous trip six years ago, but coming to New Zealand with my bike and my surfboard, opened a few more perspectives...

After weeks and weeks of trips and exploration, the time to let someone else drive me around had arrived. It was time for the TransNZ Enduro. Here's my diary:

Day One - Castle Hill and Cheeseman Hill.


Day zero doesn't really count, but during day zero we had our transfer time, slowly discovering the beautiful area of Arthur Pass. High peaks and wilderness, and a call for adventure... A real promised land and the best sign for our TransNZ Enduro adventure. Morning. Here we are, right after the breakfast, we put our bikes on the trailers before getting our timing chips and jumping in the van. It's actually a very short shuttle and we started to climb in the fresh morning, as we entered the Cheeseman range we look at the mountains and wonder how those are gonna eat us.

Expectations are high and smiles are everywhere. Soon we leave the dirt road and climb the trail. The first impression on the trail, it's good! The organisation definitely had great thought to give us this stage as the first stage, it was a good mix of speed, fun and pedaling. The perfect recipe to get us ready to enjoy the day.

In total we rode five stages, all taking place in the same range around Craigie Burn and Castle Hill. The terrain is a mix of packed dirt, loamy forest soil and alpine style packed dirt. It's dusty and sometimes loose, but most of the trail has been shaped for biking. The fun is high, we are boosting the speed in the beech forest, railing alpine corner in the good dirt. There was a long liaison that took us over an hour and a half. I went slow in the climb to save some energy but I reckon that I was staying on my pace and trying to follow my rhythm. The day was a blast and we finished with a refreshing waterslide and a cold beer in the grass. Remembering the good times of the day.

Day Two - From scree to forest of course, the loam...


The night was short, and we were back in the lovely Flock Hill station for another breakfast before starting the race day. Today the stage we were all looking forward to was 'The Edge,' a spectacular trail that starts from the actual CragieBurn ski field after a long climb. From the scree it goes along the steep slopes of the mountain, sometimes covered in trees and sometimes straight in the scree. It's epic, long fast lines, steep and rough sections.


That trail had everything, and we had the chance to discover even more from the CragieBurn area through the four stages of the day. The trails offered us a lot of different terrain, but nothing too extreme. Still, we had to go through some streams, rocks and scree trail ... this day had some adventure flavor. Right in the mountains, the clouds around us were threatening as we rode in the deep forests.

Right at the end of stage four we headed back to Flock Hill, cleared our card and got a sandwich before loading the trailers and heading to Queenstown in shuttles. The long road to the promised land of enduro. Crossing almost half of the island was an impressive show we enjoyed from the van, the landscape was changing a lot every hour, from the field to the forest to the glaciers and lakes. New Zealand is an amazing and surprising country. Entering Queenstown at night, we couldn't see anything of the landscape ...

Day Three - The Cinema trail and Rude Rock, which was awesome!


In the morning as I was getting ready for another day of racing, I didn't see anything in the area. It was during the shuttle that I discovered the zone, we were surrounded by beautiful hills covered in tussocks and forest. Above the Queenstown lake, we could see the Remarkable range and far more mountains. The van dropped us at Coronet Peak ski field, where we started to climb to the top of the resort. The landscape is very unusual, high golden grass, winding trails and no trees. The day was beautiful and we started it with a very bike park style stage. Before heading to one of the most epic stages of the whole week, stage two starts with the famous Rude Rock trail before turning right on Skippers Canyon, the trail is playful, fast and unique. I enjoyed it. Then we dropped in on Skippers which is a more natural style trail, I pushed hard but had to stop for a mechanical. My derailleur was hanging on the chain . A curious situation never seen before, anyway, I had to fix it and let six people overtake me. It was a pretty embarrassing moment where I saw any chance for podium going away.

Stage three was probably the most surprising of the week, as we rode a pretty dry zone, the stage drops into a forest on a loamy and steep trail, before ending in the river. We had to climb the Skipper Canyon before a long transition to ride stage four, a typical old school downhill track above Queenstown with amazing views of the giant lake. The day was going perfectly and I was having a blast. But the organisation wanted us to finish on a perfect note. We got a final shuttle to Coronet Peak ski field. Then we climbed to the top of the stage, which appears to be one of the steepest ones around! A challenging downhill on a ridge from Coronet to Arrowtown, no time for watching the landscape! The trail was awesome and the transition back to the village was beautiful too. An epic day ended laying down under the trees and remembering the best moments with the other riders.

Day Four - The Thyme desert where the dust smelt like cooking...


We started day four with a long bus shuttle to the town of Alexandra, leaving Queenstown and its lake, we entered a totally different environment. Like always with TransNZ Enduro, we had the chance to ride new terrain every day. Alexandra really looks like a desert, the vegetation is Thyme and the hills are full of big and dark rocks. Sweet! The trails are made for biking and through the different stages, we experienced how trail builders work in Alexandra. The trails went around the rocks, crossing the slabs and were made to be very playful. Big up to the trail builders, because the work is impressive and the fun is real. Fast and loose, it took me a few minutes on stage one to get used to it.

Following the course we rode from the canyons to the summit, discovering this nice area, even on the transition stage the trails are really good. But as there is no shade it was important to keep hydrated with plenty of snacks all day long. The first and last stages were probably the best, with challenging loose corners, steep sections, jumps and fast straight lines. We then had a rest at the pub before heading back to Queenstown by bus.

Day Five - Queenstown!


Last breakfast and last preparation for the race. It was the final day and we knew it, it's not the worst one. I realised at this time how fast the week passed. Every day was unique and full but even. That last day came fast.


We started by riding from the accommodation to the Queenstown bike park. A first long climb in the forest to get to the first stage, a combination of different downhill tracks and natural trails in the forest, in the turns we could see the lake and the Remarkable range. Then after using the Skyline lift we headed to Ben Lomond saddle, a long transition, it is normally a walking trail but thanks to the organisation, we had the chance to race it. During the summer, the locals were working on a new trail to connect the high point of the saddle to the forest and Queenstown bike park. This trail was finished the night before! The first to race and the first to ride it. Because of the fast and rough ridge line trail to the loamy trail in the forest, this stage was definitely epic. My favorite in the whole event. At the end of the stage, we climbed the Fernhill loop climb and got to a nice hill above the Queenstown lake. From there was the last stage of the race. Starting on the hill the trail quickly drops into the wood for a natural, multi-line track. Crossing some streams, the trail is a fast one and finally ends at the bike park with an awesome compilation of berms and jumps. Perfect ending for such a beautiful and epic race.


We rode back to Queenstown and our accommodation, and started to celebrate together, everybody was happy and saying cheers to each other with the TransNZ Enduro beer! A special edition made just for us. In the evening we all walked into town for a final dinner together in a restaurant, remembering the best moments of the week and also planning new adventures, because adventure always calls for more adventure!


TransNZ Enduro is an epic journey trough New Zealand where you will challenge yourself on some of the most beautiful and awesome trails of the south island. Each day is a chance to discover a new landscape and get to know this beautiful land. The trails are diverse and will offer you some of your best moments so whether you decide to race it or just enjoy it to live the experience in total, it's incredible. This journey is definitely a must do to get to know one of the most iconic places to ride in the southern world. Besides the trails and the journey, the organisation is serious about timing and marking, but they also provide a good service to make your adventure a very good time. It means you will like the food and always have a fresh beer at the end of the day!

---

MENTIONS: @TitoTomasi

---

Posted In:
Stories Reader Stories