Race Wrap-Up from The NZ MTB Rally - Rae Morrison & Matt Fairbrother Secure the Overall Wins
On this penultimate day of the race, we headed for Marlborough to tackle its formidable 'Wakamarina' backcountry trails. On the program: a helicopter drop-off at the summit to explore these lush forests, offering a crazy diversity of landscapes and terrain. Black beeches (not beaches!), crystal clear rivers, huge ferns, and roots galore.
After an hour on the bus and 8km of cruisy pedaling, racers loaded up 5-per-heli to embark for the drop-point at the Department of Conservation's 'Foster's Hut', nestled in a saddle near to the summit of the fabled Wakamarina Trail. When we say 'helipad', what we actually mean is the corner of a DOC camping field. At least one unsuspecting Kiwi was rudely awakened by the thud of helicopter blades as the first chopper came in to land.
(Read our previous Pinkbike reports from Days 1 to 4)
Our Medic & Rescue Crew were first at the top. Safety precautions were paramount on this stage due to the challenging extraction that would have been required, should anyone need it. Thankfully, (and perhaps after some stern words of warning in today's briefing), the day went ahead without our team needing to implement a medical evacuation.
After a short but intense flight, flying over the surrounding peaks and canyons, shaken by a few gusts of powerful wind, every passenger had already taken their daily adrenalin shot before even a first turn of the pedals!
Rae Morrison & Morgane Jonnier enjoying the buzz of a high-adrenaline Heli-drop deep in to Marlborough's mountainous backcountry terrain
Helicopter Nelson's pilots were certainly able to showcase their skills today; landing on a tiny clearing in the middle of a wooded ridge that might almost have been straight out of a movie set. Truly impressive, yet all in a regular day's work for these guys who spend most of their air-time flying in similarly remote and challenging conditions.
Matt Beer (Usually Pinkbike's Tech Editor, but for this week, our 3rd-placed Rally-Champ - dropping-in to his first stage of the day and which started directly out of the helicopter. Insane scenes indeed: the stoke at the start-line today was off the scale!
Stage 1 was fast, and full of cornflakes. Raced blind (as per all 27 Stages) it was mostly a test of who's prepared to simply open the taps and hang on for the wild white-knuckle ride.
The liaison between SP1 and SP2 was one of the hardest of the week, requiring racers to push or on occasion, carry their bike. But the effort was well worth the reward, given the treasures yet to be revealed on the next two stages.
Helicopters, Rock Slabs, roots, chutes, endless flow, alpine-style switch-backs...and so much loam that racers were forced to pause mid-stage to empty out their shoes. (OK, maybe we made that bit up). Subjectively though, Day 5 offered everything you could wish for in a teenager's MTB-wet-dream, never mind a real-world Backcountry Enduro Race
Zerode Boss Ali Quinn glued to the rear wheel of Team-rider Bruno Browne who ultimately placed 4th Overall this week. An impressive result for the 16-year-old kiwi given he was not technically old enough to enter the race (but we made the exception because well, you know...our title sponsors asked us nicely). The Zerode Katipo proved the perfect tool for the job in these wild conditions - having a gearbox & belt instead of derailleur & chain meant unlike at least one unlucky racer, the chance of ripping-off a mech (and facing a long walk out), was literally Zero(de).
Local legend Brendan 'Morts', a Race Paramedic, 'Safety-Testing' one of the more challenging obstacles of the day. We're not sure if Brendan's uncharacteristic attempt at 'showing off' was due to new-found confidence in his own riding ability...or due to confidence in the superb POC protection provided to all our Medic Team. Danny Mac eat your heart ou.......errrm, actually maybe not.
What better way to finish this unreal day of racing, than a fresh swim in the creek and an ice-cold Hazy IPA?
...Let us tell you! A great burger (and more beers) at Nelson's premier spot
The man with the plan. Long-time MTB Guide and NZ MTB Rally Race director Ali Jamieson with his head straight back into the laptop for Day 6, whilst racers enjoyed good food & sharing their war-stories. Before The Rally, Ali has been better known for creating original-format events in Europe such as The Trans-Savoie and his Enduro2 pairs-format series. Jamieson discovered Nelson for himself, 10 years ago - tagged on as an afterthought to the back of a season in Queenstown - and immediately had a vision to create a new concept of multi-day race that would surely raise the profile of this unique and - in his opinion - genuinely world class destination. With a few setbacks such as Covid-19, its taken Jamieson a long time to finally deliver on his plans - but deliver, he sure did!
Watch Day 5's recap video from the perspective of Aussie mullet enthusiast and former professional road racer Mitch Docker, now turned Enduro racing first-timer. He sure did pick a big one for his first ever enduro race - but there's just no keeping this guy down. We are especially pleased to report that we did not catch him shaving his legs nor leaving his razor in the shower even once, during the week:
For this last day of racing, the 120 participants set off on the first liaison, straight from their accommodation in the centre of Nelson. Designed in part as a showcase for the incredible and easily-accessible riding in the region, the organisers were keen to start and finish the day literally from the city centre.
It was set to be another busy day, with 5 special stages and some pleasant transitions, plus continuing the theme, at least two very big 4x4 shuttles in order to max out the fun and minimise the suffering. A 30-minute flat, picturesque singletrack transition along The City's Maitai River, led racers to the first 30-minute shuttle of the day to the top of fringed hill, which overlooks both the city and the picturesque Tasman Bay. Nelson's trademark sunny weather was in force yet again, and at the start of Stage 1, racers were treated to post-card views across to Kaiteriteri and the Abel Tasman National Park.
Racer's were in for a treat in tackling the first trail for the day, all 5.1km / 746m descent of handcut bliss through NZ native forest - Te Ara Koa (Trail to Happiness). This trail is so good (and so long) that organisers uncharacteristically gave racers a mid-stage break to shake out the arm-pump, splitting the stage into two separate timed sections.
Unfortunately the mood quickly turned from party-hard, to very sombre. French athlete Morgane Jonnier went down hard near the en of Stage 1, with a nasty shoulder injury and quite obviously in a lot of pain. Access on this part of the trail was far from an easy task, and whilst our crew were on scene immediately and a helicopter was overhead not long after, Morgane suffered bravely for well over an hour before an heli-extraction by winched-stretcher could be safely completed. It was a sober reminder that whilst this race is about good times and adventure, the inherent risks of our sport can never be completely eliminated.
We'd guess the incident would have been particularly hard to bear for Morgane who, in 2nd place overall, was hot on the heels of Race leader Rae Morrison and had been pushing her hard all week only to go down on the final day having safely completed 2.5 hours of racing at a rapid pace. Furthermore, we know that Morgane had a truly epic year of racing lined up for 2024, with entries to all the bucket-list Trans-Enduro-Style multi-day races around the Globe. Morgan spent the night in good hands at Nelson hospital and was released the following morning...into the care and attention of local, Rae Morrison - that's the spirit of the NZ Enduro community, right there. Of course we all are wishing Morgane the speediest of recoveries and hope to see her return to both world-class riding form and her characteristically excellent humour, as soon as possible.
Morgane Jonnier, second female overall, had an awkward crash in the middle of the first stage and had to be airlifted to hospital.
Kiwi Chris Allman has been flying over the trails all over the week, straight on to the second step of the podium
Party trains were on like donkey kong down Nelson's 'Aorere' trail. A 10-minute+ stage, freshly re-built by Nelson MTB Club after commercial logging, just in time for The NZ MTB Rally. Big thanks goes out to the 60+ local volunteers involved - We salute you!
Liv Racing's Rae Morrison racing less than a km from her own doorstep on Stage 4 - Aorere. Pinkbike's Matt Beer really came onto form on this, the 6th and last day of racing. On this stage, the longest of the day, Beer put 30 seconds into everyone else on the course. Fairbrother however, proved that in a 6-day race, consistency is key. 3rd today, but taking the win overall.
The last stage of the week was scene to an amazing heckle zone with loads of locals who had come to support the riders in the last few meters of the race...
...but the biggest cheer of all came when the last rider of our crew (who had, in fact, been quietly sweeping up at the back for the entire week) rolled in to the finish. Thanks for your appreciation, guy it's time for a drink! Meanwhile, Nelson Pinner Sandy Vincent (fastest female wild-card entry today) takes the spotlight with Mitch Docker for his fish-out-of-water-edition podcast, part of his regular 'Life in the Peloton' series...coming to a stream near you, soon!
Impressive total stage times on The Rally's 'extended' course after 6 days of racing! Nearly 3 hours of racing over 6 days for the fastest on course (and much more than that, for mere mortals). Credit to Rae Morrison as the fastest female of the week whose scorching performance gave her an impressive 5th place overall, across all categories.
MATTHEW FAIRBROTHER takes the win after 6 days of unsupported enduro racing, with a total of 582km and 17 300m of elevation gain ! Chris ALLMAN comes second, Matt BEER (Pinkbike) finishes third ! Total time of racing was around 3 hours. Read about Fairbrother's incredible story in our separate report, here
Nelson local legend and renowned international racer, Raewyn Morrison, takes the win in the female category and is 5th Overall (02:57:35). Around 3 hours of racing yet incredibly within 1% of the fastest time on course across all categories! Germany’s Cindy Hoffman took 2nd place (3:45:26) and Canadian Gemma Elford (4:10:15) stepped up in 3rd. An honourable mention must go to France’s Morgane Jonnier, who sadly crashed out on the very last day of racing.
Morrison took the lead on Day 1 and stayed ahead all week, although France's Morgane Joinier was always close behind until her unlucky accident on the last day of racing. But what impressed us most, was the friendly and supportive attitude on display between these two women and indeed shared by the entire field of riders - Rae and Morgane were often seen joining the top-5 male party train. Now this an attitude that we really do love and encourage! NB There are no minimum start-gaps between racers in this event, and with a free-choice starting order at each stage, party trains and high-fives were often the order of the day. All except Matt Fairbrother of course, who spent most of his week grinding it out on his own, in the dark. What a guy!
In the Male Masters (40+), Mark Skroblin gets the fastest time (03:04:24), followed by Michael Kollbek and Harry Oxley. Jason Golaboski takes the win in E-Bike category, with a total race time of 3:13:25, in front of Rob Neeley & Al Killick. All extremely impressive times considering the age-gap, and that all of these fellas have a regular day-job to take care of, too!
For Friday's race, a few "Wildcard" entries from the local Nelson club were offered the opportunity to step up against the international field and show everyone why Nelson is renowned for its homegrown shredders (as well as share the stoke of rocking these amazing trails right on their own doorstep, every day of the year). Kieran Bennett (pictured) laid down the best time of the day with a remarkable time [20:26], 28 seconds ahead of Matt Beer [20:54] who had obviously been saving his best performance till last; and Kiwi's Bruno Browne [21:46]. In 3rd was Matt Fairbrother [21:48] who was surely by now, unfathomably fatigued yet still managed to hang on to the finish, and take the overall win for the week.
Wildcard Entry Andrew Stoddart, proving that being in his 50's is just an excuse to ride more, and ride harder (at least it is, if you live here in Nelson). Andrew was representing Houston Motors Mitsubishi; who provided our fleet of Triton 4x4 Utes that towed our 30-bike shuttle trailers all week over harsh and steep terrain...without so much as skipping a beat.
Taking the concept of a beer at the finish line, to extremes. Local brewery, McCashin's, provided racers with unlimited complimentary beers, ciders, and soft drinks throughout the week. Even Matt Fairbrother was spotted - somewhat extravagantly - treating himself to an ice-cold can of Lemon-and-Lime Bitters at the finish line. He must have liked it, because he downed a further 5 of them on the spot before moving on for a well-deserved lie down. Is he following some kind of secret nutrition plan that we don't know about? Are sugary kiwi-made soft drinks the secret to his thinly disguised superhuman powers? One thing we do know, is that feasting on Spit-Roast Pig is definitely not Fairbrother's secret: Being vegetarian, Matt skipped the post-party BBQ but made it to the party just in time to learn he'd secured the overall win - to much jubilation from the crowd which by this point consisted of many additional members of the local MTB community who had been captivated by the race unfolding here, over the week.
Over 40% of the registered riders chose the 'short course' option, meaning to take it a little bit easier each day by skipping a single 'bonus' stage which was typically the hardest of each day. Gus Gimenez (USA) takes the win in the "Short course", in front of Craig Nissen (Australia) and Adam Davidson (New Zealand)
In the female short course category, American Victoria Zellick took the win, followed by Australia's, Amanda Scanlan and Laura Renshaw in 2nd and 3rd place. With over 3 hours on the clock for the winner here, we're thinking that we might need to revisit our naming convention for the "short" course for our 2025 edition :-)
Nelson City Council saw the potential in backing this event from the outset, and without whose strong support the project would likely never come to fruition. Nelson's Mayor, Nick Smith MP was here at the award ceremony and gave a heartfelt speech, inviting all the riders to come back to Nelson in future and hopefully to spread the word about what an awesome place Nelson is to visit, to ride and even to live! We sure will, Mr Smith!
SEE ALL EVENT COVERAGE, RESULTS, AND A BREAKDOWN OF STAGE TIMES
GET UPDATES FOR REGISTRATION OPTIONS TO 2025 THE 2025 NZ MTB RALLY, AND UPCOMING GUIDED TOURS OF THE RALLY ROUTE
The race is over, the bike is packed, and many of the riders will be flying home the next day... although many also decided to stay on and enjoy the many other delights of this beautiful corner of the world such as its world-class wineries & breweries, pristine beaches, and spectacular culture & arts. Either way, it was certainly time for a well deserved celebration! We hope to see you all here in Nelson-Tasman next year, everyone!
The team that made the magic happen. Such an exceptional crew assembled here in NZ last week, coming from all corners of the globe. But in spite of the long days and extremely challenging logistics of this event, they absolutely nailed it! And even and kept a smile on their faces whilst doing it, too! NZ MTB Rally Crew; you're the real heros here!
Days 5 & 6 Video Highlights
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Looks like an amazing race. I'll add it to the dream list (or at least keep leaving the car at home).
He's leaving?
The "past" week of work was a highly memorable experience. I'm stoked to have shared it with old friends and make new ones. The whole NZ MTB Rally put on a remarkable event, including all of the shuttle drivers, volunteers, and local community members/trail builders. They make me want to do it all over again. A huge round of applause goes out to Matt Fairbrother for an unimaginable performance and win!