Sam Blenkinsop and Katy Winton Win Dodzy Memorial Enduro 2018
Sam Blenkinsop has won his fourth consecutive Dodzy Memorial Enduro, beating a stacked field in slippery and challenging conditions.
International racers including Blenkinsop, Brook Macdonald, Joe Nation, Katy Winton and Raewyn Morrison were among the 280 riders on the start list of the popular two-day event near Nelson, New Zealand, which sold out in less than two minutes.
The shuttle-assisted race is notorious for steep and technical stages which wreak havoc on the bikes and bodies of the unprepared. Overnight rain before both practice and race day cranked up the difficulty, forcing race organisers to re-think a particularly gnarly section of the course.
A wet night and mist in the hills caused a few nervous faces on race morning. Photo: Odin Woods.
Organiser Nick Crocker's race briefings have become the stuff of legend. This year's yarn got a little spiritual, inspired by a couple of ports the night before the race. Photo: Digby Shaw.
The social side of the event is as important as the racing. Photo: Odin Woods.
The shuttle pick-up starts across the Wairoa River, which is the perfect spot to cool off post-race. Photo: Matt Wood.
Getting so many people up the hill takes some serious logistics and heavy-duty machines, but everything ran smoothly on race day. Photo: Matt wood.
Blenkinsop finished the long and technical race runs in 31 minutes 4 seconds. He won two of the three stages. Bryn Dickerson came in second, about 40 seconds off the pace, with Brook Macdonald rounding out the top three.
A competitive women’s field showed up for the event, but the physical course and slick conditions saw several pull out on race day. Katy Winton was right at home in the muddy conditions, taking the win in 38 minutes 40 seconds.
Last year’s winner Harriet Harper had to settle for second, a further 40 seconds back, and Mel Blomfield celebrated her birthday with the third spot on the podium.
Blenkinsop was always the favourite going into the race, and seemed to thrive in the tricky conditions. Photo: Odin Woods.
The tracks must have reminded Winton of home as she seemed comfortable on the treacherously slippery trails. Photo: Matt Wood.
The physical stages were always going to suit Macdonald, who did well to pick up third in his first race at the Wairoa. Photo: Matt Wood.
Local racer Harriet Harper was unlucky not to win the race overall after winning two of the three stages. Photo: Odin Woods.
Winton, who is in New Zealand to train for the off-season, said the rain on Saturday night thinned out the mud which made the trails more grippy than expected.
 | I’ve ridden all over the world and these are some of the best tracks I’ve ever ridden. It's just handcrafted, for bikes, you can’t really beat that. |
Riders were in a great mood despite the challenging conditions, with plenty of banter and heckling at the top of stages. The lunch break at the bottom was a chance for racers to swap stories of huge moments and near-misses between runs.
Riders waiting to drop in had plenty to talk about given how tricky the riding conditions were. Photo: Matt Wood.
The sections of trail weaving through the beech forest have a special atmosphere, but the tree roots are diabolically slippery when wet. Photo: Matt Wood.
The Wairoa Gorge is about 45 minutes drive from Nelson and feels remote once you're out in the hills. Photo: Matt Wood.
The race village was at the bottom of a beautiful valley but gave racers nowhere to hide from the relentless sandflies. Photo: Matt Wood.
The race celebrates the life of NZ mountain biking legend James "Dodzy" Dodds. Now in its sixth year, its a highlight of the NZ racing calendar.
Dodzy was killed in a hunting accident in 2012. As well as being a keen racer, he co-owned NZ Trail Solutions, the company which built over 70 kilometres of hand-crafted trails at the Wairoa Gorge.
The race uses a selection of the best trails at the 841-hectare private park, which tops out at 1200 metres above sea level. When not being raced, the Nelson Mountain Bike Club runs shuttles at the venue.
The lush native forest makes for some scenic race stages, but riders had no time to take in the sights. Photo: Matt Wood.
Macdonald was not worried by the mob of hecklers or the hectic chute into one of the last corners of the race. Photo: Digby Shaw.
Blenkinsop showed no fear of the greasy tree roots, hitting high lines like it was dry. Photo: Matt Wood.
The gorge is full of little touches added by the trail builders which makes the place extra special. Photo: Matt Wood.
Though fiercely competitive, the DME has a festival-like feel. For many, the racing takes a back seat to catching up with mates and chatting. This is epitomised by the hardtail category, which has grown every year despite the battering riders take on tracks built with six inches of travel in mind.
| You sort of wonder at times how its all going to come together when the rain’s coming down and things look impending, there’s a few nervous faces, but we’ve got an amazing crew here that put the race together and the attitudes of all the riders just makes it all go smoothly. |
He said organising the event was an amazing opportunity to give something back to Dodzy’s memory; “It’s just something that reminds people of who he was and the cool values that he showed as a person.”
The event was capped off with a tasteful social mixer at East St Cafe in Nelson, which saw racers and the volunteer crew spinning yarns well into the early hours of the morning.
Full results here.
More than a few of NZ's finest beers were put back by deserving racers who survived the day. Photo: Matt Wood.
It's typically a big night out after the race, but luckily for some the cameras got put away early. Photo: Matt Wood.
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