Race Report: Crankworx Summer Series NZ Stop 1 - Alexandra by officialcrankworx

Martha Gill on race day in the Alexandra Super D. Photo: Clint Trahan

Words: Crankworx

Stop One of the Crankworx Summer Series is in the books. Alexandra saw some of Crankworx’s top athletes welcomed into the family by locals keen to show off their backyard tracks while throwing down the gauntlet to see how the pros times stack up against their own.

Alex is known as being the hottest, driest and coldest town in New Zealand. Riders got a wee taste of all of the above through a weekend of racing in the soon-to-be-open Matangi Station MTB.

The vibe: rocky, janky, techy good times. A fight for flow through boulder fields and over rock rolls, and a weekend full of lung-busting efforts, mechanicals, and a real good time on the South Island of New Zealand.

The arena: three sections of track, times linked together to form the Alexandra Super D.

Here’s a taste of what went down:

Full results from the Alexandra Super D: crankworx.com/results/

The vibe overall was one of family. The town of Alexandra and those behind Matangi Station MTB welcomed us in with open arms, and the tracks left the whole crew wanting more.

Here is a look into what the crew got up to outside of race time in Alexandra:

And a few photos from the week:

Checking out the trails in Alex on a shop ride with the crew from Henderson's Cycle. Photo: Clint Trahan

Sharing stoke and skill with the local girls. Photo: Clint Trahan

Cold and wet practice reminding us it's not summer in NZ just yet. Jenna Hastings, Casey Brown and Harriet Burbidge-Smith. Brown and Hastings would podium, and Haz earned her top gravity result at a Crankworx race. Photo: Clint Trahan

The locals were firing and frothing, including Eddie Adams. When all was said and done, his race time of 11:38 would have placed him sixth in pro. Respect. Photo: Clint Trahan

Making tracks in practice and dropping into Alex. Photo: Clint Trahan

Race day brought hero dirt (are hero rocks a thing?) and sunshine. New Zealand's Hayley Harris dropping into one of the areas natural amphitheaters. She would take the win in the CWNext 13-16 category. Photo: Clint Trahan

Alex's Bradley Harris, charging for first on race day. Photo: Clint Trahan

Robin Pieper ended her day just three seconds behind Haz. Photo: Clint Trahan

Louise Ferguson, rock dodging. Photo: Clint Trahan

Ferguson and Hastings, 1 and 3. Brown, who grew up 10 minutes from Alex, would take second. Photo: Clint Trahan

That's it, that's all from Alex, folks. Blenki rolling out with his daughter after claiming third. Photo: Clint Trahan

Heading into Stop 2, the road trip has rolled into Queenstown.

If you’ve been following on social, you’ll know: this is the home of all the adventures. Riders have been doing heli rides, bungee jumping, wine tours, and taking in all the best of this vibrant mountain town. Summary: summer road trips + bike racing = good times.

Friday, the focus comes back to racing. Queenstown will be the host of two events during the Crankworx Summer Series.

Friday, December 3: the Queenstown Pump Track will be broadcast live on Crankworx.com through Crankworx’s YouTube channel. Watch it live at 6-7:30 p.m. (New Zealand time), or check out the replay after. Highlights to follow!

Saturday, December 4: An new track awaits racers in Skyline Gravity Park. The DH will not be a live broadcast, but highlights will also be available after.

Meantime, keep following along on social to soak up all the fun in the sun from the ultimate NZ Crankworx roadie.

Author Info:

officialcrankworx

Member since Jul 14, 2011
365 articles

8 Comments

10 0

commental (Dec 2, 2021 at 6:24)

Warner would love it in Alex. So many places in town where he could look up at this hill and scream LOOK AT THE TIME!

mtbmaniatv FL (Dec 2, 2021 at 4:46)

I thought Super-D was supposed to be 1 run? Isn't this then an Enduro?

Linc (Dec 2, 2021 at 14:52)

Love the coverage - and call me crazy - but why can't you publish the key race results in the article about the results of a race? Is there some reason I need to click through to the crankworx site?

amonas (Dec 2, 2021 at 4:58)

I wonder if that was a spoiler at the end of the video...... :-/

Ricolaburle (Dec 2, 2021 at 23:22)

Same here ;-) !

eddycheever (Dec 2, 2021 at 8:10)

Bradley on a Yeti...

blackapturphoto FL (Dec 2, 2021 at 14:47)

its the bike he did his 2021 season on

Ricolaburle (Dec 2, 2021 at 23:21)

Uh-oh.