Down-Under Cycle Race starts from both ends of NZ Saturday

ATTN Sports editors, regional and national news rooms – MEDIA UPDATE

World First’ Down-Under Cycle Race starts from both ends of NZ on Saturday

A eight day nationwide cycling event starts from both ends of NZ on Saturday morning. The tour begins simultaneously in Cape Reinga or Bluff at 10am on Saturday, finishing about 700 kilometres or eight days later at the Beehive in Wellington. Teams or individuals have chosen to begin at the top of the North Island or at the bottom of the South Island.

The tour has stages through many regions throughout the country as it winds its way either south or north before finishing with a criterium race around the Beehive in Wellington.

Following is key info, potential story angles, links to the event website and key contacts. Please let me know if you do not want to receive tomorrow’s preview for the event and updates throughout the week.

This tour should be of interest to most sports newsrooms, regional print news, television and radio.

This is the first event of its kind and has attracted media from Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, China and the UK who have actually come to ride in the tour. international media teams will have the opportunity to experience both the North Island and South Island stages of the tour, to fully sample New Zealand’s diversity of landscapes. We’re confident they’ll see vastly different, spectacular scenes as they cycle from Queenstown to Wanaka, then to Twizel, Tekapo and Fairlie, before sampling the North Island from Waitomo to Wanganui, and finally to Wellington.

Key information
• Final entry numbers – 170 riders South Island and 70 for the North Island
• Start times on SAT – 10am Cape Reinga and Bluff; bottom of Bluff Hill Road in the main street of the town.
• Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt is doing a ‘vintage Maori welcome’ prior to the start of the first Stage at Bluff at 9.30am
• Riders can do the length of the whole Island or team up and do various legs in teams. Also opportunity to do individual stages, like well known media chef Jo Seagar, who is doing the 80km Methven to Oxford stage on a Dutch town bike complete with thermos and nibbles.

Interesting quirky angles/facts
• Tim Shadbolt starting things off in Bluff at 10am
• Starting 10.00am with a link up with Cape Reinga where our North Island compatriots will simultaneously be starting under the Starting Gun of North Island Race Director Garry Collin. Competitors will hear over the speaker system a greeting from both start lines 2400kms apart!
• Velodrome in Invercargill between 5.30 and 730pm Friday 13th April for race pack pick up and the opportunity to try riding on the track
• 84 year old racing in North on the back of a tandem – riding with Noel Charmoy. They are doing the first stage in the North Island.
• Christchurch mountain bike sensation Anton Cooper is riding in the Christchurch Boys High team. Cooper signed a professional contract with one of the world's leading teams, Trek World Racing, late last year after a string of impressive international performances.
• Chinese team riding with their own interpreter
• Chinese media following the race
• Three teams from Hong Kong
• A number of individuals riders from Australia
• team from Australia
• Jo Seagar doing the Methven to Oxford ride on a Dutch town bike complete with thermos and nibbles~!!!
• Simon Yarrell, Individual - riding solo after breaking his back last year skiing. Broke L1 and tail bone. Organising the event with his father Peter. Simon won the Coast to Coast 2 day event 2000. Born and bred Christchurch boy, looking forward to going hard out up the South Island
• Over 70s team doing the South Island tour.

Interesting teams
• Powered by Stroopies team; team has found a secret weapon that will enable us to finish this event with minimal practice beforehand. the secret is in the "stroopies". These weapons were discovered by the Dutch member of our team "Stroopman" who has been substituting them for training for some time now with excellent results, particularly on the downhill rides. The simple mix of caramel, sandwiched between two wafers may not seem high technology but when brought together something miraculous happens. Our team has also found that music helps the stroopies go down and "Musicman" will be providing a relaxing soundtrack to our ride to ease the digestion. The final key to a successful tour is provided by "Snakelady" who will be supplying jellied treats in the form of a continual desert trolley. We look forward to eating (and drinking) our way down the North Island!
• The Smokin' Arrows South and North Island teams going head to head. Two Arrow International teams.
• Fiordland Flyers; Veteran - average age 50 or over, wanting to take the push out of the pushbike
• Air Force Ohakea; Corporate team, "Celebrating 75 years of the RNZAF" The Air Force team consists of the following six personnel from the Ohakea base
• Shake Rattle & Ride 70;. veteran - all 70 or over, South Island bikes "IN THE GROOVE AND ON THE MOVE AT 70" looking for relief from the shaking and devastation that Christchurch has been subject to in the last 18 months (over 10,000 aftershocks). Relishing riding on roads with no bloody great holes and bumps in the tarseal. All members of the Magpies Cycling Group and vary from novices to ex running and road cycling champs. aim is to encourage people of our age to get out, get active and enjoy life to the full. Team, Riders. Austin, Bryan, Sir Charles, Eddie, Eric, John and Russell. June and Marie are our support crew
• CBHS School team, South Island bikes "9 riders and a teacher. Looking forward to the adventure." Team Taking 9 school cyclists and using the ride throughout the South Island as a team building exercise with the primary goal of competing well at the Secondary School Nationals in September. Range of abilities in the riders from a pro-mountain bike rider (Anton Cooper) to a guy who has only been riding for a year. Riders - Olly Marshall, Anton Cooper, Sam Friend, Daniel Whitehouse, Alex Hooper, Max Jones, Greg Moore, Nathan Schurrman and Harry Buttle. Gary McNaughton (TIC Cycling - who is looking at doing a couple of stages with the team - hopefully)
• WHOCAS Veteran - average age 50 or over, South Island ""Wanaka Herd Of Cats And Supporters" - WHOCAS" team This race brings together lost souls (like in the photo above), a mix of previously overweight, middle aged, coast to coast/iron man/marathon/farmery types like a herd of cats!
• Women of Wanaka - average age under 50, South Island5 bikes "WOW....5 Wicked Women of Wanaka Winding their Way to Wellington." Team Ginny, Kirsty, Lynn, Ann and Emma, five Wanaka women in our 40's and 50's who are riding for fun, fundraising and the chance to try to beat some boys up the country!

For more info about individuals and teams see http://www.tourofnewzealand.co.nz/rb.php

North Island Race Course (638 km)
Day 1. Cape Reinga to Kaitaia sponsored by Westpac (111 km)
Day 2. Opononi to Dargaville sponsored by Fulton Hogan (79 km)
Day 3. Dargaville to Brynderwyn sponsored by NZ Safety (70 km)
Day 4. Tuakau to Raglan sponsored by Bluebridge (84 km)
Day 5. Waitomo Caves to Taumaranui sponsored by Hirequip (102 km)
Day 6. National Park to Wanganui (broken into two stages) sponsored by Britz (118 km)
Day 7. Pahiatua to Masterton sponsored by Hynds (74 km)
Day 8. The Beehive Criterium, Wellington, sponsored by BMW

South Island Race Course (687 km)
Day 1. Bluff to Mossburn sponsored by Westpac (139 km)
Day 2. Queenstown to Wanaka sponsored by Fulton Hogan (76 km)
Day 3. Wanaka to Omarama sponsored by NZ Safety (113 km)
Day 4. Tekapo to Geraldine sponsored by Bluebridge (88 km)
Day 5. Methven to Oxford sponsored by Hirequip (80 km)
Day 6. Hanmer Springs to Kaikoura sponsored by Britz (126 km)
Day 7. Blenheim to Picton (via Havelock) sponsored by Hynds (65 km)
Day 8. The Beehive Criterium, Wellington, sponsored by BMW

Routes and daily stages see http://www.tourofnewzealand.co.nz/routes-and-daily-stages.php

Organisers want the tour to raise money for Kiwi cycle-ways via donations to the Hikurangi Foundation as well as supporting the Red Cross and St John. The latter two organisations had their coffers substantially emptied as a result of rescue efforts after Christchurch’s February 2011 earthquake. Teams and individuals has chosen specific charities to support!

I hope you will look for options to give the riders and event some coverage. Please let me know if you need any further information and keep an eye out for media updates.
You can follow the tour on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TourofNZ

Because this tour has a charitable rather than a capitalist focus, we have received huge generosity from our corporate sponsors Now we look forward to Kiwis grabbing a bike and joining the internationals in taking full advantage of seeing the countryside first hand. We all own the most amazing backdrop for cycling!

ENDS

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