Iconic Karapoti Classic mountain bike race turns 25

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Racers march up, one after another, at the Karapoti Classic.(Image credit: www.cycle-photos.co.nz)

A quarter of a century ago, mountain biking was a new fringe sport. There were only a couple of brands of mountain bikes available and most races consisted of getting a few mates together. Then one day late in the summer of 1986, Wellington cycling enthusiast Paul Kennett sent 49 hardy souls into Upper Hutt's Akatarawa Ranges for the first edition of the Karapoti Classic in New Zealand.

When the event began, it was a cutting-edge challenge, which seemed like a major expedition with many competitors sporting bush shirts and backpacks. Simon Kennett, who finished second in that inaugural race, recalls eventual race winner Tim Galloway offering him an apple as they started up the final hill. Since then icon elements of the course such as "The Rock Garden," "Devil's Staircase," and "Big Ring Boulevard," have become legendary, spoken in hushed tones of nervous anticipation and misty, sometimes bloody, memories. Completing Karapoti is a sort of Down Under mountain bike benchmark.

This year Rotorua's Mark Leishman will wear number one as the defending champion. Leishman, a former national rep, was a surprise winner in 2009 ahead of national champion Stu Houltham. But these riders will need to keep a keen eye out for Brendon Sharratt and national junior champion Richard Anderson. Everyone, however, will need to watch for the return of Sydney's Peter Hatton, who won the Merida Karapoti Classic in 2004 and 2006.

The Karapoti podium has been a who's-who of the sport, with trailblazer Jon Hume winning four years in a row (1991-1994) while world top 10 ranked Kashi Leuchs won in 1998 and 2002. Nelson's Tim Vincent won three times (2001, 2003, 2005) prior to taking the 24-hour world title, and in 2007 Rotorua teenager Clinton Avery put himself into mountain biking folklore when he won by 10 minutes in a race record two hours, 14 minutes and one second.