Overview

The Nelson Mountain Bike Club has submitted an expression of interest to Cycling New Zealand to host the 2025 New Zealand Secondary Schools Mountain Bike Champs.  This event is held annually in the October school holidays and brings together over 400 riders from across the country.  The event runs over 4 – 5 days and includes Enduro, Downhill, Cross Country and a Cross Country teams event.

This will be a major event for our region and the benefits of hosting it will extend beyond the participants of the race.  Benefits to our community include:

• The event will require the construction of trails that can be used for the cross country part of the event.  These trails are likely to be a network of grade 2 – 4 linked trails.  Feedback from our recent member survey has shown that many of our members would like to see this option added to our network.
• The event will require the construction of an easier DH trail than we currently have.  The current DH trails in Nelson are difficult and this new trail will provide a stepping stone towards riding the more difficult trails.
• We estimate that over 350 participants will come to Nelson from outside of the region.  This event will be held during school holidays and many of the participants will travel with their families and will stay in Nelson for 5 – 7 nights.  This will bring significant financial benefits to local businesses.
• Many participants will travel to Nelson prior to the event to practice on our trails, adding further financial benefits to our region.  The event will showcase our region as a riding destination and hopefully result in returning visitors post event too.