The Queenstown Mountainbike Club is hailing last Saturday's national cyclocross championships a success, and is already looking for ways to make the next event even more spectator-friendly.
Club events co-ordinator Carey Vivian said the event attracted about 60 competitors and between 200 and 300 spectators.
Cyclocross is a northern hemisphere winter sport recently introduced to New Zealand which has riders on modified road bikes fitted with knobbly tyres navigating mixed-terrain courses riddled with hills and obstacles that force them to carry their bikes at times.
The course was constructed through Jardine Park and surrounding fields.
Saturday's cyclocross race - part of the Queenstown Winter Festival - was the first in Queenstown, and Mr Vivian was pleased with the day.
"It went really well - it was a beautiful day and everybody really enjoyed it. The level of support and the number of riders were high ... and the two muddy areas of the course had a lot of spectators around who got right behind it, with a lot of people falling off."
Dan Warren (Hawkes Bay) and Anja Mcdonald (Dunedin) won the men's and women's titles respectively.
"Most people in the race said they would be back for another race if there were another one," Mr Vivian said.
"Competitors told us the organisation was really good ... and the course was even better than they expected."
Mr Vivian said there were definitely improvements that could be made for any future events, considering cyclocross lends itself as "more of a spectator event than a bike race", attracting crowds of thousands in Europe and North America.
This could include designing courses with spectator access and viewing in mind, and even touches like coffee carts to help spectators ward off the winter chills with a hot drink.
The next cyclocross race, an internationally recognised event, will be part of this year's 100% Pure New Zealand Winter Games, and Mr Vivian said although the club would not be involved in organising the event, several club members would participate.
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