The property is the venue for the New Zealand Cross Country Cup Series' third round next Sunday for the first time and has had a makeover especially for the occasion.
‘‘We were lucky to have an awesome track builder, Mark Goodwin, living just down the road, who built the original track [of about 3km] and he extended it for us,'' Wright said.
The 18-year-old has finished his schooling at Wanaka's Mount Aspiring College and now spends up to 20 hours a week training, with the goal of elevating himself from amateur to the professional mountain biking ranks.
Wright has won the first two national cross-country rounds in his age group at Rotorua and Cambridge and if home track knowledge counts for anything, he should have next Sunday's 75 to 90-minute race well wrapped up.
‘‘It is ideal. I'd say it is a bit of an advantage but anything could happen.''
Wright's friend and mentor Melissa Newell (36) will be racing in the women's category and although she is still an elite rider, much of her time is now dedicated to helping others achieve their mountain biking goals.
She has seen a few tracks in her time and rates the Wrights' right up there with the toughest.
‘‘It's one of the most demanding courses in New Zealand. There is nowhere to hide and nowhere to rest. It's a good wee technical course. There will be a few people getting off their bikes and walking,'' Newell said.
She and Wright met and started riding together when she moved to Wanaka four years ago.
She has had years of going fast on mountain bikes, beginning her cross-country campaign in 2008 after a bad hip thwarted her national basketball and rugby playing career. After cleaning up in the nationals and Oceania championships in the masters category, she set about racing in the elite riders.
Newell's results saw her slot into the top 10 elite women in the country and although she would love to crack the top five, these days her racing is as much about supporting other women riders and being on the start line to support the race organisers.
She has started a women's bike team called Ro4m Free, which has Dunedin downhill rider Scarlett Hagen, and Queenstown riders Harriet Latchen, Natalie Jacobs and Mary Jowett, who all ride a mixture of downhill, endurance and cross-country, on its books.
The team has no contracts and no obligations and Newell's role is just helping out athletes, she said.
‘‘Going for rides with them. Teaching them lines or race knowledge. Hooking them up with a bit of kit. Anything I can do to assist.''
