Competition in the second The Prospector started yesterday with the 15km Prologue on the Matangi Station MTB course in the Knobbies Range above Alexandra.
A time trial event for teams and individuals started separately in a race against the clock.
More than 160 riders will compete across the three-day event.
Race director and founder James Williamson said the it was conceived during New Zealand’s first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020.
"We started out with an idea that was born out of lockdown actually, myself and Phil Oliver ... we knew what we had here was perfect."
Australian competitors arrived for the second iteration of the event.
One arrival from Australia was Samara Sheppard, originally from Clyde.
Sheppard who was competing in the open mixed teams event with her Australian fiance Kyle Ward, in a team aptly named Kiwi and a Kookaburra, said it was a special feeling to be home after more than two years away due to Covid-19 border restrictions.
The health professional, now based in Wollongong, Australia, said she was making up for lost time in the several days she had been home.
"Yesterday, we got out and did the Dunstan Trail which I’d really been looking forward to doing as well."
She described the Prologue course as a tough 15km circuit and predicted today and tomorrow’s racing to be the same.
Sheppard and Ward won the mixed teams on the first day by two minutes from newly paired Josie Wilcox and Ben Wilson.
Reigning 2021 champions Ben Oliver and his teammate Josh Burnett had a scorching day and showed how hard it would be to get the better of them but Cameron Jones and Matt Wilson were only 11 seconds behind.
In a strong women’s field Mary Gray and Sarah Ward Gilbert topped the table with Erin Greene and Hannah Millar only two minutes behind.
The action moves to Earnscleugh Station today before returning to Matangi Station tomorrow.
