Cycle World Dunedin runs a six-race series and the opening race at Beachlands Speedway on Sunday attracted record numbers.
The event has been running for four years but Cycle World Dunedin community manager Aimee Fisher said it was getting more traction — ha — this year.
"I think this was probably the first year where we have really pushed it on social media and we got a massive turnout and have had a lot of interest from outside Dunedin as well," she said.
The second race in the series will be staged at Logan Park High School on June 11 and Fisher expects another healthy field.
For those not familiar with the sport, it is basically motocross on bikes. The riders compete on a cyclocross bike, which is essentially a road bike but with disc brakes. But there are other categories that cater for mountain bikes and single-speed bikes.
Everybody starts off together regardless of the category they are entered in.
The competitors race for a set time, usually about 40 minutes. When the leader crosses the finish after the time has lapsed, the rest of the field does one more lap.
The circuit is usually about 2 to 3km long. The Beachlands course offered a variety of mud, sand clay and gravel surfaces. There were some technical sections as well as some nice fast sections.
It really was a mix, with something for everybody, Fisher said.
Aggressive riding from Jeremy Furlong, Johnny van Leeuwen, Paul Gough, Tom Kaminszky and Kashi Leuchs saw those five riders take out the top five places.
Furlong and van Leeuwen pulled away in lap one. Furlong got the overall victory on his cyclocross bike and van Leeuwen was second but was the leading rider on a single-speed bike.
Gough (3rd) and Kaminszky (4th) teamed up to chase the pair down. Gough lapped it out on the fast sections while Kaminszky set the pace through the technical sections. But the pair were not able to reel in Furlong and van Leeuwen. Leuchs was not too far behind in fifth. Sam Hope was the first female to cross the finish line, beating her father, Ray Hope, by a few seconds.
