The sound of high-revving adventure bikes will echo through the region’s hills this weekend for the annual Nelson Tasman Motorcycle Festival.
This year road bikes are also part of the festival, with riders exploring locations around the region, with both groups teaming up with the public at Founders Park on Saturday evening.
It’s the third year for event organiser Dave McLeod, who says the number of adventure bikes has climbed from 37 in its first year to 83 this year that will take part in a convoy through Nelson on Saturday morning.
From there, the adventure riders will explore tracks around the region, from Cable Bay Adventure Park and Pepin Island to Mt Malita and the watch tower in Richmond hills. At the same time, road riders will take part in a treasure hunt as far afield as Golden Bay and St Arnaud.
The annual festival was inspired by Dave’s own adventure bike journey several years ago on the Tour Aotearoa (TA) after he quit his job as an architectural designer in an office setting in search of something different.
“I’d cycled the country on my mountainbike and decided I wanted to do it on my motorcycle.”
That journey led to the creation of Kohatu Motorcycle Centre, and he’s been organising motorcycle events ever since.
This year’s adventure bike event is fully booked with riders from around the country, while the addition of the road bike event aims to bring together different communities of riders.
“We want to make it a festival feel, and hoping the public will come down to Founders as well.”
A gold coin admission to Founders Park will support the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter.
