Pioneering
Spirit
The Pioneer in new zealand is
part of the epic series and is
a race that has been on Team
Garmin’s “Bike-It” list since its
inception in 2016. It took a lot of
fancy footwork to get there,
but boy was it worth it!
By Ben Melt Swanepoel and
Yolandi du Toit
ueenstown, New Zealand
is known as the adventure
capital of the world. Situated
on the shores of Lake
Wakatipu, 45° south of the Equator and
168° east of the Greenwich Meridian,
it’s fair to say that it’s pretty far from,
well… everywhere. Additionally, it’s on
a half sunken but steadily rising island
between the Tasmanian Sea and the vast
Pacific Ocean, exaggerating the sense of
remoteness one gets just from being there.
As such, there could hardly be a more
fitting location to host the third edition of
The Pioneer New Zealand. Held from 25-
30 November 2018 the race featured a
prologue and five stages covering 424km
and packed with more than 15º000m of
climbing, making for a stern challenge.
Flying in to Queenstown was already
an adventure with an unexpected snow
storm (in the middle of summer!) hitting
town in the lead-up to the event. When
we arrived, it was lashing with rain and
blowing a gale, to the extent where our
plane was the last to land for the day while
subsequent flights were diverted to safer
airports. Cue the moment: what the hell
did we get ourselves into? Fortunately the
bad weather subsided and we spent a few
88 | MTB | bucket list busting
days exploring Queenstown, including its
many well groomed trails, as a successful
countermeasure to the unavoidable jet lag.
Race registration came around too
quickly and was a reality check, with
race officials being very strict as they
inspected all our equipment to ensure
everything was in working order prior to
the race start. Quite a few people were sent
scurrying around Queenstown to replace
a helmet that was deemed too old or to
find missing items of compulsory kit. On
that note, competitors are compelled to
carry a comprehensive list of compulsory
gear during every stage. This includes a
rain jacket, Merino wool beanie, medical
kit, a multi tool and a pump. Riders were
routinely subjected to spot checks,
and time penalties were applied if they
were found wanting.
In addition to the compulsory gear there
is also a mandatory gear list which could
be enforced if the weather turned south
(excuse the pun). This included thermal
leggings, long-sleeved top and a rain jacket
with a hoodie. We were only forced to carry
the extra mandatory gear once, during
stage 4 when the weather looked dicey,
but it does explain why most competitors
use a backpack of sorts during the event.