The Kennett Bros is the business name for brothers Paul Kennett, Simon Kennett and Jonathan Kennett. They have been heavily involved in mountain biking in New Zealand since 1984, and in publishing books about cycling and cyclists. They were inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2018.
Paul organised the first national mountain bike race in New Zealand in 1986 – the Karapoti Classic. [1] The Kennett Bros continued to run this annually until 2002, when they sold the event.
In 1997 they co-organised a round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Wellington.
In 1998 they started building the Wellington City Council owned Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park, which received a national recreation award in 2002 and a national conservation award in 2003.
From 2001 to 2006 the Kennett Bros coordinated a forest revegetation project at Ōtari-Wilton's Bush, in which 40,000 trees were planted over a five-year period.
The Kennett Bros helped organise the 2006 Rotorua UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships.
From 2010 to 2014 the Kennett Bros were a project manager on the New Zealand Cycle Trail. [2]
Paul ran a national mountain bike magazine called Mountain Bike New Zealand Magazine from 1988 to 1990.
In 1991 the Kennett Bros wrote the first edition of Classic New Zealand Mountain Bike Rides , a national guidebook, which became a best seller. They produce new editions every three years (1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, [3] 2014, 2017, 2019). In 2019 they announced that the tenth (2019) edition would be the last in the series.
In 1995 Paul launched the Mountain Bike New Zealand Web, the online home for many New Zealand mountain bikers.
In 2004 they published a history of cycling in New Zealand called RIDE: The Story of Cycling in New Zealand.
From 2005 to 2019 they published a series of seven books on influential New Zealand cyclists called the New Zealand Cycling Legend Series. [4]
In 2018, the Kennett Brothers were inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. [5]
Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in rough terrain, such as air or coil-sprung shocks used as suspension, larger and wider wheels and tires, stronger frame materials, and mechanically or hydraulically actuated disc brakes. Mountain biking can generally be broken down into distinct categories: cross country, trail, all mountain, enduro, downhill and freeride.
The bicycle originally reached New Zealand in the 1860s in the form of the velocipede, also known as the 'boneshaker'. These bikes, as elsewhere, soon evolved into the elegant 'high wheelers', known today as penny-farthings. Popular among wealthy young men, these offered adventure and speed, but were also dangerous due to the lack of modern features like efficient brakes. Additionally the fact that they were useless on the rough and hilly roads of most of the country, ensured that they were seldom used for anything other than sport and recreation.
New Zealand competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. The New Zealand Olympic Committee was represented by 97 athletes and 60 officials. Former Olympic swimmer Dave Gerrard was the team's chef de mission.
The 1928 Tour de France was the 22nd edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 17 June to 15 July. It consisted of 22 stages over 5,376 km (3,340 mi).
Henry George Watson was the first New Zealander to ride in the Tour de France. In 1928, he teamed up with Australian cyclists, Hubert Opperman, Percy Osborn and Ernie Bainbridge. They were the first English-speaking team to ride the Tour de France.
English Park is a football stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is the home stadium of Canterbury United, which competes in the ASB Premiership, as well as Western AFC which currently compete in the Mainland Premier League. The stadium has a capacity of approximately 3,000 people.
William Pratney was a New Zealand professional cyclist and politician. He won New Zealand championship titles on track and on road.
Cycling in New Zealand is the 5th most popular form of active recreation, but a very marginal commuting mode, with the share hovering around 1–3% in most major cities. This is due to a number of factors, principally safety fears.
The New Zealand Cycle Trail project is a New Zealand government initiative, co-funded together with local councils and charitable trusts, which is to build and operate a network of cycle routes through the country.
Tino Tabak is a Dutch-born New Zealand cyclist who raced in the Tour de France in the 1970s.
Mixed terrain cycle touring is the practice of cycling over a variety of surfaces and topography on a single route, with a single bicycle. The recent popularity of mixed terrain touring is in part a reaction against the increasing specialization of the bike industry.
Louise Juliet Sutherland was a New Zealand cyclist.
Bikepacking is how a bicycle is packed for bicycle touring. As with backpacking, lightweight packing is a popular topic within bicycle packing. Any kind of bicycle can be used for bikepacking, and specialized touring bicycles often have attachment points from the factory such as low riders and luggage carriers, but most types of bicycles can be equipped with a frame bag, saddle bag, top tube bag and handlebar bag.
Phil O'Shea was a New Zealand racing cyclist.
The definition of ultra-distance cycling is far more vague than in ultra running or in ultra-triathlon. Any bike race or ride longer than a century ride, which is 100 miles (160 km), is sometimes considered to be ultra-distance cycling. However, such events are relatively common, so using a longer distance to define the category is more useful, such as any race or ride that is longer than 200 kilometres (120 mi), 300 kilometres (190 mi) or even a double century, 200 miles (320 km).
Le Ride is a film which recreates the 1928 Tour de France ride by the four-person Australasian team, and in particular of the New Zealander in their midst, Harry Watson. The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan and his riding partner Ben Cornell completed the 5,600-kilometre (3,500 mi) ride in 22 stages spread over 26 days to the original schedule in 2013. Keoghan's wife Louise Keoghan was the producer for the film, which premiered in Watson's home town Christchurch in July 2016.
Ravat–Wonder–Dunlop was a cycling team formed for the 1928 Tour de France.
Kathleen Lynch is a retired competitive cyclist from New Zealand who competed both on and off the road. With a talent for multiple sports disciplines, she won the canoeing events New Zealand White Water Downriver and Slalom Championships in 1987 and represented her country at the 1988 Canoe Slalom World Cup. Around the same time, she was also a successful triathlete, but did not continue with that sport. She bought her first mountain bike in 1988 at the age of 31 in order to compete in an adventure sport event, and within a year she had become the New Zealand national cross country champion. Around the same time, she also took up road cycling. She was included in the New Zealand team for the 1990 Commonwealth Games and was assigned as domestique for the top New Zealand road rider, Madonna Harris. Harris and Lynch finished in fourth and ninth places respectively. In September 1990, Lynch competed at the inaugural UCI Mountain Bike World Championships and finished tenth. In November 1990, she became a household name in New Zealand by winning a 22-day multi-sport race the length of the country that had prime time TV coverage every night.
Tour Aotearoa is an annual cycle tour event and cycling route in New Zealand. The route travels 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) from Cape Reinga to Bluff.
Gravel cycling, gravel biking or gravel grinding is a sport or a leisure activity in which participants ride bicycles, mostly on gravel roads. The marketing man would have you believe that one must own a specially designed gravel bike to participate, when in fact any bicycle capable of covering the terrain can be used.