New Zealand Cyclists Get Set for One of the Most Grueling Mountain Bike Races Ever
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: There was no pampering for a thousand of New Zealand's fittest cyclists when they sprinted off on one of the country's most grueling mountain bike races.</s>RALPH WENGE, CNN ANCHOR: The 50-kilometer challenge begins with a ride through a chilly river and it gets worse from there. TV New Zealand takes us through this intensive course.</s>MAURICIO OLMEDO-PEREZ, TV NEW ZEALAND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A love-hate relationship, an exhausting race, but every year riders keep coming back. Today, a thousand of them. The Kaliputi (ph) Classic in its 15th year. It's changed a lot in that time.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we first started, the guys had great big backpacks and swandris (ph) and sand shoes.</s>OLMEDO-PEREZ: Not any more. Some spending tens of thousands on their rides.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess some of them sort of do accommodate for the heat build up. It's just the same technology that's used in motorbikes.</s>OLMEDO-PEREZ: Mountain bikes weren't the only rides there.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I aim to finish and I hope not to come last.</s>OLMEDO-PEREZ: And some just have to share their experience.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're told it's smooth and on average it's flat, so we are quite happy about that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today was good, though, it was nice and dry, it was pretty fast. I suppose it made it a little bit easier.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It has some huge challenging climbs just on the verge of being ridable, and that makes it a great tease for riders.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it was wickedly good today. It is not like a race, it is just like a bit of fun.</s>OLMEDO-PEREZ: It probably is, even though it doesn't always look that way. From Television New Zealand, I'm Mauricio Olmedo-Perez, reporting for the CNN WORLD REPORT.