Get some air

RAHUL BHATTARAI

A passion for mountain biking has prompted a Marlborough couple to sponsor a new mountain bike track for the community.

Cameron and Anna Knight, who moved to Marlborough from Christchurch in December, have sponsored the construction of the track at Jentree Mountain Biking (MTB), on Taylor Pass Rd.

‘‘I am very keen on mountain biking myself and wanted to do something for the local Marlborough community,’’ Cameron Knight said.

Knight said the track, which was more than 500-metres long, was constructed for both learners and bikers that wanted to ‘‘try new skills’’.

‘‘It’s a grade three jumpslope track, more so for people learning how to jump,’’ he said.

Cameron said he had been mountain biking for a few years.

A mechanical engineer, with an interest in robotics, he was originally from Hawke’s Bay, but the pair, who had two children, moved to Blenheim to be closer to Anna’s family who are from the region.

The couple took ownership of Accessman in Blenheim, a specialist business that provides hire equipment, in the middle of New Zealand’s level four lockdown.

‘‘My speciality has been a robotics so obviously the demand for that in

Marlborough is not so great, but I know a lot about machinery and this is a business that ticked a lot of boxes.

‘‘We were interested in purchasing a business up here.’’

Jentree is a 100-acre land popular for bikers in the region and was renamed Jentree MBT after being bought by Justin Leov in 2017. Leov had been a professional mountain biker for 16 years, racing on the international circuit.

The track was completed last weekend and it took Leov 51 hours over a seven-day period to complete the track, he said.

It has about 200 metres of elevation, Leov said.

The track was expected to be the busiest out of the nine tracks Leov had in his property, because it supported a range of riders at different fitness level.

‘‘I think that it will be one of our highest use tracks on the property... because everyone can ride it,’’ he said.

All the tracks in his property were constructed in order to complement the council owned mountain bike trails just down the road, he said.

‘‘That has a lot easier tracks on it so you can go and buy a bike and start there, and our tracks takes next step up and allows people to have more option to go harder with their riding,’’ he said.

Using the tracks at his property were free of charge because all of them were supported by sponsors like the Knights, Leov said.

Sponsors of a new mountain bike track at Jentree MTB, Cameron Knight and his wife Anna with children Oscar (3) and Tom (2).