Pelo Performance Racing

14/09/2026

🚴 CAN WE PUT 70 RIDERS ON THE GORGES START LINE?

Here is a straightforward update about Canterbury road racing.

We currently have around 20–25 riders entered in each upcoming event:

• Gorges Grand Prix, 10 October
• Main Divide, 18 October
• Waikari Classic, 12 December

Last year these races attracted more than 100 riders.

THE GORGES DECISION

I need to make the final financial and operational commitment to Gorges at 5.00 pm this Friday, 18 September.

To proceed, we need 70 paid entries.

If we do not reach that number, I will cancel Gorges early, before committing further costs. Existing entrants will receive a refund or voucher.

This is not a threat. It is simply the point where intention needs to become entry.

Main Divide and Waikari remain on the calendar and will be assessed separately.

Road racing requires traffic management, safety planning, volunteers, timing, prizes and months of work. I love organising it, but I cannot keep carrying the time, cost and responsibility for events attracting only 40 or 50 riders.

I also accept that I need to make these races exciting, safe and worth entering. If my work has not connected strongly enough, I need to learn and improve.

If you are considering Gorges, enter now. You might be nervous, unsure of your fitness or worried about being dropped. That apprehension is part of racing.

You do not need to feel completely ready. You just need to be willing to have a crack.

Epoch Properties and Pringle Homes have contributed tens of thousands of dollars to Canterbury cycling. I am also enormously grateful to Whoosh, Scotty Browns, Hub Cycles, Hayden Roulston Real Estate, Sons & Co, Friday Solutions, Sprout Accountants and all our other supporters.

Now we need riders on the start line.

👉 Enter Gorges:
[www.gorgesgrandprix.co.nz](http://www.gorgesgrandprix.co.nz)

👉 Enter Main Divide:
[www.themaindivide.co.nz](http://www.themaindivide.co.nz)

Let’s reach 70 and put on a bloody good bike race.

Alex Mann
Pelo Performance

27/08/2026

🚨 FORMER RACERS WANTED 🚨

Did you once race bikes?

Do you now insist that you “just ride for fun”?

Does seeing another rider 50 metres ahead still cause an unexplained increase in power?

Pelo Performance is recruiting former competitive cyclists for an experimental study into whether the racing instinct ever truly disappears.

Early evidence suggests it does not.

Suitable applicants may display the following symptoms:

🔬 Claiming they have done no training
🔬 Promising to sit in all day
🔬 Attacking the moment somebody else looks tired
🔬 Producing wattage not previously observed during training
🔬 Remembering exactly where every climb finishes
🔬 Providing a detailed list of excuses immediately afterwards

Your fitness may have retired.

Your competitive instinct clearly hasn’t.

No supplements. No miracle coaching programme. No monthly subscription.

Just enter the bloody race.

🏁 THE PRINGLE HOMES GORGES GRAND PRIX
Presented by Pelo Performance

Apply for the experiment here:

👉 https://www.gorgesgrandprix.co.nz/

20/08/2026

STILL RACING? GOOD.

Fancy a weekend away with the bike and a few mates?

South Island Masters Games Cycling is in Timaru on 3–4 October 2026, with racing for everyone aged 35+.

Saturday: Track Cycling at the Caledonian Grounds
Sunday: 10km TT + Road Race at Levels Raceway

Come down for one event or race the lot. It’s relaxed, affordable and a bloody good excuse to pin a number on and see which of your mates has been lying about their form.

Full details:
https://www.peloperformance.co.nz/south-island-masters-games-cycling-2026

Enter here:
https://simasters.com/register/

18/08/2026

CANTERBURY’S MOST HONEST ROAD RACE IS BACK.

The Main Divide returns on Sunday 18 October 2026.

It’s 109 kilometres from Darfield into the Southern Alps—one long handicapped race where every rider has a genuine shot.

Long. Exposed. Beautiful. Brutal.

The field is limited to 120 riders, so don’t leave your move too late.

Presented by Pringle Homes.

Explore the race and enter:https://www.themaindivide.co.nz/

06/07/2026

Sector Six is ON this Sunday, 12 July.

And somehow, after a week of weather that looks like it was organised by a wet sock, Sunday is shaping up to be the best riding day of the week.

So why not come out and do a wee race?

Short course, a bit of gravel, a bit of suffering, a bit of “I definitely should’ve trained more”, and a very decent reason to get out on the bike before Winter Worlds kicks off the following week.

Racing starts at 2:00 pm.

Get entered online here:
https://www.winterworlds.co.nz/enter-online

Don’t overthink it. That’s how people end up on the couch.

Register online for winter road races. Join us for 8 races from May to August 2025. Sign up today!

22/06/2026

🏁 SUPPORTERS HANDICAP — SUNDAY 5TH JULY 🏁

Open to everyone — teachers, parents, coaches, managers, supporters, club riders and the general public.

📍 Ruapuna / Mike Pero Motorsport Park
⏰ Sunday lunchtime
📏 3 laps — 10.3 km
💰 $10 entry
🎯 Fundraiser for Christchurch Schools Racing

Slow riders start first. Fast riders chase.
Alex Mann sets the handicaps and is allegedly open to bribes, mostly because Factor bikes are not cheap.

Come watch the South Island Schools riders race, then jump in for a quick hit-out yourself.

Support the kids. Support the sport. Support the community.

More kids on bikes — that’s the whole point.

20/06/2026

🌧️ **SECTOR SIX UPDATE — POSTPONED** 🌧️

Bu**er.

The weather has not cleared up the way it was forecast to, and with the roads/gravel still not where we need them to be, we are going to **postpone Sector Six today**.

📅 **New date:** Sunday **12 July**
🌟 **Matariki weekend**
📍 Same place
⏰ Same Sunday afternoon racing goodness

I absolutely hate making this call, but running the event in these conditions doesn’t sit right from a safety point of view — and it also doesn’t line up with what we agreed with Selwyn District Council around running events in adverse weather.

🚴‍♂️ This is **postponed, not cancelled**.

If you have already entered, your entry will automatically roll over to **Sunday 12 July**.

💸 If you can’t make the new date, just get in touch and I’ll put a refund back through your card.

The only person truly devastated by this decision is probably The Badger, Andy Beale, who was no doubt already warming up by staring angrily at the rain.

Thanks heaps for understanding. We’ll get this thing run properly, safely, and with the full Sector Six nonsense it deserves.

🌧️ Today we stay dry.
🔥 12 July we race.

09/05/2026

🚨 WINTER WORLDS SECTOR SIX IS HERE 🚨

Winter Worlds is kicking off early with something a little different.

Sector Six is a fast, short-course race out at Tai Tapu with a 5.5 km lap, mostly tarseal, and one 750m gravel sector each lap to keep everyone honest.

It’s not a gravel epic.
It’s not cyclocross.
It’s Winter Worlds with a gravel sting.

📅 Race 1: Sunday 7 June
📅 Race 2: Sunday 21 June
⏰ Start time: 2:00 pm
💰 Online entry: $25
💸 Same-day entry: $30
🏁 Points count towards the Winter Worlds points series

Grades:

🚴 Newbies – 3 laps
🚴 C Grade – 5 laps
🚴 B Grade – 8 laps
🚴 A Grade – 10 laps

Road bike? Gravel bike? Your call.
Good tyres? Sensible.
Good legs? Helpful.
Good excuses? Sadly already sold out.

A huge thanks to Hayden Roulston, who has come on board to support the series, with $800 prize money across the two races.

We need at least 50 riders to make this happen, so if you want something fresh, fast, and slightly questionable this winter, get entered early.

👉 Full details and entry here:

This page should be the big overview page with course map, bike advice, parking, safety, sponsor, prize money, points, and full event details.

23/04/2026

1 day to go.
The Pringle Homes Points Leader jersey is nearly in play.

Tomorrow’s uphill TT starts at 3.30pm.
Spectators are welcome. Best viewing is at the top of Evans Pass.

Please do not go beyond the cattle stop towards Godley Head. There is no parking and the road is narrow.

22/04/2026

Two days out and it’s getting very real
The jerseys are nearly in play, and Friday’s TT won’t wait for anyone.

🚴 Only two days until somebody pulls one of these on.

⏱️ Friday afternoon’s prologue TT is coming fast, so riders and supporters need to get organised now.

📋 Check start times:
https://www.canterburytour.co.nz/tt-start-list

📖 Read the race manual too. There are TT viewing and access restrictions in place.

🙌 Briefings are happening. Volunteers are getting sorted.
🔥 The Epoch Tour is nearly here.