What a week of ups and downs it has been in Central, and especially in Alexandra.

The news mid-week that the 65th Blossom Festival was being cancelled was a major blow but one that everyone I have spoken to or read comments from have accepted, with many thanking Martin and the committee for their hard work to date and extending their sympathies for the loss of the end result of that work.  

Bloody good people we have in Central by and large!  

Having been on the committee for a decade and now seeing the work my wife Linda puts into it, I know what goes on behind the scenes from members and Martin, so it is great to see people recognizing that the decision was hardest on those folks.

But then, the very next day comes the news that Crankworx is coming to town!  

This is going to be huge for Alexandra and Central, as, if the Rotorua event is anything to go by, tens of thousands of people arrive to compete, support and watch this iconic event.  

The impact will go far beyond that though, with the global audience tuning in via various media numbering in the hundreds of thousands.  And these will not be just passive viewers; many of these people will want to grab their gear and come on down once they see what we have to offer.   

The effect of this coupled with the proposed development of part of Matangi Station into a commercial mountain bike park is going to open the eyes of the world to our part of it.

Biking is and will continue to be transformational for our local economy.  

The number of riders on the Lake Dunstan Trail since it opened in May, right through the colder months has been staggering.  

I really don’t think we know what’s going to hit us when spring and summer crowds get on that track.  But let’s take ourselves forward just a few years to when the bike trails from Queenstown and Wanaka are complete.  

Alexandra will be sitting as the hub of the longest bike trail network in the Southern Hemisphere and will be the only place where all the trails from Middlemarch, Queenstown, Wanaka and Waihola will meet.  

The potential is mind blowing.

So yes, losing this blossy is gutting, but it’s just going to make next year’s event all the more special.  And from there, the future for Alex looks wheelie amazing.