About Us
Any time's a good time to be out on your bike, whether it's mountain biking or road
cycling. So as Race Director of Blue Dog Events, it gives me immense satisfaction
to bring my passion for cycling and the outdoors to you via these events.
The aim of Blue Dog Events is to give you quality, well-organised events in an atmosphere
that's friendly and welcoming. It doesn't matter whether you're a complete novice
rider entering your first event or an experienced competitive hard-arse, our events
are designed to suit all levels. Just get out there, ride hard and have as much
fun as you can.
I started organising events back in 1991 when mountain biking was just starting
to become popular in Canterbury but there wasn't much around in the way of races.
“How hard can it be?” I thought (these were the days before traffic
plans & race insurance etc), and pretty soon a venue was found, an entry form
made up and we were on our way. By 1996, the numbers of riders had risen to a point
where we needed to formalise things a bit and Blue Dog Events was created. Blue
Dog Events was named after my blue heeler dog Sally, who for nine years (she died
in 2003 and is sorely missed) thought she was 2nd in command. She was a big part
of Blue Dog Events, coming on nearly every expedition with me to check venues and
was a legend at marking out courses. She lives on in our logo and in our dogged
enthusiasm for the sport!
As for the rest of the team, my wife Jane does all the admin work, for Blue Dog
all those 101 things that bring an event together, plus there's great support from
helpers who assist with registration at events, marshalling, timekeeping etc. Everyone's
involved in mountain biking or cycling so we know what it's all about.
So that's us. It's been quite a ride, and we're still having a blast. It always
helps to have a passion for your job, and when we're not working we're out on our
bikes like you guys. Actually, that sounds like a bloody good idea right now. As
my favourite saying goes... you're a long time dead, live your adventure.
I look forward to seeing you at the next Blue Dog event.
Rod Hibberd
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