PRESS RELEASE
1 December 2008

The fully revised edition of best-selling Classic New Zealand Mountain Bike Rides will be released by Kennett Brothers Publishing this month.

The seventh edition features 300 rides – including 140 new tracks – along with maps, altitude graphs and a chapter on ride preparation. All 135 photographs are full colour and the maps are now printed in colour, too. Another upgrade in the 7th edition is the addition of track difficulty symbols and a ride rating of between one and four stars. And by popular demand, the book’s flip cartoon has returned, this time featuring the evolution of the mountain biker.

Ride locations vary from Ninety-Mile Beach in New Zealand’s Far North to the mountainous Percy Pass in Fiordland National Park. The style is laid-back and entertaining and each ride description is accompanied by detailed information on route directions, landowner details and track conditions.

First published in 1991, Classic New Zealand Mountain Bike Rides filled a niche in the country’s developing mountain biking scene and since then has sold over 45,000 copies.

Part of the book’s success has stemmed from the Kennett Brothers’ role and the reputation they have built within the New Zealand cycling scene. Jonathan, Simon and Paul began riding in the mid-1980s and are classed by many as pioneers of mountain biking in New Zealand. They have an established publishing record, releasing RIDE- the story of cycling in New Zealand, in 2004 to widespread critical acclaim, and the fourth book in the New Zealand Cycling Legends series in 2008.

The seventh edition of Classic New Zealand Mountain Bike Rides once again provides inspiration for Kiwis of all ages and skill levels to check out the multitude of wonderful bike parks and backcountry tracks New Zealand has to offer.

Size: 416 pages, 115 x 180mm portrait format
Graphics: 135 full colour photographs. Dozens of graphs and maps
Text: 300 rides described in a lively fashion
Print run: 8000 soft cover

Previous edition print runs: 1991: 5000, 1993: 6500, 1996: 7500, 1999: 9000, 2002: 8800, 2005: 9500 (all sold out)