The annual Rosso Mountain Bike Race will be held on August 5th to 6th this year in Lae, Morobe Province.
Lae MP and Deputy Prime Minister, John Rosso, launched the bicycle event on Saturday, July 8th, at the Lae Yacht Club.
Popularly known as the ‘Rosso Cup’, this is the biggest family event in Lae since its inception in 2020.
Over 600 riders registered in the 2020 inaugural Rosso Cup while 800 participated in 2022.
The Lae City Authority anticipates a bigger turnout this year.
“Lae was known as the bicycle city before. It wasn’t ‘Rainy Lae’,” said Rosso.
“It was more the bicycle capital of Papua New Guinea. Everyone used to ride everywhere. There were BMXs and people doing wheelies but that faded away with the growing population, no proper sponsor, no proper organisation.
“They used to have the BMX Club just near Unitech before. And every kid in Lae wanted a bike.
“And there was great community spirit. Kids from one suburb would interact with kids from another suburb. It started fading in the 90s.”
Rosso said after his election in 2017, and after reminiscing with some of his peers, he made the decision to slowly but surely, restore Lae to its glory days; to the time when it had quality infrastructure, effective service delivery, modern classrooms and family and community spirit was upheld.
The August 5th and 6th race will start at the Lae Showgrounds, go around the Raun Wara, out to Milfordhaven Road, into the Lae Botanical Gardens then back to the showgrounds.