Kennett Bros
The Kennett Bros is the business name for brothers Paul Kennett, Simon Kennett and Jonathan Kennett. They have been heavily involved in mountain biking in New Zealand since 1984, and in publishing books about cycling and cyclists. They were inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2018.
Activities
Paul organised the first national mountain bike race in New Zealand in 1986 – the Karapoti Classic. The Kennett Bros continued to run this annually until 2002, when they sold the event.In 1997 they co-organised a round of the UCI [Mountain Bike World Cup] in Wellington.
In 1998 they started building the Wellington City Council owned Makara Peak Mountain Bike Park, which received a national recreation award in 2002 and a national conservation award in 2003.
From 2001 to 2006 the Kennett Bros coordinated a forest revegetation project at Ōtari-Wilton's Bush, in which 40,000 trees were planted over a five-year period.
The Kennett Bros helped organise the 2006 Rotorua UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships.
From 2010 to 2014 the Kennett Bros were a project manager on the New Zealand Cycle Trail.
Publishing
Paul ran a national mountain bike magazine called Mountain Bike New Zealand Magazine from 1988 to 1990.In 1991 the Kennett Bros wrote the first edition of Classic New [Zealand Mountain Bike Rides], a national guidebook, which became a best seller. They produce new editions every three years. In 2019 they announced that the tenth edition would be the last in the series.
In 1995 Paul launched the Mountain Bike New Zealand Web, the online home for many New Zealand mountain bikers.
In 2004 they published a history of cycling in New Zealand called RIDE: The Story of Cycling in New Zealand.
From 2005 to 2019 they published a series of seven books on influential New Zealand cyclists called the New Zealand Cycling Legend Series.