Familiar Ground

I think most of you knew this post would show up eventually. The chance to get my passport stamped in a new country couldn't be passed up on. "Follow Me" is a mtb movie that basically got me started on the New Zealand band wagon. Their segment was shot in Queenstown but considering it's their ski season right now I figured that Rotorua was the place to get started. Some say Roto has the best mountain biking in the country.

We did our scouting about on friday, searching for a place to hire a couple of bikes. We started our day at Cycletour on the main drag(Fenton st.). I owe them thanks for ordering me some replacement XT spokes for my G-Spot, which are basically off the market as far as Shimano is concerned.

Sidenote: Shimano can go fuck themselves. I'm maintaining this wheelset for now. But my mission over the next couple of months is going to be to strip every piece of Shimano garbage off my bike. Thier brakes are noisy shit, they don't support their wheelsets which are junk and Sram drive trains are way more smooth and reliable. 

Anyways, I digress.

Thanks to Matt and Bryce at Cycletours in Rotorua for their help. Ian, a friendly Scotsman was also helpful their even though he was just hanging out on his lunch hour. He even offered to let us park our Van in his driveway for our stay. That surprised me actually. My history with the Scottish hasn't been so friendly up to this point. Hehe. I guess a few years in one of the most laid back countries I have ever been in took the edge off?

We then found our way to Planet Bike, which has it's link on the NZ webpage. Lenore showed us around their warehouse of used bikes, with a few Mongoose fs bikes and a couple of older Bighits. I don't want to poopoo on them, but I think Lenore was just in it for her husband, Todd. I wasn't excited about trying any of the bikes they had. I think this may have put her off a bit. Which is too bad. I don't think Lenore loves mountain bikes, or at least doesn't love mountain biking the way you NEED to if you are going to be in the business. On our way out she told us to be sure to test ride the "Other Guys" bikes and ensure the shifting was all good.

We bowed out with Planet Bike and made our way back up the Waipa Mill Rd to "Moutain Bike Rotorua". We met Brad and Tu(Maori Name). Enthusiastic, travelled and fun to talk to. We made our arrangements with these guys.

Saturday morning came along and we were excited to spend this Saturday the same way we spent many a Saturday back home. We picked op our rigs and peddled into the surrounding trail network. Brad suggested a loop for us that would provide us a solid 4 hour ride day and a good cross section of what Roto had to offer.

Insert Pics here.

OUr trails this day were:
Tahi
Creek Trail
Mad if you Don't
Ball and Chain
Hill rd. to where we were picked up by the shuttle($10 each) and taken to the top.
Billy T
Followed by a longish ride around to
Split Enz(Wasn't that what Crowded house was before they were Crowded House?)
into Pondy Downhill/New Pondy
Roller Coaster
Chop Suey.

The suggest lap was a bit longer but we were running out of time. We hit the Waipa Bypass and headed back to camp as to avoid any late fees.

Rotorua has a dedicated group of trail builders. And Rotorua is lucky to have them. Just as Vancouver is lucky to have Digger, Jerry Willows etc. They have really made the most of the Whakarewara forest making it a true Gem for the mtb community. The trails here are well made and flowy with lots of ups a and down. You can easily spend 100+ hours in here and not redo a trail.

Nic commented on the trails saying that there was a lot of "Up". I agree but Vancouver riders get spoiled I think. We are used to riding up a fire road or old buck then riding down and thats it. Pub time. This style of riding doesn't prepare us for what goes on in trail networks in the rest of the world. Trail builders in NZ expect you to save some mojo and re-earn your turns from time to time. I have no problem with that.

My only suggestion for the trailbuilders here, and yes this comes from North Shore rider, is to add some wood features. They are a great way to add personality and individuality to your trails. Our day in Roto, and forgive if because I didn't see every trail, seemed a tad generic.

That being said, Rotorua is lucky to have the trails in this forest. If you are in NZ on the north Island, be sure to stop by and see Brad and Tu. It's worth the cost of your bike hire.