It has been a busy start to the new membership year. There is a lot to look forward to this spring.
Events
Shuttle Days
First shuttle day for the year was held at Long Gully on Saturday August 31st. Amazingly, the weather was perfect, warm, and little wind.
The next shuttle day will be 28th of September out at Maidstone, Upper Hutt. This shuttle day is being run as part of Upper Hutt’s Breakaway Cycle Festival with the support of Upper Hutt City Council. There are a limited number of spaces, and the only way you can reserve a spot is via the club website. See http://www.breakaway.org.nz/ for more details about the festival.
Wellington Downhill Series Is Back
After a hiatus last year, the DH series is back.
3 rounds this year, all at different venues.
- Maidstone, Upper Hutt 20 October sponsored by Cycle Science
- 98 DH, Karori 10 November sponsored by Mud Cycles
- Long Gully 8 December sponsored by Bike 88
We have organised the events so that they do not clash with the NZDH rounds, so you can do both series if you are really keen. Along with prizes for each round, competitors will earn points from each race towards the overall series championship. For the super competitive, points from each round will also contribute to the new NZ Mountain Bike Crown.
Each round will be a 1 day format, with practice in the morning, and one timed race run in the afternoon.
Enter online and save $10 over on the day entries.
Summer Of Enduro Is Coming
The Wellington MTB Club is working with other clubs and track projects in the wellington region to bring together a multi round Super D and Enduro series running Jan through Mar this summer. There will be hard and less hard courses at most rounds. Just like the DH series, there will be men’s and women’s overall crowns up for grabs.
We Need Volunteers To Run These Events
Can you, or someone you know help out at any of these events. For the race series in particular, we need people to help with registration, driving and most important marshalling on course. If you, your friends or family can help out, then please email events@wmtbc.org.nz. Marshalling in particular guarantees one of the best spots to see the action.
Dodzy Memorial Skill Park Fundraiser
This weekend, Wellington plays host to the Trail Fund and MTBNZ conference. On Saturday night, there will be get together held at the Southern Cross. During the evening there will be spot prizes and a charity auction with goodies from Cactus, Camelback, Endura, Revolution Productions, Chromag and POC up for grabs. All proceeds from the event will go towards the skills park being built in Rotorua as a memorial to James “Dodzy” Dodds who died last year. Dodzy was a huge contributor to the MTB community, as a skills coach, bike designer and trail builder. Tickets for the event are $20 and cover entry and food. There will be a cash bar. Head to Trailfund.org.nz for your ticket.
Track Building
Maidstone
After a few years with not much happening, both lines are getting some love thanks to Kerry and a crew of keen volunteers. Plenty of work has already been done, with step downs and berms reshaped. Long term the plan is to try and add a little extra length to the race line, but for the moment the focus is on getting the tracks running sweet for the upcoming Breakaway Festival Shuttle Day and Round 1 of the Wellington DH Series. Kerry has set up a FB group that is open to all for organising digs.
Long Gully
Both the Racetrack and Jawbone are getting plenty of maintenance at the moment. Jawbone should be in tip top shape come Round 3 of the WDHS. Dig days are being posted on the club FB page. Just a warning, the big ladder drop at the top of the track is currently closed as a number of the slats are broken. These should be replaced shortly.
Mystic Portal
The Council have Treescape in cleaning up after the big July storm. They will be removing broken trees, and those that are susceptible to coming down in the next big blow. It should take about 3 weeks. Once the tree clearing is finished, then the council have offered some digger time to help reinstate areas of the track. Please respect the track closure during this time. For more details, see the notice on the club site.
Polhill
Work on the Serendipity track is still forging ahead. The regular diggers have been getting a helping hand from Adventure Wellington and most recently 41 volunteers from the BNZ as part of their “Closed for good” day. It is looking good to have the track running sweet for summer. This winter has also been a busy one for planting in this area. Along with native’s supplied by the council, BTB has sourced a number of Nikau that used to be a common site in the gully. Check the BTB page for dig days.
Miramar
A semi permanent re route around the Boot Leg bridge is in place. It is a a bit of a grunt up the old farm track but worth it. A new entrance has been built at the Boot post clearing. Entrance is over the large branch and a roll into to a new corner.
Work has started on the Pump Track extension and this will be the focus for the next few months. The big news is that we now have a container next to the pump track. a big thanks to the Infinity Foundation and everyone who has entered the Escape from Mt Crawford event over the past 2 years. The container is now a secure, and most importantly dry, place to leave tools.
Mt Vic
Most of the trails are open and it shouldn’t be too long before the big tree on Hippy’s is removed. Steve is working on a plan for mid week evening digs once daylight savings kicks in so stay tuned to the Mt Vic Trails FB page for details.
South Coast Kids Track
The club is partnering with a team in Island Bay to develop a new kids loop near the skate park in Island Bay. The SC Kids Track team recently got awarded grants from both Trail Fund (for tools) and the WCC Community Fund (for digger time). They will be breaking ground in the next month or so and hope to have a track up and running before summer. Check their FB page for updates.
Have You Renewed Your Membership?
Membership for the 2013/2014 season opened 1 July, so we are right into the season now.
Why join?
- Discounted race entry
- Discounted shuttle days
- Access to Long Gully
- Eligible for DH series overall crown
- (semi) Regular News letter
- Mega trail karma
And to finish with, something new...
Club Trail Rides
You asked, so here we go, organised club trail rides.
We have 3 planned this month:
Wednesday Sept 18th - Join Jono to explore the tracks on Tinakori Hill(the legal ones) and Johnson’s Hill. Bring your lights as you will be gone till dark. Meet at the rose garden in the botanical gardens at 6:30pm. Jono knows where all the best single track is, so come ready for bit of tech.
Thursday Sept 19th - Explore Mt Vic with Ranger Steve. Do you still get lost on in the Mt Vic labrynith of trails on Mt Vic? Suitable for intermediate riders and up, committee member and Senior Park Ranger Steve will take you on a couple of his favorite loops. Meet at the Pririe Street Playground/car park at 6pm.
Sunday Sept 22nd - Who says there is no riding to the North of the CBD? Meet Jono again to explore the Skyline and Crow’s nest and probably some other hidden gems. Leaving from Izard Park on Wilton road at 10am.
For more details, check the club Facebook page.
See you on the trails!
