Whakatane Mountain Bike Club – 42nd Traverse – 7 November 2009

On Friday the 6 November sixteen club members (12 riders & 4 supporters) made their way from Whakatane to National Park to ride New Zealand’s best single day mountain bike trail – the 42^nd Traverse. After a very noisy night (courtesy of fellow hotel guests) we awoke to heavy mist and even some light drizzle. This soon cleared and revealed an overcast sky as we all made our way to the shuttle pick up point. Rick from Kiwi Mountain Bikes (highly recommended) soon had all the bikes loaded on his specially modified trailer and whizzed us off to the start of the ride. After a quick safety briefing and obligatory group photo we were on our way. Riders were Ashley, Owen, Iona, Andy, Aaron, Steve, Graham, Nick, Leon, Heidi, Nancy and Helen.

First stop was the lookout near the top of the first long downhill. A slight navigational error lead to the group going to a different view point than in previous years, but we didn’t mind as the view was still great.

View Point Break

 

After the view point stop it was straight into the big downhill. What an absolute blast! The trail was in perfect condition; even the clay patches weren’t too slippery and could be ridden at speed. Everyone had grins from ear to ear at the bottom. Just that one downhill is well worth all the uphills on the ride.

Heidi nears the bottom of the first downhill

 

The two Waione Stream crossings then followed.

 

Aaron and Ashley take on the first crossing

 

Leon gets up close & personal with some vegetation while Iona & Owen look on

 

Owen & Steve tackle the second crossing while Iona watches

Graham ‘I hate wet shoes’ & Helen brave the cold water

 

The first dreaded uphill climb kicked in but with the thought of lunch on our minds we all powered up and over. Owen may have been putting a bit too much power into it as the sidewall parted from the bead on his rear tyre allowing the tube to make a rather loud and short lived appearance, but with a bit of electrical and duct tape, a bodged repair had him back up and riding.

 

Owen’s quick fix tyre repair

 

By the time we reached the lunch stop the sun was happily burning off any remaining cloud cover and things were starting to warm up. A quick siesta after lunch and then we all headed off on the homeward leg.

 

Lunch stop

 

Despite a few sharp uphills we all made it to Owhango grinning and reminiscing about the big downhill, and proceeded to share any trail tales over a hot cuppa and sugary treat at the Owhango Café while we waited for the shuttle back to National Park. With the track condition and weather being perfect, and a really great bunch of riders, this years outing was one of the best, but then being the Traverse – it couldn’t possibly be bad!

 

Before hanging up our riding shoes for the day we decided to have a chainless race down the Bruce Road. Six intrepid cyclists lined up, with drive trains disengaged, for the ‘damn long downhill’. The riders were Ashley, Andy, Leon, Iona, Graham, and Aaron.

 

 

The Intrepid Six

 

From the start Andy, Leon, and Aaron opened up a sizable lead courtesy of some handy footwork, but Graham managed to scythe through the field thanks to an event favourable BMI, and some crafty slip stream manoeuvres, to take the win from a hard charging Leon. Andy, Aaron, Ashley and Iona followed in quick succession. It then took some time to remove the almost permanent smiles from our faces, and to straighten our awkwardly bent necks. Definitely a ‘must do’ for next years outing.

 

Permanent smiles and crooked necks after the Bruce Road flyer

 

Saturday night was another noisy affair as The Park was full to the brim because of a fishing competition being held in the area. Andy, Leon, Aaron and Ashley rode the 95% downhill Fishers Track on Sunday.

 

Fishers Track View