6 Hr Mid-Winter Breakout!

This year Kaiteriteri MTB Park is hosting the region's premier mtb event, the Mid-Winter Breakout!


Timetabled round the shortest day of the year, Sunday, June 19, will be the day to load up your bikes and head for the Park.

If you've ever taken part in the Rabbit Island events, you'll already know what great fun they are. If not, here's your chance to find out why this is the most popular event on the Nelson MTB Club's calendar.

The Mountain Bike Park offers an ideal recreational circuit guaranteed to have you grinning from ear to ear. Lap times will vary between 20-30 mins - the idea is to see how many laps your team can clock up in 6 hours (hopefully one more than your mates :-)

Teams can be 2-4 people or, for those wanting to push themselves that bit harder, you can go solo.

In many parts of the country, a mid-winter mtb event often means a mud-fest. Not at Kaiteriteri - the firm & free-draining tracks mean they're good for riding year-round. So don't hesitate - get some mates together and get a team in now!

There's more event info. on the NMTBC website:
http://www.nelsonmountainbikeclub.org.nz/6-hour

and you can enter on-line here:
http://203.86.194.7/Gems/mountainbiking/6hrEntryform2011.pdf

or by popping into your nearest cycle shop and picking up a form.

Entries close June 12.

Balancing Acts

Some time back, Nelson sawmillers Waimea Wood donated us some timber for an elevated board-ride, commonly called a skinny. Other track-building projects delayed our start... until last Sunday.

The forecast was for rain - too wet for hand-benching - so we scheduled Skills Area construction!
The weather gods obviously approved as they delivered briliant sunshine and a good crew of Park volunteers showed their support by also turning up.



Jess Roborgh (2nd on left) donned the carpenter's apron while the rest of us set to digging holes and installing posts. While the intent was to start with something fairly easy & straightforward, boundaries were soon being pushed as creative juices got flowing.
It was useful having a couple of young guns with us in the shape of Doug & Thomas who showed us how quickly the balancing act could be mastered!



Unfortunately, Mike left with his camera before we finished the 'high road' but I'm sure some interesting video footage will appear on our park tv soon. 'Though whether Thomas will oblige us with another of his spectacular mud-slide dismounts is debatable...

The plan is to extend the skinny further around the boundary of our Skills Area, incorporating some more challenging features like see-saws, concrete pipes, ladders and sections of varying width. While some of us are still at the level of trying to stay on a plank lying flat on the ground, I'm confident we'll see a dramatic improvement in riding skills over the next months!

Autumn Highlights...

Back by popular demand this Autumn are Emma Bawtree's wheel woman bike skills workshops. Many local women used these last year to help prepare for the mtb stages of the Spring Challenge. They found the range of tracks & switchbacks available to practise on at Kaiteriteri ideal for building confidence and improving technique.

Emma's all-women workshops cater for those just getting into mountain biking through to Intermediate-level singletrack riding. She'll be running them through May & June and recommends you get in early to secure a place as she prefers to work with small groups.
Contact her at emma@nztraveldesigners.com or (03) 540 2678.


Also coming up on June 19 is the Kaiteriteri Mid-Winter 6Hr Breakout!

For the first time this event is being held at the Mountain Bike Park and is being run in conjunction with the Nelson MTB Club. The course will appeal to recreational riders who can expect a lap time of 25-30 ins. You can enter as a solo rider or as part of a team of 2-4 riders.

We'll be posting details on the cost, course & categories available soon but, in the meantime, start getting your team together!


We'd like to start building a gallery of your favourite pix of biking in the Park. Greg Buckett has got the wheel rolling with this, taken from the top of Rockface on a typical Kaiteriteri day. If you've got a pic you'd like to share, send it to: info@kaiteriterimtbpark.org.nz.