2012 Park map

As rain once again lashes our region, indoor activities take precedence over outdoor ones - unless you're out sand-bagging your property :-(

The Park has been lucky to avoid the deluges so far and we hope that remains the case. With holiday-makers in full attendance, the tracks are getting a good work-out.
Our newest track, Corkscrew, is proving to be a hit with all who ride it, from relative newbies to seasoned mtb junkies. While the speed in which they go up or down varies, the width of the smiles and expressions of appreciation are identical.
The amount of positive feedback we're getting confirms that, not only are our track building skills getting better with every year, but we're filling a niche that is often over-looked in track design.

Passionate riders like to take their partners, less-experienced friends or fast-developing kids places that are safe but fun & challenging, as well. We promote the Park as a family-friendly mountain biking venue and that's what we aim to deliver.


Our 2012 building programme will begin by creating a bypass of Sidewinder & Swamp Monster, the section many new riders most struggle with. It will be a flowy, undulating trail that generally follows the contours - much like the popular Easy Rider.
It will also offer us some new options when planning race circuits.

Other projects planned are to extend some current tracks, so they begin or terminate at hubs, and add some parallel tracks to allow more one-way riding. Of these, most will be hand-benched during our Sunday morning working bees which will resume in March.

Whether we get time to start another major undertaking, an Intermediate-grade downhill from the top of Corkscrew, remains to be seen. We've left it off the map so you don't start getting excited too soon. But, by now, you should be getting an idea of how quickly things happen around here...

We're in the process of getting our tear-off padmaps finalised and these will be available from the Camp Office, bike shops and several local businesses in the near future.

I've blogged before about how popular the Park is with a growing group of Nelson mountain unicyclists - the munis. Prime muni-mover Marty Richards emailed me recently to say he and friends had been playing on the skinnies.

"Without photos, it never happened", I replied.

Nek minit...

Here, Julian Daley munis his way over 'low roller' while Jane Merline, fresh from Wisconsin, makes easy work of 'high riser'.

Marty, at rear, assures me he made it to within the last 2m.
Sorry, Marty, without a photo...

A xmas prezzie...

At Kaiteriteri, we like to get into the xmas spirit as much as anyone.

Our gift to our supporters and visitors this year has taken a little longer than usual in its preparation.
Karl Thompson started with his digger back in August and despite winter wetness, flu bugs and, most recently, apocalyptic deluges in his native Golden Bay, has committed virtually all of his free time to working on our latest track.

Winding its way from the junction of Ziggy & Big Airs, it takes you up to the furtherest point of the Park's NW boundary. From there, you traverse across to a skid site from where you can use existing forestry roads to access the top ridgeline tracks.

It's an honest 3.5kms climb (well over 4kms from the bottom of Ziggy) to the skid site but you are rewarded with outstanding views of Tasman Bay and the Abel Tasman coastline.

For the most part, it's an easy climbing gradient in the trees until you pop out onto the final spur.
In full sun, there's no hiding as you dig deep for the final switchbacks.

The thought that's sustaining Grib Buchanan in this pic is how much fun he's going to have on the downhill!




We've only just completed the grooming of the top section and return straight after Boxing Day to finish the job.

The 'Muck Truck' has been a recent acquisition. Sourced from D K Putt Ltd. in Manakau City, it is proving invaluable in shifting materials & tools, including a 50kg plate compactor, around our expanding track network.
Its 4WD gets it up our steepest slopes and at nearly 6kph it's no slouch on the flat either.



It has particularly come into its own transporting gravel chip to those odd sections where, due to springs or underlying bedrock, water seeps onto the track. We've already used it with great success to get gravel along the narrow singletrack into the Shady Lady gully.

We struck another such damp area just before exiting the forest onto the spur.
We hope a few muck truck loads of gravel, being tamped in here by Caillin Morris Trainor, will help firm the track base so that it remains rideable throughout the year.

So, just another 3-4 days grooming and our xmas prezzie is ready to be unwrapped. And what is it...?

Corkscrew!
Shown as yellow on this map, you can see where the idea for the name came from. Corkscrew has completely blown away the strange but entirely coincidental '8-switchback' rule that seemed to apply to our other climbing tracks.
Charted by Steve Newport, I know for a fact that his GPS hasn't logged every switchback on this climb but I'll wait for someone else to tell me how many there actually are. I usually lose count halfway up as I get distracted by how much fun I'm having. And it's even more distracting riding down!


Meanwhile, the rest of the Park is being well used. Whenua Iti tutor Joe Dawson recently brought a group of 11-13 yr. old students out. After a pump track warm-up, they set off for a spin around the Easy circuit, which included finishing on Half-Pipe. I could hear them coming by the excited whoops and it was fun watching some of them nail the small gap jump at the exit, as well as attempting the skinnies & see-saw.

No sooner had they left when Ross Maley, our working bee co-ordinator, and fellow track volunteer Mark Townsend, arrived with another half-dozen DOC staffers for the Motueka Area office's end-of-year bike & bbq.
It seems the pump track warm-up is becoming obligatory and you could see how quickly the concept was being grasped by some PT virgins.

The KRRB have funded the purchase of an electronic track counter, as used by DOC, which Ross & colleague Tom Young have just installed. This will provide useful data which can be analysed by time & date throughout the year, helping to better target our resources & track-building programme. And we'll finally be able to answer that question, "How many people use the Park?" !!



Last Sunday an interpretative panel was unveiled by local iwi near the pou in the Trailer Park. It acknowledges and explains the role of Maori ancestor Whakamura, to whom the pou is dedicated.
Next time you ride up the entrance track, take a moment to read about this important local figure and reflect on the fact that the hills around you had a history long before the mountain bike Park came along...

And finally, we want to take this opportunity to once again thank all of our track sponsors. You'll notice their logos attached to the track marker posts throughout the network but, for most, their sponsorship is a donation that reflects their support for the Park.
Those contributions enable the purchase of track-building equipment & materials and cover incidental expenses. You don't have to be a local business to show your support, though. We gratefully receive donations via our entrance box, PayPal (see sidebar) and generous individuals (see Sponsors tab).

While we all look forward to taking a break over Summer, rest assured we'll be back in 2012 with another full year's track-building programme.
Until then, it's happy new year from the team!

What's the common denominator...?

Blue skies...?

Red shirts...?

Stunning locations...?

Akshully (to quote J Key), there are probably a few but, to some of us in the Top of the South, the answer's obvious...

Kaiteriteri!

The Mountain Bike Park has figured prominently in all three recent publications.
First out was Derek Morrison's RIDE 2012 calendar. 12 superb pics (plus the cover) showcasing some of NZ's best riding talent and biking destinations.
2011 Downhill champs Harriet Harper and Reuben Olorenshaw spent a day with Derek at Kaiteriteri earlier in the year.
They now feature as Miss February, captured doing an impressive drift on Easy Rider, and Mr June (which doesn't have quite the same ring, sorry Reuben) - being creative on Rockface. That's as opposed to just surviving, which is how most people approach it.

Derek also contributed the photos to the feature article in the latest issue of NZ MTBer.
While blue skies and red shirts also make an appearance here, the emphasis is firmly on what a perfect destination Kaiteriteri makes for the family on holiday with a stack of bikes on the back.

Editor Carl Patton & Derek visited on a typically glorious day in late Autumn. If anyone thinks sussing out some new tracks for a magazine feature is a ride in the park, I can confirm these guys earn their money. Lugging 15kg of camera gear up granny ring climbs or holding spot lamps until your arms ache for that perfect lighting must soon become tiresome while all the locals have to do is play on their bikes.
That said, they were both sporting big smiles when I came across them. They were genuinely surprised & impressed with what the MTB Park was able to offer in just 3 years of existence.
Carl's only complaint was that the beach wasn't littered with "babes in bikinis", as pictured on a postcard sent by one of our committee. For that, he'll have to come back in January...

And then along comes the latest edition of Classic NZ MTB Rides.

Few people have as good a grasp of the biking terrain in NZ as the Kennett Bros. They've been doing it long enough now to know what people like, what they want to know and how to whet their appetites. The 8th edition has certainly whetted mine and, with 310 rides to choose from, a few people on bigbluemtb.com can expect to hear from me this summer :-)

About the only place I won't be heading for is entry no. 4 in the Nelson region: Kaiteriteri MTB Park. That's because it's my backyard and on holiday I want new track!
But if you're not local, its three star rating should be enough reason to load up the bike rack. We've completed two new tracks since the above publishing gurus visited and they will both be featured on our new map for 2012. Just quietly, we think they're the best work we've done so far...

And finally, just to show that not all mtb photos have to show someone with their weight back and a steely glint in their eye as they nail some gnarly downhill, here's Greg Buckett toughing out the final few metres getting to the top of the ridge. Given he's on Rockface, I suspect there was some bike-carrying...

Breakout of Skullduggery - Again!

Last winter our main volunteer project was hand-benching the first stage of our intermediate-grade Park traversing track, Skullduggery. You can read what a mission that was in our blog archive for November 2010.

This year we undertook Stage Two, the connection between Flamin' Nora and Bay View. We still had steep sided slopes and damp gullies - this is Kaiteriteri, after all - but somehow the work didn't seem quite as hard this time. Even with it being 100m longer!

Maybe we're just getting better at it. We certainly had a lot more fun (see 'The Fun Factor' post of August 2011) and you'll notice the difference in character of the two sections when you ride the complete length.
It's a great credit to all of those people who gave up so many of their Sunday mornings to swing grubbers. A huge no. of individuals were involved but these guys were the ones who got to celebrate the breakout...


So what have we got?

1.6kms of narrow, flowing singletrack that weaves across the upper flanks of the Park. It is best accessed from the top of Big Airs but you can also drop onto it from Velocity or, half-way along, Flamin' Nora.

You'll ride through a rich diversity of flora that includes kanuka, pine, beech, rimu, broadleaf, ferns & pungas. There's plenty of birdlife in there as well but you'll probably find that, once you've got your flow on, you won't want to stop.

To make sure you get the best from this new circuit, we've decided to make all of Skullduggery and the top section of Bay View down to just before the water tank ONE WAY.

This is a major move for us in terms of our track network. It acknowledges how many more people are now using the Park, the preferred direction they ride in and our need to ensure they can do so safely.
The nature of Skullduggery makes passing hazardous in several places and the top bit of Bay View has a blind corner with the potential for a high-speed collision. We'd rather you can bomb both tracks as fast (or slow) as you like without risk.
It also means those on a DH blast down Rockface get to prolong their buzz for a bit longer...


This marker post indicates the entry to Skullduggery. It's graded Intermediate due to the narrowness of the track and the fact if you fail to stay on it, you could potential tumble a long way down. I always tend to cast a quick glance over the side in a couple of places to make sure there's nothing down there that shouldn't be. So far, so good :-)

Next on the post is the logo for this track's sponsor. It's the support of local companies like Kaiteriteri Kayaks that help fund our work in developing the Park. It's certainly not limited to locals though. If your company would like to sponsor a track, we're always adding more!


A few posts back I blogged about our 'forest royalty'.

A shady gully shortly into the new section is home to three magnificent rimu. They're estimated to be about 500 years old. That they escaped the bush-clearing fires & loggers of the last century is a marvel, esp. given Kaiteriteri and the region's history.

When we discovered them, we felt as though they'd just been waiting all this time for us to come along...



Another feature of these giants are their hemiepiphytic rata vines. Metrosideros robusta begins its life as a seed high in the upper branches of the host tree. Over the centuries it sends down tendril-like roots that thicken into matted 'pseudo-trunks'. Northern rata has greatly suffered from the predations of possums both in the North Island and upper South, the limit of its range, which makes their survival here even more remarkable.

We've created a small clearing here to enable you to enjoy a few moments sitting in their presence.


Beech trees always make their contribution to the tracks, as well. After all, who doesn't like riding in their dappled shade or beech leaf litter!

This impressive stand frames one of our mini-roundabouts.

Controversial at the time - because it was initially so tight that hardly anyone could ride it - it now provides the perfect site for a group photo!




One thing we learnt while building this track is that sometimes it's a good idea to leave the chainsaw behind.

People have to be more creative and that makes for a more fun track - unless you're over 6'5" , I guess :P

In fact, there's stuff happening all along Skullduggery.
At least, while concentrating on what may be around the next corner, you won't have to worry about a biker coming in the opposite direction!


We're hoping that this sign on Bay View, just above the water tank and the entrance to Heartthrob, will take care of that.

If you're used to riding/pushing/carrying your bike up Bay View and Rockface for a downhill run, it's not all bad though.
We've just finished benching a climbing track that will get you all the way from Ziggy to the top ridge! We'll be closing it again in a couple of weeks to complete the grooming but, in the meantime, you're welcome to sample it (in DRY conditions only, please).
When the tape goes back up, you can rest assured its opening isn't far off...

Starting Early...

I bought my first mountain bike as a 40 yr. old. I took to the sport like an English rugby player to a dwarf-throwing competition and, several bikes later, I'm still getting as much fun from it as on my first outing.


These days I can't venture onto a tramping track without assessing its potential as a back-country ride. I have more bike clothing than casual wear. My bike costs way more than the vehicle I drive (tho', to be fair, the van's not that flash. It is, after all, a bike wagon).

And I really should cull the bike collection one day...

The only thing about coming to the sport late, is that, with age, an increasing sense of self-preservation kicks in. I abandoned the idea of getting into jumps the day I landed on my head amid pieces of my helmet. And I no longer have the patience or inclination to spend hours practicing manuals, 360 endoes or switchback wheelies. I'm happy to settle for watching Danny Macaskill on youtube.

But I do envy the skills of those who can & do. Many's the time I've thought, if only I'd got into mountain biking earlier...

So I got a particular buzz out of seeing the number of kids who turned up at the Park on Saturday for our Family Fun Day.
Everywhere I looked there were youngsters on their bikes.

Marty Clark and his Way2Go skills course was hugely popular - and not just with those on 16" or 20" wheels!


This is where they begin acquiring the skills and confidence to become mtbers. The sort of kids who'd rather be out playing on their bikes than their playstations.

The sort of children who can go out riding with their parents - at least, while mum or dad can still keep up...


Meanwhile, the pump track was getting a thorough work out.


At one point it looked like a blur of motion with so many riders on at the same time - the teens pumping hard enough to get air off the rollers, the younger ones pedalling the berms a little higher with each circuit.

And when things quietened down a little, the tots took their turn.


Starting early with colour co-ordinated bike & riding kit is also very important...


Alongside all this action, there was also some racing going on.

Marty Richards, seen here with daughter Tasman, was one of many who accompanied a child around the one-lap circuit before bombing off for a fast blast on the full course.

Despite some tough climbs, it was impressive how many young'uns managed to ride the whole 'beginner' route.





Not that those at the other end of the age-spectrum weren't giving it a crack either.

Even surpassing me in the veteran bracket, Tom Dunn showed that the miles you put into the legs when you're young can keep the wheels spinning six decades later...

These two photos were taken by Oliver Weber, along with many other great shots you can view in full quality on his website.
http://www.oliverweberphotography.com/client-login/
The client login is "family" and Oliver donates 50% of sales to the Mountain Bike Park.

Also working hard on the day were the guys from More FM who kept a steady supply of free bbq sausages on the go, nicely followed by some donated Talleys ice-cream tubs.

Straight after the race and handing out of spot prizes (did anyone go away with nothing?), most of the kids presented themselves to Emma Bawtree for some free mtb skills coaching. Emma divided these into U10 and 10+ and no doubt there were a few parents closely watching the workshops, although they would have been ably catered for by Emma's adult session that followed.
Anyone interested in joining one of Emma's popular wheelwoman coaching clinics can contact her on 027 624 5368 or email emma@nztraveldesigners.com.

Congratulations to fastest 3-lapper Jacob Anderson, chased home by 2nd & 3rd place-getters, Scott Barr and Kistof Zernikow.
Other results can be forwarded if you email info@kaiteriterimtbpark.org.nz.

We're a small group of committee members at the Park and putting on an event requires all hands on deck. The reward comes from seeing so many people enjoying themselves on their bikes. And who's to say that many of these "beginners" won't, one day, be the ones running the show...

Family Fun Day

As part of the Nelson Cycle Fest., Kaiteriteri Mountain Bike Park is once again hosting the More FM Family Fun Day.

This was a really popular event last year. The one, two or three lap options attracted beginner & elite riders alike, all going as hard as their level of fitness allowed!

There were dads that did a lap with a child before hooning off for another lap or two at race-pace, some for whom it was their first time in a mtb event, others that just saw it as a fun way to work up a sweat before retiring to the beach for the afternoon.

This year, on October 8th, promises more of the same. More FM will be firing up the loudspeakers and the barbeques, there's a free beginners mtb workshop being run by wheel woman, Emma Bawtree, and a swag of spot prizes to be shared amongst competitors.

Marty Clark will have his Way2Go portable skills course in action and the pump track can also help keep young'uns entertained while you throw down a scorching lap. Or maybe just line them up for a free Talleys ice=cream...

At just $5 for U14s, $10 for others or $20 for a family group, it sounds like a pretty cheap Fun Day out to me!

Log onto nelsoncyclefest.co.nz for all the week's activities or here:
http://nelsoncyclefest.co.nz/2011/07/29/the-more-fm-kaiteriteri-mountain-bike-challenge/
for more info.

The event kicks off at 10.00am so arrive early if you intend registering on the day.

Forest Royalty

For such a small, semi-rural region, we do pretty well in the volunteer stakes.

From late-March to December we hold weekly working bees on Sunday mornings and I never fail to be impressed by how many people turn-up for these. Rain is no deterrent - in fact, some of our best bees have been when it's been pouring down!

The main focus for the past two winters has been the hand-benching of Skullduggery: a narrow, winding singletrack that traverses the Park north to south 100m above sea level. Many of our regulars have invested dozens of hours in this task and it's no exaggeration to say that if they miss a w/bee or two, they start to feel withdrawal symptoms.

Just as the track unfolds in new ways as attendees follow the guideline surveying ribbons, so the Park slowly reveals its hidden treasures. Mature pine & kanuka stands give way to towering beech trees. Damp, shadier areas are thick with broadleaf & tree ferns. Streams trickle and splash on their steep descent to the estuary and out into the Bay.

The recent 'discovery' of three magnificent rimu along this route has provided the highlight of this journey of exploration so far. Estimated to be in the region of 500 years old, they stand like kings in a natural amphitheater. How they escaped the loggers of the previous century is a marvel. It seems as if they've been waiting for us to bring our mountain bike track to them.
You cannot but feel humbled in their presence...

I'm deliberately not including photos at this stage. For a start, it's hard to do them justice when you're an amateur with a cheap compact.
Secondly, for the time being, at least, it's as if they 'belong' to those volunteers sculpturing out the track from Kaiteriteri's hillside. Everyone feels a sense of ownership and the need for such trees to be properly acknowledged within the Park setting.
When Skullduggery is finished, we'll do that in a way we hope is fitting to their grandeur.

But for the time being, if you want to experience what it is like to be in the presence of forest royalty, you're welcome to join us at our next working bee :)

Much as we rely on volunteers to help extend our track network, there are other tasks around the Park that also require 'manpower'.



A couple of Saturdays ago, Ross Maley undertook to plant some native grasses along the earth bank separating the Skills Area from the trailer park.

No doubt, his son Sam was a help, when he wasn't doing laps of the Pump Track, as was Craig Skillicorn when he joined them before setting off for his own ride.


Kaiteriteri local David Ryder regularly makes his quad bike available when there's heavy stuff to be shifted.

Recently we needed to get some culvert off-cuts (donated by Fulton Hogan) about a kilometer into a digger-benched track currently under construction.

David began by towing them up the steep exit to Big Airs.

There wasn't a lot of manoeuverability along the new track but we managed to get to the gully where a stream needed to be crossed.



'Grib' Buchanan turned up to give a hand to install the culverts, here filling the bags we used to armour the sides.

Since arriving up from Dunedin, Grib has become a working bee regular. He's up for any ride that's going, be it local or Nelson way, mtb or roadie. Never happier than when on a bike.



It was only fair that he got to test ride the new bridge.

So, a few individuals giving up their time, another couple of tasks accomplished. Not the sort of thing many people using the Park would especially notice but all contributing to enhancing the experience...