For Expert Riders Only!

One of our committee had the idea of adding a screen-printed design to our MTB Park t-shirt.
The EXPERT sign is what we put at the top of each of the three tracks that all drop pretty steeply off the top ridge.

Each track has its own character and we all tend to have our own personal favourites. It happens that the innovative committee member's favourite is Velocity. He spent many long, hot hours over the Summer improving the drainage, hacking back gorse and generally improving the line. He also rode it a lot.



Unfortunately, in the week after he presented his screen-printing idea, he rode it again. He's now recovering from a punctured lung, six broken ribs and a fractured clavicle. On the plus side, he's now thinking of upgrading to a fully.

I share my friend's misfortune not to embarass him (he already feels that), but to emphasise that these three tracks aren't to be taken lightly. They've claimed a no. of victims over the Summer and while Ride Today, Heal Tomorrow is a cool mtb motto, the reality can sometimes be a little more painful.

His partner generously agreed to model the prototype t-shirt. Note that this is our Mens tee. They'll soon be available for $25.00 ($4 p&p). Email info@kaiteriterimtbpark.org.nz or hit one of the team up if you're interested.
Not wanting to leave our many female Park visitors out, we could consider an extra order with our fitted women's tees - but perhaps Shady Lady is more appealing...?

Kaiteri-A-Go-Go

Yep, we're back into the swing of things at Kaiteriteri. Andrew's been busy on Easy Rider with the Chings digger and by the middle of next week we should have close to another 800m of benched track to play on.

While 800m represents quite a gain, given how hard-fought our metres are on the steep hills behind the beach, it's only the beginnings of what will become our longest track so far. Not only will Easy Rider add approx. 4 kms of the sort of flowing, undulating track that has been attracting bikers from near & far, it will also mean some new loops can be built into the circuits of the more adventurous.


The good feelings I posted earlier about this trail are being confirmed as we weave in & out of gullies, carve our way through punga groves, and traverse across lightly-wooded fern-filled slopes.
For someone who has bush-bashed the surveyed route, seeing it transformed into benched track is a rewarding & addictive experience. With Andrew bucket-smoothing each day's work as we go, it's tempting to grab the bike and start laying tread.

Before that happens, tho', we need to get in there with our rakes, spades & grubbers to finish off the grooming. This is one job where many hands really do make light work and it provides the perfect opportunity for all those who have been enjoying riding the tracks over the Summer to give something back. The sooner the grooming is done, the sooner you can add it to your riding options!

Our working bees are happening every second week this year. If you haven't been before, we meet on Sunday mornings at 9.00 and work through to midday, always stopping for a mid-morning for a snack'n'chat. You can join our mailing list to find out where to meet and what tools to bring or check our website's calendar.
Many friendships have been made through the working bees but best of all is that good feeling that comes from knowing you've made a contribution to developing our Mountain Bike Park. Those bits of track you work on become extra special when you take your mates biking there.

See ya Sunday!

Sidewinder...sorted!

By now you'll be pretty used to the idea that when things happen at Kaiteriteri, they happen fast.
Last week Andrew Spittal phoned to say he had three days free with the Chings digger. Not one to waste an opportunity to bench some more track, in we went!

We concentrated on a short section of newly-surveyed track that switches off the top end of Salivater and connects with the Telecom tower site near the road saddle. This track represents the start of Easy Rider, which will eventually extend right to the southern end of the Park.
In the meantime, it's possible to add in a little loop by using Short Cut. It won't get groomed properly until our first working bee on March 14 (not March 7 as previously posted) but there's nothing to stop you using it now. Within hours of exiting the track with the digger, it had tyre tracks on it.


As the benching of this track had gone so smoothly, compared to the usual dramas we encounter at Kaiteriteri, we had time to look at the Sidewinder switchbacks. These were initially scheduled for April but as the digger was already there and Andrew was keen, we decided to go for it.
The steepness of Sidewinder's slope meant many of these switches were difficult to create through lack of enough soil to properly berm the low side. Understandably, many novice riders get a little freaked by staring over a drop when they're half-way round a turn. The level platform of some of the switches also led to some riders skidding their way through them - something we try to discourage at Kaiteriteri.
Anyway, Andrew managed to find enough soil by scratching round to build lower berms on all the switches. Trying to shape steep corners without a tilt bucket isn't easy but we're really pleased with the results. The switchbacks still require controlled braking skills going down but hopefully the fear of diappearing over an edge has been reduced. Going up is still a grunt but they definitely flow better.


As expected, the granite soil of the tracks at the MTB Park have now compacted like concrete. Breaking up the surface of the corners has created very loose, cloddy soil that, until we get some rain, will take some time to re-compact. Until then, riders will have to take a little care to avoid their front wheel washing out. Everyone who came by while we were working, however, seemed pretty pleased with what we were doing and, as usual, gave us the big thumbs up!


With a bit of time to spare, we started benching Easy Rider heading south from the Telecom tower. Michael & I felt good about how the surveying of this track has gone (so far) and I have a similar feeling about the benching of it. Part-funded by the Tasman District Council, it will considerably extend our easy trail network. All I'm waiting for is Andrew to free up some more days!

Easy Rider

The word is out to the local schools that there is now another good reason to locate their camps at Kaiteriteri. These pupils, with their teacher and a helping mountain biking parent, from Hope were staying at Bethany Park Camp last week and getting their first taste of the tracks.
Here, they take a breather and regroup at the top of Swamp Monster before setting off down Glade Runner.

They all looked to be enjoying themselves and, being based right at the exit of our Easy circuit, I don't doubt more than a few of them came back for more...

The focus has been on surveying new track for the past month. True to form, the Kaiteriteri terrain on the south side of the Park boundary is as gnarly as everywhere else we've been so far.
Our attempts to create a bypass to Sidewinder's switchbacks were ultimately thwarted by steep-sided gullies so, after several aborted attempts, we were forced to abandon this as an option.
Instead, we'll look to improve the berming of the existing switchbacks to make them less threatening and flow better.

And so, onto Easy Rider...


Carrying the clinometer on these expeditions is Michael Brewer. Operating as a two-man team, we've become pretty used to the rugged topography of the 180ha Recreation Reserve. Hacking our way through clumps of five-finger, mahoe, punga & ferns in the many gullies is par for the course.



The tool of choice here is my long-handled slasher, weilded as sparingly as possible for a reading to be made by sighting on my equally bright cap. As many kilometres as we've already surveyed, it's still very easy to creep up or slide down when negotiating steep country and the clinometer is essential for keeping us to the required gradient.


The gullies count as easy going, however, compared to the open slopes covered in towering gorse & bracken. The slasher makes little headway here and a combination of sawing through gorse branches and crawling over or through the bracken means each metre is hard-won. Also, the wasp nests that are relatively easy to spot in the forest are less easy to see when they're underneath the bracken! A boot in the heart of a nest is a sure way to make some new enemies...

We're now only one or two half-days from completing the surveying of Easy Rider. Already, it will count as being the longest track in the Park. Throughout its length we have endeavoured to keep it within an overall gradient range of plus or minus 5% which means, in order to make a connection down to the Riwaka-Kaiteriteri Road, we will have to create some switchbacks.
From whichever point we start to significantly drop in height, we will also begin an Intermediate-grade track that branches back up to join onto Bay View. This track will eventually traverse right to the northern boundary of the Park.

Our first working bee of 2010 is scheduled for March 7. We'll post a reminder here and email all those already on our database. Email info@kaiteriterimtbpark.org.nz to be added or just kept in the loop. Meanwhile, there are always other ways to spend your Sunday mornings...

The forest elves are stirring..

With things being so quiet on the blogspot, you'd be mistaken for thinking things have been quiet at Kaiteriteri. On the contrary, the tracks have been humming with bikers with everyone giving a big thumbs up to the network so far.
This positive feedback is hugely encouraging for those of us involved in planning this year's programme. Also appreciated are those who have made donations to the Park, either directly, by using the Donate button on our sidebar or by purchasing a t-shirt or cap. Everything goes into track development so you can all feel a part of our project!

Many of you will be pleased to hear that we have started surveying a bypass to Sidewinder. The eight switchbacks on this track provide the biggest challenge to those relatively new to mountain biking and this 600m section of track is the 'odd man out' in our otherwise Easy circuit.

The bypass will involve a much longer length of track that branches off Salivator and largely maintains its height until joining Sidewinder near its connection with Swamp Monster. At least, that's what we hope - we've only surveyed half of it so far...

The first half of this track marks the beginning of what will become Easy Rider, an easy gradient track that extends into the southern portion of the Park. Tasman District Council have put up significant funding for Easy Rider, which we hope will provide an alternative access into the Park for those commuting by bike.

Local mountain biking GP and regular Park user, Deborah Morris, is fast developing a reputation for being the "MTB Doctor". At last year's Marble Mountain MTB event, she interrupted her ride to attend to a rider with a broken collarbone. More recently, she assisted in the helicopter evacuation of a rider badly concussed while biking at Canaan Downs. Yesterday she was called to the MTB Park to attend to another broken collarbone.


Deborah was impressed with the injured individual's method of supporting his arm on the long walk out and thought other mountain bikers might be interested. Making use of the spare bike tube provides excellent support, is adjustable to any length and is - or should be - something every biker already carries with them.

Caillin Morris-Trainor demonstrates how to use this simple but effective First Aid Kit accessory.

Many of us are still in holiday mode at the moment, getting in as much riding as we can by entering or training for events, or generally just mucking about on bikes & boats. We're looking to start up our Sunday morning working bees again in a few weeks' time and will welcome new recruits. If you'd like to volunteer some occasional mornings to help develop Phase Two of our track network, contact us at info@kaiteriterimtbpark.org.nz

People who make a difference...

It is with great sadness that we at Kaiteriteri MTB Park acknowledge the death of Emmanuel Rejious. Emmanuel was killed, along with two of his three NZ-born daughters, in the recent earthquake in Haiti.

I came into contact with Emmanuel via a colleague's fortuitous encounter with Jeffrey Kohen, President of Now and Zen, a US-based t-shirt manufacturing company. Jeffrey's company operates a subsidiary company called NonProfitees (www.nonprofitees.org) that offers at-cost printing of tees for non-profit organisations.

As we at Kaiteriteri saw the merchandising of t-shirts as a valuable way of both promoting the Park and generating some track-building revenue, we leapt at Jeffrey's offer to print our tees for us.

Jeffrey put me in touch with Emmanuel, NonProfitees' Program Director, and there began a long exchange of emails whereby he sought to help us clarify and finalise our order. In the context of NP's usual non-profit or charitable clients, our minimum order of 300 tees was small-fry. In addition to that, our order involved international p&p and customs clearance, both of which lay outside of NP's usual operating framework within the domestic US market.

Nevertheless, Emmanuel was unfailingly helpful and patient throughout this process. He always responded promptly to emails and invested them with a warmth that made the exchanges become increasingly personal. I had a sense that Emmanuel was determined to do all he could to accommodate us.
By the conclusion of the order, we were expressing our enthusiasm at meeting each other on his next visit to NZ.

Throughout this period, I had no idea that he was based in Haiti with his wife Emily, caring for his three daughters, and working for the UN while engaged in several other roles. In the wake of the Haitian tragedy, I have had the opportunity to read more of Emmanuel and Emily's work in many of the world's poorest countries. Their whole-hearted commitment to helping those in need was, and for Emily no doubt remains, their guiding passion. I feel privileged to have briefly intersected with Emmanuel's life and, for those of us already wearing the t-shirts (http://kaiteriterimtbpark.blogspot.com/2009/12/teeing-up-for-summer.html), we can share in a special link with his life and work.

The above photo was placed by Afke on http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=250861649126, a fund that has been established to assist Emily Sanson-Rejious and her daughter adjust to life without a devoted husband and father.

Guy Trainor

A Day in the Park

One of the bonuses of popping into the Park for a bit of maintenance is all the positive feedback you get from people riding the tracks. This time I remembered to take my camera...

Christian & his mate Toby (out of pic) were up from Christchurch. Last summer they were cutting back gorse to ride some firebreaks, this year they found a bit more track on offer!




Next around the corner was Gary from Riwaka, pretty chuffed to be discovering what is now virtually on his doorstep..













This might be John from Richmond...












unless this is (sorry guys).













Above, this is definitely Carsten from Germany...


















Not far behind was Richard from Ohaka














riding with Hamish of Christchurch, doing the hard yards on Swamp Monster.











Hammering down Rock'n'Roll was Wayne, also from Christchurch,















with son, Jacob, right on his wheel.










Lots of walkers have been making use of the Park's track network as well, including Sue & Steve from Christchurch.









Tony, also of Christchurch (is there anyone left in ChCh..?), decided the Pump Track wasn't really his thing..











while his biking buddy, Richard, from Brightwater, had a couple of warm-up laps.












Phil & Tania from Christchurch prove that not everyone wants a "lazy Sunday afternoon".











This was Claire's second visit to the Park - but she only has to come from Mapua.









Done for the day, I caught this family group from Christchurch & Wellington just heading into the Park.

Thanks to all the above who interrupted their ride for me to snap them. It's great to see the Park getting so much use from riders of all ages, fitness & ability.



Hopefully, everyone will grab a MTB Park cap and/or t-shirt from the Kaiteriteri Store before heading home to help fund this year's track-building programme :)