On your mountain bikes!
It’s 7pm on a cold winter’s evening and everyone on the New Plymouth Mountain Bikers Club weekly ride is excited at the thought of riding a professionally revamped track.
The track at Mangamahoe Forest has been fenced off to avoid damage until it firms up, but tonight it is open thanks to a rare break between showers.
Everyone gives each other ample room in the dark, and the only sound is rolling tyres, whirring freehubs and a giggle as someone narrowly avoids an obstacle.
At the bottom, the riders’ headlights shine on grinning faces.
It is the second of two public outings on six kilometres of new and revamped track, the first being a daytime club ride that took place a week or so earlier.
The tracks, built by Auckland company Trailpro Construction, came about thanks to a major funding boost from the TSB Community Trust and NZ Community Trust.
They form a fraction of the existing and intended trail network at Mangamahoe, Busing Forest and ROTOZ Jumps Park – the three venues leased by New Plymouth Mountain Bikers Club, says president Hasely Lobb.
There are plenty of good times ahead, he says, but first it’s time to celebrate their progress with an official tracks launch, group rides and a barbecue at Mangamahoe Forest on Sunday, October 15 at 10am.
Lobb says they’d like to see as many people as possible at the event to enjoy the club’s growing momentum and all things mountain biking in Taranaki.
The sport has taken off throughout New Zealand. In New Plymouth, it shows in the upswell of riders – hundreds of them pouring out of cars and onto the 33 kilometres of riding trails at Mangamahoe most weekends.
That volume has increased so much that even people who have been in the club for decades don’t recognise many of the new faces.
Years ago, mountain biking was a sport for those who loved whooping it up on rough tracks needing ample skill to counter unforgiving bike brakes, seating and suspension systems.
The situation is very different now with many groomed tracks for children and adults of all abilities, providing gentle entry to the intermediate and advanced trails that more experienced riders enjoy.
‘‘Mountain biking was sort of niche and now it’s exploded,’’ Lobb says.
Lobb comes from a family that supports clubs and community. Three years ago, he became the president of New Plymouth Mountain Bikers, having worked for the club for nearly 10 years as one of many volunteers who strive to advance mountain biking in Taranaki.
Another is Lobb’s former work colleague Nick Moon. The amiable Englishman is a 12-year native of New Plymouth who leads most of the Wednesday evening club rides and knows the city pathways like the back of his hand.
Last Christmas, he and Lobb were joking about the best way to get more club members and working bee volunteers with the aim of improving and increasing Taranaki’s trail networks.
‘‘I wonder how best to phrase it,’’ a female club member ponders. Moon cases it in simple terms. ‘‘Why the bloody hell aren’t you a member? Why the bloody hell don’t you help at working bees?’’ he says jovially, humour heightened by the Guinness in his hand.
Maybe Santa was listening and thinking about the club’s goals. At
Six kilometres of new and revamped track will be launched at New Plymouth’s Mangamahoe Forest this weekend. Jo Taylor recently tested the tracks out.
very least, the TSB Community Trust and NZ Community Trust were when they each approved $60,000 for new trails at Mangamahoe Forest.
Nine weeks of intensive work by Trailpro Construction and the work was done, the company’s excavators crafting tracks infinitely faster and more easily than the usual back-breaking efforts of volunteers.
Lobb says it is a major step forward and the club wants to continue making strides in progress, hence its continuing goal of securing more members, funding, manpower and support.
‘‘Mountain biking is a big tourism drawcard when it gets good funding and support,’’ he says. ‘‘Riders love exploring and they spend big dollars. I believe domestic tourists spend about $110 a day, whereas mountain bikers spend about $180 a day.’’
Some New Zealand centres have long assisted and cashed in on the sport’s international popularity, with the booming mountain bike scenes in Rotorua and Queenstown alone showing clear advantages to both townships. Last year’s annual Crankworx bike festival reportedly boosted Rotorua’s economy by an estimated $8 million.
To draw tourism dollars, mountain bike parks need ongoing funding and support from councils, trusts, businesses, and a large and dedicated crop of volunteers.
In Taranaki, the latter includes New Plymouth Mountain Bikers committee member Darryl Gaudin who is spearheading the construction
‘‘It’ll become a recreational facility like Pukekura Park.’’ New Plymouth Mountain Bikers Club committee member Don Bricknall
of a Mangamahoe Forest club pavilion with design process help from New Plymouth District Council.
Lobb says the council is also helping create a link from the forest to the Mangamahoe Lake toilets, and he hopes it can work with the club on other projects such as improved cycle access to the forest for the betterment of mountain biking and the community.
By improving Mangamahoe, the club is building an asset for the PHOTO: DAISY DAY people of Taranaki, explains New Plymouth Mountain Bikers Club committee member Don Bricknall.
‘‘We’re eventually going to have a half-million-dollar asset. It’ll become a recreational facility like Pukekura Park. It just so happens that we bike, run, orienteer and ride horses (on separate tracks) in it.’’
Club member Mike Ure is aware that people might wonder, ‘‘what’s in it for me?’’ when they’re at Mangamahoe and considering whether to join the club.
‘‘The tracks you’re using are there because of people who have supported New Plymouth Mountain Bikers,’’ he says. ‘‘In becoming members, people are investing in future development – more trails to ride and ongoing social events. The more members, the more strength for advocacy and getting tracks built around the district.’’
It’s a sentiment that’s been longstated by Lobb.
‘‘What riders are now seeing is the fruition of many years of hard work by our club members and supporters,’’ he says. ‘‘We’re also hugely grateful to the TSB Community Trust, NZ Community Trust and our sponsors.
‘‘The club leases three great places to ride and New Plymouth also has an excellent off-road cycling network, so now we just need to keep improving and maintaining our parks and facilities, and develop new regional tracks for the community.
‘‘Riding is a fun way for families and friends to get fit and enjoy good times and adventure.
‘‘Most of us are a bit addicted to the adventure side of it,’’ he concludes. ‘‘But for those who’ve yet to experience that, the tracks launch on October 15 is a good chance for them to see what mountain biking and the local mountain biking community are all about.
‘‘We hope plenty of people will join us and be part of the continued growth of our sport in Taranaki. Together we’ll keep making good things happen.’’
The Mangamahoe Forest official tracks launch, rides and barbecue will be held onsite at 10am on Sunday, October 15, off Plantation Rd near Egmont Village. Entry is free. Go to www.npmtb.co.nz or New Plymouth Mountain Bikers on Facebook for updates.
●➤ Jo Taylor is a former Fairfax journalist and current New Plymouth Mountain Bikers Club committee member.