Is it as good as the stuff behind the Nat West in Swindon?

Got the next 2 weekends there, going for the uplift service any must do trails? Anything worth doing thats not on the lift stuff that won’t be a bad idea to do by myself?

Anything to watch out for? Leaving bikes etc.

Bike is drying off after some major cleaning so hopefully good for customs.

The trails in Rotorua are probably the best purpose-uilt trails I’ve done in NZ. There isn’t a massive amount of relief in most of the forest, but they squeeze every last drop of fun out of each meter. Even most of the easier trails flow well (which isn’t often the case elsewehre in NZ).

It’s worth getting one of the ‘Manky’ maps (a map printed on a hanky) – even a cretin like me could follow the directions on it (although there are a couple of the 2-way trails that get a bit confusing).

Chat to the guys at the info center in the car park and they’ll tell you which trails are in the best nick at the moment.

Didn’t notice a problem with bike security – in fact we left the car unlocked while riding by mistake and nobody nicked anything. NZs a bit like that I guess 🙂

EDIT: The trails off the gondola in Queenstown were actually a bit better than Rotorua, so that’s worth considering too.

Whilst I have never been to the trails behind the Nat West in Swindon I have been to rotovagas many times.

The good thing about the uplift is that is serves both the national DH track and lots of other trails that range in length and grade. Ride as much as you can, weather has been mint for this time of the year and it is riding really well. It is a quality bike park, with riding for everyone (unusual for NZ).

It is a real biking town but I would definatly be careful leaving your bike unattended.

Are you in NZ for a holiday, if so I would recommened getting about a bit and not staying in Rotorua the whole time. Oh and the place smells of eggy fart because of all the termal activity.

PS If you see a pair of Oakley Crosslink glasses there let me know, I left them there after a night ride the other day.

Little Red Riding Huck
Corners
Billy T
Split Endz

but they are all mainly awesome.

Over for work so in Hamilton so fly in tomorrow then plan was to drive to Roto rode the weekend, head back teach a course for a week then catch the trails the following weekend for some more fun. Planning to ride the local stuff in Hamilton at least 1 evening too to keep me sane.
Not booked anything yet but fairly flexible if there is anything else I should try and check out between there and Auckland.
Back over for another weekend in September tied into an Auckland work trip.

Can’t quite make it to Queenstown on this trip 🙂

Cheers guys

and should I try and squeeze the Full Face in?

I wasn’t into mountain biking when I went there, so I know nothing about the trails. I can however, recommendthe dry slope toboggan run – it’s great fun and a good way to pass an hour or so.

+1 for the eggy fart smell – my wife blamed me for that when we first drove into town.

Love it there. I was with the missus so we weren’t doing anything black graded. We both lived Billy T and would have used the uplift if it was on at that time. I’d uplifting you’d benefit from the FF helmet but it depends on your comfort zone, different for everyone. You’d be fine without.

Tips? The crew at the trail head serving coffee out of the containers were a top bunch.

Be Rude Not Too, a great trail. (it was when i rode it anyway)

+1 on the dont leave valuables/bike unattended, NZ aint crime free.

bike rental from the car park was rubbish i have to say, worn pedals, leaking forks and bald tyres.

other than that, its all fun fun fun

bike rental from the car park was rubbish i have to say, worn pedals, leaking forks and bald tyres.

Hopefully not an issue as the Blur LTc is sat in the bike bag ready

Rotorua is great fun, I don’t think you can go wrong there to be honest. Uplift is not that necessary in my opinion as the climbs are not that long or taxing, but if it is booked it is good to have.

Take a nose peg!

How long has the DH been there? I rode the trails back in 2002, and they were fast and fun in an undulating flat way, a bit like Thetford crossed with a BMX track.

Whakarewarewa forest just north of town. Especially if you like hucking off twenty-foot-high wooden ramps on “Red XXX” trails.

Fortunately, chicken runs are available…

They had the world there in 06
http://www.sportnz.org.nz/en-nz/communities-and-clubs/Active-Communities/Sharing-Good-Practice/Rotorua-World-Mountain-Bike-Champs/

Hatupatu is glorious steep techy amazingness. One of the best trails I’ve ridden anywhere.

Worth chatting to the locals on the uplift – there are a couple of off piste options if you like your steep natural singletrack. Having said that, just the stuff on the map would keep you grinning for four days.

There’s also a newish trail over at Rainbow Mountain, about 25km south of Rotorua, which is WELL worth the trip (it’s on the road to Taupo if you’re headed that way). Steep and tricky-ish at the top, super flowy lower down, then finish with a dip in the geothermal spring 🙂

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-visit/bay-of-plenty/rotorua-lakes/rainbow-mountain-scenic-reserve/

There’s also Craters of the Moon just before Lake Taupo if you are heading that way from Rotorua.

Honestly. i only clicked on this link because i thought it was a location in the greatest film ever made “bad taste”.
I apologise,

I live in Hamilton, there are 2 biking option in town. one is Pukete (i think that is the correct spelling) and it pretty poor but might be okay as a night ride. That way you won’t know you are going up and down a large field.

The other is Te Miro which is about 30 mins out of town, this is normally not worth a visit during the winter but we’ve had a lot of dry weather and is actually riding really well at the minute.

Actually there is another riding option, some guys have cut a trail starting in town, it looks like a lot of switch backs over a very small area. I haven’t riden it yet, but hats off to them for actually managing to get anything so close to town.

Cheers for the Hamilton heads up it’s mostly just a sanity option to get out of the hotel for an evening or two.

My 2 cents:

– Little red riding huck (aka jumps track) is awesome
– Corners is pretty average in comparison, do it once and then get back onto jumps
– National DH is rideable on a trail bike (slowly), you can go around all the massive huckz and drops if you want. Some decent sized gaps at the bottom.

Push/ride up from the shuttle dropoff:
– Tuhoto Ariki/Hatu Patu are great techy rooty trails
– Billy T is fun, nice steep chute into a small step up towards the end

Good way to finish the day is Billy T, then up the fireroad onto Spilt Endz (awesome flat out fun!), Pondy DH, Pondy New then rollercoaster for easy tables tops back to the car park for a banana smoothie, lolly cake and a beer 🙂

Oh and Zippy’s cafe in town is good for brekkie/coffee.

As it’s winter(ish) over in NZ at the moment, I’d recommend camping at Rotorua- there’s nothing more weirdly luxurious than camping when it’s a bit chilly with underfloor heating, and there aren’t many places where you can experience it.

does anyone have any bike hire place recommendations for rotorua too..?

i’m heading down there in feb next year to visit the OH’s brother and we are planning on another visit to Rotorua.. and i plan on doing a bit of riding one day..

thought about taking my own bike as we are probably flying emirates.. but as we are flying to Queenstown too itll probably work out cheaper (and less faff moving them about) to hire bikes in both places…

really like the Fat dog cafe last time we where there.. oh.. and checkout the polynesian spa in rotorua… its AWESOME!!

does anyone have any bike hire place recommendations for rotorua too..?

(This info is from two years ago so might be out of date).

I wouldn’t particularly recommend the outfit who hire from the forest car park. The bikes were rather knackered GT Aggressors and the woman we dealt with wasn’t the best (appeared stoned off her nut and rather disinterested).

I think I read later you are better off hiring in town and riding out to the forest. Something about a nice route via a BMX track or something.

I hired a cracking carbon Spesh stumpy from the Spesh dealers in town. Perfect for the trails there. Billy T, split enz and pondy were good wee bits of trail. As has been already said, no need for the uplift but it would let you squeeze more trails into your time.

Spent a few smelly hours in Kerosene Creek which is a little out of town, found the smell of R really rank, was glad to leave.

Wow!

Awesome first day, chatted to the guys at the trail head, pointers to loads of stuff and sent me off with one of their mates for the day. Rode heaps and back again tomorrow. Will probably try some of the other trails next weeked too!!

Happy Days

Jealous – I love Rotovegas! even if my daughter broke her arm and we lost a days riding.

todays efforts 🙂 http://www.strava.com/activities/73514567