South Canterbury Mountain Bike Club

McLeans Island in the morning

• 11km one-way loop - no oncoming traffic
• Buffed singletrack, bermed corners mostly through pine forest
• No climbs (other than up ‘n’ down stopbanks)
• Suitable for all abilities - great for families, even with quite young children (so long as they can cope with the distance)
• Suitable even in inclement weather
• 25 minutes to 1 hour per lap - the fast guys ‘n’ gals can do multiple laps!

Check out http://www.onyourbike.co.nz/ for details. McLeans Island is between Christchurch Airport and the Waimakariri River - the entrance to the MTB track is opposite Orana Park.

BYO lunch

Port Hills singletrack in the afternoon

• 20+ kilometre loop
• 2+ hours

We’ll start from a car park above the Sign of the Takahe in Cashmere, so no huge climb: 5 minutes of tarseal up to Victoria Park, then climbing offroad for 15 minutes will have us up to the Summit Road, just below Sugarloaf Transmitter. Admire the view across the city and plains to the Alps and catch your breath before turning left (East) and ride flowing singletrack along Bowenvale Traverse Track probably as far as the top of Rapaki Track.

Return the way we came but continue past Sugarloaf, dropping down Thomsons Track past the Sign of the Kiwi (maybe an icecream?) and a short tarseal climb along the Summit Road to the top of Worsleys Road, then down Marleys Hill Track (aka “Flying Nun”) onto Old Dyers Pass Track then a short climb back to the waiting cars.

This ride is 80% singletrack, 10% 4WD track, 10% tarseal

I would describe it as moderately difficult singletrack - narrow, with frequent obstacles - a few (mainly very short - often only 10 metres or so) stretches may be easier walked. Some technical ability and confidence is required. If you aren’t comfortable riding the more technical tracks in the Scenic, you may find this ride challenging in places.
Check out http://www.onyourbike.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=30 for some good photos of what to expect on the easier sections of track.

Check out http://www.ccc.govt.nz/Cycling/TracksRides/PortHills.asp for more details on the tracks, and track reports. Note that as at yesterday many of the tracks were closed due to the recent rain, however the tracks I’ve selected above are very quick-drying (except for Old Dyers Pass Track, which we can avoid if need be). In the absence of any more significant rain, I’m reasonably confident the tracks will be open by next weekend.

Obviously, the Port Hills are exposed and so this ride is weather-dependent. It’s not a nice place to be in a howling southerly! We’ll keep Bottle Lake Forest as a backup - lots of great tracks with plenty of shelter.

More details next week as to car-pooling, meeting times and places

Hope lots of you can make it

Ken

Chris Thomas has organized the following Club Ride for this weekend.

Start and finish the ride at Michael Little’s farm, (Little Road, off Cave Pareora Road). Start time 10.30am.

Meet at the Aorangi Park car park on Morgans Road, Timaru at 9.30am to car pool.

The proposed course is quite demanding and hilly, exposed to weather and wet so members will need to be well prepared with wet weather gear and good fitness levels. The track would not be marked out and we would be riding through areas with stock so we would need to ride as a group.

Approximately 20 kilometres and 2 – 3 hours

If the weather is looking dodgy, watch out for an email or listen to cancellations on Port FM on Sunday morning or contact Chris Thomas: chris@specialevents.co.nz

Hello to all those who can proudly say they completed the first ever Contact Epic!! It sure was a fantastic day and one which lead to a lot of pride and achievement (as well as the odd sore part!).

Sponsorship

Contact Energy have powered up their support for the 2009 event. Next year they not only want to support more local community groups and winners but also each of you as well! They are providing every competitor with a free 10 minute massage at the end of the race as well as a free commemorative photo of each competitor somewhere along this picturesque journey.

We wish to again thank you for your support in the inaugural year by informing you first of the opening of entries.

You have one week to enter on line before we begin to advertise via our database and the local media.

Entering before the end of August will save you money as well.

To access the discount entitlement all you need to do is enter nzsultimate if you wish to enter the Epic or ultimate if you wish to enter the Classic into the discount code box on the entry page.

Any students who completed the 2008 event are also eligible for entry into the open leg of the Epic and therefore LMS kitty.

You are also eligible for the free entries offered again by Taff and Penny Cochrane to the first 10 local high school entrants if you are still at school.

To receive the free entry all you need to do is be one of the first 10 students to type focstudent into the discount code box. As there is no parental permission section in the open men’s please just print off the entry form and post in with parental permission noted, and your school, on the bottom as well as filling in the online form.

Click here to enter on line now: http://www.contactepic.co.nz/entry.html

Welcome to the South Canterbury Mountainbike Club’s new website. If you have arrived here by typing in www.southcanterburymountainbikeclub.co.nz we are still building the new website so to find out current news you can click here

Don’t worry we will let you all know when the new website is live!