Wellington Mountain Bike Club News

Escape from Mt Crawford Enduro - Cheers!

Sun, 30 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT

I'ver said it before, but it bears repeating. A massive thanks to our volunteers for helping run the event, and especially David Bevan-Smith and Dave Nendick, our super-medic.

A huge chur to the team at the Miramar Track Project for having the trails in such good form, Trails Wellington for the funding to freshen up Jailbrake a few years back, and Con-Air over the past year, and to the team from the Wellington City Council and especially the parks and gardens team for being such good supporters of everything the Welly MTB Club does.

Cheers to our spot prize supporters, including Pack and Pedal Porirua, Patagonia, ILABB and Riven Rock MTB Park for the great swag.

And finally, thanks to all of you for supporting the event and the club this year. We hope to see you out on the trails soon.

Jono Baddiley

Wellington MTB Club President

Escape from Mt Crawford Enduro results

Sun, 30 Apr 2023 03:00:00 GMT

Thanks to everyone that came out on Saturday for the 2023 Escape from Mt Crawford Enduro. We had a great day, and hope that you did as well.
By the close of racing, Jesse Cseh was our King of the Cellblock with a on-the-day fastest time of 8:27.16, and Lara Comesky our Queen of the Cellblock in a time of 9:52.66.

A frankly surprising number of people put their hands up for the sufferfest climb, many of whom looked like they were regretting their early morning decision making at the top of Jailbrake. The fastest (non-e-bike) up the hill was Jesse in a time of 4:41.31 (only a little over double what many people took to ride down the trail), and fastest woman was Lizzie Varley in a very respectable 7:57.54. Iain Coughlan used boost mode most effectively to make it up the hill in 3:55:35.

We've loaded full results onto the Welly MTB Club's WebScorer page.

Results for the Felony course can be found here. The stages for each lap are:

Conviction

Jailbrake

Solitary

Results for the Misdemeanour course can be found here. The stages for each lap are:

Conviction

Jailbrake (fastest time)

Jailbrake (second-fastest time)

Results for the Sufferfest climb can be found here.

And I've dug through the timing system and have found the results for the pumptrack challenge, which can be found here. Congratulations to Kiera Vlaar, who did (at least) 10 attempts.
I've sorted the results by the fastest time (which shows as the "race time") - it looks like there were some people who took a rather loose interpretation of what "skateboarding" meant, with times that look remarkably like "I'm going to run across the grass between the timing gates" All of your attempts will appear as laps. Congratulations to Reuben Smith who showed that M50 is where it's at if you want to get consistently fast (and non-cheaty) times.

Finally, we've updated the results for the overall in the 2023 Wellington Enduro Series. There are some rather close point totals, and it's all there for you data geeks to trawl through. We'll be arranging an end-of-season shindig, so look out for an update on that soon.

Mt Vic Enduro n Chill with Get Lost Cycling - results

Sun, 23 Apr 2023 06:00:00 GMT

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Mt Vic Enduro n Chill brought to you by Get Lost Cycling today. The conditions were definitely towards the challenging end of the dial, but it was amazing to see so many smiles at the prize giving this afternoon.

Results have been posted to the Wellington MTB Club WebScorer page. We've split the results into three groups - the Enduro course, the Junior course (which skipped TTS) and the Damiens "only for glory" stage.

The Enduro course results can be found at https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=312298

The Junior course results can be found at https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=312300

And the Damiens glory stage results can be found at https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=312301

We've updated the overall results for the Wellington Enduro Series as well, which can be found at https://www.webscorer.com/seriesresult?seriesid=308451

Prizes announced for the Mt Vic Enduro n Chill

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 06:00:00 GMT

The penultimate event in the 2023 Wellington Enduro Series is the Mt Vic Enduro with Get Lost Cycling, held this Sunday 23rd of April at the park at the top of Marjoribanks Street on Matairangi Mount Victoria.

The team from Get Lost have a great event lined up, and a massive set of prizes on offer, including:

1x DVO Onyx
$3,500 cash ($2000 for King/Queen stage + $1500 for u10,u13,u16)
2x Custom Lazer Cage Kineticore full face helmets
2 x Lazer Jackal Kineticore helmets + 6x Lazer Coyote
4 x Maxxis tyres + Joes sealant
1x Voucher from Fluidlines
2x Coffee Supreme prize packs + 1x Large Supreme Crew Jumper + 1x Med Supreme Hoodie

The course will be announced in due course, but if you have a look at the trails on the city side of the hills you'll have an idea about what's in store.

Entries are available now at the Welly MTB Club Website, with the usual discounted entries for Wellington MTB Club/Trails Wellington members (including if you're a member of another club in the Wellington, Manawatu or Wairarapa regions). We hope to see you there!

Wainui Enduro - thanks to our supporters!

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 06:00:00 GMT

We had amazing support from our sponsors for yesterday's race, especially Brendan "Bubbles" Clark and his business Best Build Construction, who offered a $3,000 spot prize for the person with the best DIY nightmare sob story. Also thanks to our other spot prize supporters Carters, Fasthouse, Capital Cycles, and our event supporters Garage Project and Switched On Bikes.

And a final shout-out to our volunteers and the trail crew from Wainui Trail Project.

Wainui Enduro Race Recap

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 03:00:00 GMT

It was great to have so many people come out for a fun day of racing at the 2023 Wainui Enduro yesterday. And while the trails were mixed in terms of traction, it seemed that there were a lot of smiles down at the race village for prize giving.
Jono's definitely not regretting including McMillan's in the hard course

There were some blistering times set on the trails, with Elliot Smith taking overall fastest (in a time of 13:21.66), and Abbie Bull fastest woman.

Results for the hard course are available at the Welly MTB Club's Webscorer account. The stages are:

Superplus
Freewheel
491 into Nga Tuna
Spoonhill into mcmillans

Results for the intermediate course are available at the Welly MTB Club's Webscorer account. The stages are:

Labyrinth return into Snails

Superplus

Freewheel

Entries open for the Mt Vic Enduro 'n Chill (with Get Lost Cycling)

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 09:00:00 GMT

In 2021 the team from Get Lost Cycling welcomed the return of racing to Mt Victoria with the inaugural Mt Vic Enduro. We all had such a great time that they're doing it all again, only better!

Wellington is blessed with some of the world's best central city riding and Matairangi is the jewel in the crown. With everything from flowing berms and jumps through to roots and chutes there's something for everyone.

We wanted to showcase the hill and trails that we love, so take a deep breath, make yourself comfortable, and relax as you take on a (timed) tour of some of Wellington's finest!

The race will be held on the 23rd of April, and entries are available now at the Welly MTB Club events website.

All race proceeds are to support the Matairangi Trail Builders and the great work that they do.

Entries open for the Wainui Enduro

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 06:00:00 GMT

Entries are now open for the Wainui Enduro, which will be held on the 15th of April. Wainui is one of those trail areas that just works whether it's dry or wet (and let's be honest, it's not been the driest summer so far). We've got a great selection of trails on offer, including hopefully a few options that you haven't seen before.

Entries are available now at the Welly MTB Club events page.

2023 Alex Chronis Memorial Award

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 09:00:00 GMT

This weekend at the #waimapihienduro we also had the first presentation of the Alex Chronis memorial award.

If we could describe Alex Chronis (or Wombat as he was known by many) in one word it would be impossible. He was an amazing man with as many talents as he had passions, he wore an infectious smile, and always had a good yarn to share that would either leave you laughing or truly amazed. He was a humble person with an honest passion for helping anyone who needed a hand and touched the lives of all the people who knew him. As a Junior National Champion in both XC and DH heralding from Island Bay this prize is support the next outstanding local rider.

He passed away a year ago, and with the support of Giro and Worrall's we were honoured to have a lasting memorial of Wombat and what he meant to all of us. The award will be presented at the Waimapihi enduro each year for the most outstanding junior.

This years recipient is Noah McLaughlin, who received a Giro Insurgent helmet. We were stoked that Alex‘s family was able to make it along to the presentation.

The award will be presented each year to the most outstanding junior competitor.

#enduro #wellytracks #alexchronismemorial

Waimapihi Enduro recap and results

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 08:11:41 GMT

Thanks to everyone for coming out to the 2023 MyRide Waimapihi Enduro on Saturday. We had great weather, great trails, and some awesome smiles at the bottom of the hill.

At the end of the day, our Queen and King of the hill were Khulan Tumen and Bryn Dickerson, with the fastest overall male and female times.

There's plenty of photos arriving on the gram, so if you've still got some to post, make sure to tag @wellymtb and #waimapihienduro #wes2023

Results for both the hard and intermediate courses are live now. The hard course can be found here and the intermediate course can be found here.

We've also updated the Wellington Enduro Series overall standings, which can be found here.

Once again, a massive thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting the event, and a big cheers to our on-the-day volunteers, the Wellington City Council and the event sponsors MyRide Wellington, Garage Project, Giro, SRAM, Charge and Riven Rock MTB Park. We couldn't do it without you all!

Wellington Enduro Series standings updated

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 04:00:00 GMT

The standings for the overall 2023 Wellington Enduro Series have been updated following the Waimapihi Enduro, and can be found on the club's WebScorer page.

Results are close across the board, and with 3 rounds left to earn more points, there's plenty of opportunities to snatch that win.

We're looking for volunteers for the Waimapihi Enduro

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 06:00:00 GMT

The Waimapihi Enduro is happening on the 25th of March, and we're looking for a few good souls to help with marshaling on the day. You'll get a great packed lunch, post-race refreshments, all the hi-vis vest that you can handle,

If you're able to help, please email us at president@wmtbc.org.nz , and we'll get some details out to you.

Alex Chronis Memorial Award

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 04:00:00 GMT

Alex Chronis (or Wombat, as he was better known) was a Wellington mountain biker, long-time bike industry stalwart, and fantastically talented rider. As a junior, he held both the junior DH and XC national champion titles. And he was passionate about helping people - there's a story of him taking a sales rep from a competing bike distributor on his rounds to bike shops when the sales rep's car was broken down

Alex passed away in his sleep last year, and we've been working with a community of his workmates and friends to establish a lasting memorial of his life.

We're proud to announce the Alex Chronis Memorial Prize, which will be awarded to an outstanding junior racer at the Waimapihi Enduro each year. The prize will be available to all Under-19 and younger riders in the hard course, and will have a Giro Insurgent helmet (valued at $699) as a prize. We're really thankful to Giro for their support in this award.

Course announced for Waimapihi Enduro

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 21:00:00 GMT

Course Announced for Waimapihi Enduro

We're pleased to announce the course for the Waimapihi Enduro, which is held in Aro Valley on the 25th of March. This year we'll be keeping things small(er), but still perfectly formed.

The hard (longer) course will include:

Barking Emu into just enough of Carparts Extension to be fun

Carparts

Ikigai and Serendipity

The Rollercoaster

One final addition to be announced on the day

The intermediate (short) course will include:

Barking Emu into just enough of Carparts Extension to be fun

Carparts

Ikigai and Serendipity

The team from Brooklyn Trail Builders have been busy getting the trails into fine fettle, and a team of supergroms led by Harvey and Tom have been giving Rollercoaster a pro-level tune up, so the next week is the perfect time to get out there and find those fast lines on each of the stages.

You can enter the Waimapihi Enduro here. Wellington MTB Club, Trails Wellington, Revolve and Manawatu MTB Club members have a discounted entry of $35. We hope to see you there!

Trails Wellington Vision public launch

Sun, 12 Mar 2023 19:00:00 GMT

On the 27th of March Trails Wellington will be sharing its vision for trails across Wellington. They'll have some refreshments, including a BBQ, and the Welly MTB Club will be running a ride around some of the best trails that the Matairangi Trail Builders have been working on all over Mt Victoria.

The ride will start at the playground at the top of Pirie Street at 3:30pm, and the Vision Launch event will happen at the Victoria Bowling Club (also at the top of Pirie Street) from 5pm.

You can register for the launch here (it'll help Trails Wellington know how many beers and sausages to get)

Entries open for the 2023 Waimapihi Enduro

Sun, 12 Mar 2023 06:43:17 GMT

The Waimapihi Enduro is back for 2023, supported by our friends at MyRide and Garage Project.

This year we'll be keeping it local, with all of the race stages on the Waimapihi side of the hill, including a couple of trails that we've not raced before, some classics, and a carefully selected length of Carparts extension.

As with all our events, proceeds from the event will be donated to Brooklyn Trail Builders to support trail building at the top of the hill.

Entries are available now at the Welly MTB Club website, and keep an eye out on the event Facebook page for more information.

Karitane jumps shaping up nicely

Sat, 11 Mar 2023 07:00:00 GMT

Mike Evans has been doing a bunch of good work over the past few months building a team to keep the Karitane Jumps (above the zoo in Newtown) in tip-top shape.

The set is looking fantastic, giving a great place to gain some skills and get more comfortable in the air.

There are regular digs most weekends, so keep an eye out on the Karitane Dirt Digs Facebook group for more detail. And if you haven't checked out the zone, head over for a wee spin. You can access the jumps off the top of Truby King Park (at the top of Manchester Terrace in Newtown), or by riding up the 4WD track at the top of the path at the southern end of Coromandel Street.

Kevin Blair Memorial Enduro results

Sat, 11 Mar 2023 05:00:00 GMT

A bit of overnight rain made the trails at Tunnel Gully a wee bit spicy, but it was always the entertaining side of slippery (well, mostly), and the sunny warm day was appreciated

As always, the crew from NtrailZ put on a great show, with plenty of spot prizes from supporters Angry Bear and the Cycle Centre. Also, massive thanks to the Greater Wellington Regional Council (the Tunnel Gully MTB Trails are on council land) and all the volunteers who turned out on the day.

Results are posted up now, with the hard course (which qualify for Wellington Enduro Series Points) available here, and the intermediate course available here

Revolve Super-V results posted

Sat, 04 Mar 2023 09:22:29 GMT

The damp weather this morning didn't put off the 55 participants at the Revolve Super V this morning, with 3 hours of shuttled practice down Car Parts, Ikigai and Serendipity, plus a jump jam on the newly upgraded Roller Coaster followed by a timed run down the trails.

Khulan Tumen was fastest on the day, followed by Iley Nunns and Kiera Vlaar (showing some of the experience they've had after a summer of DH racing is paying off).

Results can be found at the Welly MTB Club's Webscorer page.

BTB upgrades Rollercoaster

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 01:52:11 GMT

Over the past few months, a dedicated group of locals has been doing some serious updates to the RollerCoaster track (running from the top of Ikigai down to the northern end of Highbury Fling.
We continue to be impressed with the eye for detail and quality of finishing the young BTBers (led by Harvey and Tom) are producing. There’s heaps more to do but the focus is on a nice finish before moving to the next bit.

Have a look at the changes before you commit, and check out some of the goodness below!

Revolve Super-V happening this Saturday

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 01:34:31 GMT

Revolve Super V is back again!

We're never ones to curse things but... events do seem to be well and truly back up and running, and so with that comes the return of our Super V race! Super V is our one-of-a-kind, women-only downhill race. This year we're returning to Waimapihi (Polhill) on March 4!

Super V is a fun race event that includes unlimited practice runs (with shuttle rides up!) from 10am - 1pm, and one timed race run at 2pm. There will be a great base camp to hang out at and dozens of like-minded women to meet and ride with. The race is open to women and girls of all abilities. Enjoy our shuttles all morning to the Brooklyn wind turbine car park, then ride down Car Parts, Ikigai and, to finish, either Serendipity (Grade 4) OR bottom Transient (Grade 3).

Registrations are now live at the Revolve Cycling website

We cannot wait to bring this awesome event back to our community, hope to see you there!

Kevin Blair Memorial Enduro entries open!

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 01:29:19 GMT

Entries are now open for the 2023 Kevin Blair Memorial Enduro, which will be held at Tunnel Gully on the 11th of March. Wellington MTB Club, PNP, Revolve, Manawatu MTB Club and Wairarapa MTB Club members all have discounted entries available, and there is a general entry if you're not a member.
You can sign up and get more detail here.

BAMBAduro Recap

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 01:30:14 GMT

What a day!

Thanks to everyone that came out today to the 2023 BAMBAduro. We had some great racing on trails that delivered on our optimistic hopes that they would dry after the deluge of the past week.

It was so good to see so many smiles at the bottom of the hill (and the queue for the sausages and cakes). Your entry fees will go towards BAMBA making more great trails.

Results

The results for the event have been tabulated, and loaded up at WebScorer. We've split the results into the hard course (which will be used for the 2023 Wellington Enduro Series points) and intermediate course.

For each course, the stages are displayed as laps, with the following order:

Lap 1 - Bull Run

Lap 2 - Electric Avenue into Wētā

Lap 3 - Borderline

Lap 4 - Off Camber Daze (OCD) (hard course only)

The hard course can be found here, and the intermediate course here.

If you've got any questions with the results, please let me know.

Race photos

We had several people with cameras out on course, and photos will be posted to the BAMBA Facebook page over the coming days. Keep an eye out for more drops for some bangers to jam your gram with.

...and coming up next

Today was the second round in the Wellington Enduro Series, and we've got a great summer of racing planned. Sunday the 26th will see the Arapuke Enduro (hosted by the Manawatu Mountain Bike Club) - entries are available online here.

And Revolve are running the 2023 Revolve Super V in Waimapihi Reserve on the 4th of March. It's a shuttled day (from the wind turbine down to the bottom of Serendipity in Aro Valley), with a timed run to finish the day off.

We hope to see you soon!

Not a member? It's cheaper for members...

The Wellington Mountain Bike Club runs our membership through Trails Wellington. If you're a TW member, you'll automatically get membership to the Welly MTB Club. If you've already joined, cheers!

Membership helps mountain biking in the city - Trails Wellington has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into trail development and maintenance over the past two years, and the more members we've got, the more effective our communication with council and land owners.

And your membership will pay for itself after two races - members get significant discounts to Wellington MTB Club events (and events hosted by the clubs in the region that we are affiliated with). You can join at the Trails Wellington website (or through the Trails Wellington app on the Apple app store and the Google Play store).

Erice Van Leuven off to the World Cup

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 01:35:41 GMT

Erice off to the World Cup

The massive news just over a week ago was that long-time club member Erice Van Leuven has been picked up by the Commencal Les Orres team, and will be racing the DH World Cup series (plus a few World Enduro racess, the odd european DH and others as her schedule fits).

Erice has been a ripper on the local trails around Wellington ever since she first turned up at the Wainui Enduro on a 16" wheeled kids bike and raced the hard course, and Commencal supporting her is a testament to her speed, skill, and great attitude, and it's amazing that she's got an opportunity to show how far she can go.

The team launch video can be found on YouTube here.

Queen Liz Commiserduro recap

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 01:32:27 GMT

Queen Liz Commiserduro recap

Aidan and Tom, our longstanding organisers of our annual comedy-titled Mākara Peak Enduro, cracked it out of the park on the 28th of January with the Queen Liz Commiserduro. We had nearly 250 entries, and 228 starters on the day (making it our largest event ever).

It's fair to say that the weather didn't entirely play ball, with the beautiful sunshine earlier in the week turning to a howling southerly and rain at the top of the hill.

There was some great racing, with Pohatu and Leaping Lizard being a personal favourite for me. Results are up - Heir and Spare (hard) course and Just the Corgies (easy) course.

As always, the Welly MTB Club loves to support the areas we race, and we're beyond stoked to announce that the contribution given to Makara Peak Supporters from this event was $6500. We love the work that the supports do building new trails, keeping existing trails running mint, and most importantly planting trees to make it such a good place to ride, and the contribution you make from racing our events really helps.

The event was strongly supported, with Parrotdog, Mud Cycles, Marleen, Ground Effect, Hell Pizza and One Fat Bird all providing an excellent pile of swag for everyone.

And finally massive shout-out to all the volunteers that helped on the day, and a resounding "thanks for the memories" to Tom and Aidan, who are stepping back after 9 years at the helm of this event. It's been a blast.

Enduro Loves Summer

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 23:51:02 GMT

Dusty Trails (at last)

Welcome to summer! It finally feels like the weather has joined the programme, and summer is here with a vengeance. The trails are dusty, and we're just about to kick into the 2023 Wellington Enduro Series. Our first event is running this weekend, and if you've been on the fence (or on holiday elsewhere), there are still a few entries available.

We've also got entries open for the second round of the season - the BAMBAduro. And finally, the Capital Enduro is coming to Mākara Peak on the 11th and 12th of February, and is looking for volunteers to help out. More details below

All events run by the Wellington MTB Club are fund raisers for the areas we race in. The club keeps $5 from each entry, and after costs all the remaining proceeds go to the trail areas. This means that there's between two and five grand going to volunteer trail groups to maintain and build more of the trails we love. So come out and enjoy a great day on the trails, grab a sausage afterwards, and bank some of that lovely karma. See you on the trails!

Queen Liz Commiserduro

The first round in the 2023 Wellington Enduro Series is on at Mākara Peak this weekend. We've got a great course for both hard and easy course, and with the newly opened upper Pōhatu section, there will be some great racing.

The course has just been announced, and it'll be a blast on a heap of new and old-school tracks.

If you want to enter, we've got a few spaces available at the Welly MTB Club website. If you've already entered, and want to change the course you're racing, drop us an email at president@wmtbc.org.nz and we'll sort you out.

See you Saturday morning!

BAMBAduro

The team at BAMBA have been hard at work upgrading the Wētā trail (and keeping the grass under control) in anticipation of the 2023 edition of the BAMBAduro, which will be held on the 19th of February. Entries are available now at the Welly MTB Club Website, with the usual discount for club/Trails Wellington members.

And with a February date, there's a 37% greater change that we'll miss the semi-regular super-slick trails. In any case, the sausages and coke afterwards will be the perfect compliment for the "I would have been faster if..." banter. We hope to see you there.

Capital Enduro Seeking Volunteers

The Capital Enduro is coming to town on the 11th and 12th of February. It's going to be a great weekend of racing, and we'll be showing some of our best trails in Karori to racers from all over the country. The organisers hope to build this into a Enduro World Cup event, so look to see a lot more here.

Intrinsic events who are organising the race are looking for volunteers to help on the day (there's an easy race on the Saturday, and Hard on the Sunday). If you're available, or you've always wanted to see the country's fastest racers on the trails that you ride, this is your chance. Volunteers will receive a merch kit from one of the sponsors, a good packed lunch, and refreshments on return to the race village. If you're able to help, please pop your details into the volunteer registration form, and the organisers will be back in contact.

Trails Wellington ❤️ Wellington MTB Club

Fri, 18 Jun 2021 10:53:29 GMT

Hi everyone. Many of you will have seen or heard about the launch of Trails Wellington a couple of weeks back, and might have questions about what it means for the Club and the things we do.

If you’re late for a ride and don’t have time to read everything, the TL;DR is the Wellington MTB Club is partnering with Trails Wellington. Our memberships will be run through Trails Wellington, who will also provide trail funding for projects across the city. Together, we’ll all make epic trails for Wellington. Now get going – the rain will only hold off for so long, and you can read the rest when you get back.

The Wellington MTB Club is stoked to have Trails Wellington as a partner, and have been really pleased with the work funded by Trails Wellington so far, including the rebuild of Jailbrake in Miramar and Serendipity in Waimapihi/Polhill and the work underway now on North Face in Mākara Peak and Hippy’s/Super D on Mount Victoria. We’re also working with Trails Wellington on a bunch of other stuff, including the much-needed growth in tech trails around the city.

Trails Wellington has a vision of creating epic Wellington trails. Trails Wellington is a registered trust, and will fund trail development in Wellington City (with plans to expand across the Wellington region). It aims to bring together a strong voice for mountain bikers across Wellington with Council and land owners, reflecting the huge number of people who live in the Wellington region and love riding its trail network.

Land owners such as councils listen to collective voices, and the larger our collective, the more we’ll be listened to. Trails Wellington is about giving mountain bikers a clear voice, advocating for trails and trail access. It’s through this voice that we’ll gain approval for great new trails, and continue improvements to the existing trail network.

During the past 20 years, the Wellington MTB Club has built trails all around the city, managed hundreds of predator traps, and planted over 50,000 trees, timed thousands of runs at our events, raised and donated more than $100,000 to trail areas, and grown to represent you and 599 other members. Imagine what we could do if there were 3000 of us? We think that the Club partnering with Trails Wellington will be great for the trails, and that it’ll be great for you too.

So how will the club and Trails Wellington work together?

We’ve delegated responsibility for a membership front-door and trails funding to Trails Wellington. On the former, you might have seen the recently launched app . The app is where you manage your membership. By joining Trails Wellington for just $30 per annum, you’ll automatically be joined to the Wellington MTB Club, and be added as a Mākara Peak Supporter. This will mean you get all the benefits of Club membership (discounted entry to events, CyclingNZ affiliation if you want to race nationally, and plenty of karma for supporting trails).

In addition, the Trails Wellington app has a great bunch of deals for members that will give you discounts at supporting retailers across Wellington, including stuff for your bike, care for your body, and beer for your belly. And you’ll know the money from membership will go toward building great new trails across Wellington.

Will the Wellington Mountain Bike Club continue?

Definitely. Our core mission is to grow the sport of mountain biking, to advocate for and build great trails to ride, and to provide you all with great experiences. We’ll continue doing all of these.

We’re still involved with trail development via the Miramar Track Project, Mt Vic Trails Mystic Portal and Brooklyn Trail Builders. We’re still going to run our enduro series, DH races, first aid and other events for you all. We’ll still be donating the proceeds of our races to the trails we use for these events. There’s a lot of work to be done, and it’s great to have Trails Wellington joining the team.

How will the club be represented at Trails Wellington?

Trails Wellington will have a minimum of two trustees appointed from the Wellington MTB Club. We’re elbows-deep in collaborating with Trails Wellington on trail upgrades in the areas we look after and plans for new trails around the city. Trails Wellington will also have a representative who attends Club committee meetings.

So how will it all work?

If you’re not a current member of the Wellington MTB Club - download the Trails Wellington app from the Apple App or Google Play Stores, create an account, pay for your membership (you can include a donation at the same time if you wish), and you’ll be underway. You’ll receive a follow-up email from the Wellington MTB Club with details on setting a password in our system.
If you’re a current member of the Wellington MTB Club - download the Trails Wellington app from the Apple App or Google Play Stores and create an account. If you want to support trail development further, pay the membership fee. If you want your current WMTBC membership to be transferred, please let us know at president@wmtbc.org.nz, and we’ll sort out getting your Trails Wellington account activated.
Get out there and enjoy riding with your banked karma – the Wellington MTB Club and Trails Wellington have an aligned vision – epic trails in Wellington city, and a strong voice for mountain bikers. Your support will help; welcome to the team.

What if I’ve still got some questions?

We want to hear from you. You'll be able to contribute to the discussion on our Facebook page, or feel free to drop us an email at president@wmtbc.org.nz.

See you on the trails,

Jono Baddiley
Wellington MTB Club President

Wellington MTB Club AGM, Tuesday 3 September, Southern Cross

Wed, 28 Aug 2019 05:57:29 GMT

It’s nearly September, which means that the annual general meeting of the Wellington MTB Club is imminent! We've also got a brief update below on Te Ahumairangi (Tinakori Hill).

Join us: Tuesday 3 September, 6:00-7:30pm at the Southern Cross, Abel Smith St

The AGM will be from 6:30pm at the Southern Cross bar on Abel Smith St. We’ve got the private room out the back booked, and will be providing nibbles throughout the night. We've set aside the first 30mins from 6pm for food, drink, and banter. The formalities themselves will be blessedly brief. We’ll have a report from the Committee on the past year, an end of financial year statement, and election of officers. This is a free event, no registration necessary.

you could make a difference.

This year, Jono Baddiley and Jo Goudie will again be standing for (respectively) President and Secretary, but we welcome other parties to these roles if interested. But after many years of invaluable club support, Karin Mackie will be stepping down as Treasurer, so we’re looking for someone willing to help with club finances.

Could you be our new Treasurer?

We'd love to hear from you if you have any previous experience in a similar role or if professionally, you manage finances in some capacity. We're ideally seeking someone who is experienced with MYOB or similar financial system. A laptop is also provided with this role.

The club runs on the effort of our volunteers, and the committee is central to much of this. We’ve got openings for people that are able to help in the following non-executive roles.

Event Coordinators

We run a number of events throughout the season, generally between January and May. The committee provides good support for these events so that no one person needs to take the event on by themselves. But, one person generally does need to take the lead coordinating role.

We're seeking individuals who would like to have more of a hand in coordinating events in the 2019/20 season. It's super rewarding and due to the resources and experience behind the committee, it's more straight forward than you may think. You need to be reasonably mature and very organised. Previous planning experience is preferable but not essential.

Community Manager

The Club maintains a number of relationships with local community groups and businesses. Communication with these organisations is important to add value for our members, ensure the organisations are well represented in our activities, and to identify new opportunities for collaboration e.g. events and work parties. We're looking for someone to act as a liaison between the committee and these organisations. As a representative for the Club, a degree of professionalism is required in addition to good communications skills.

Social Media Manager

Our Facebook, Instagram and email channels are important ways that we connect with club members and the wider MTB community. After many years helping with this role, Aidan is stepping down to become a part time architect, and we’re looking for someone able to help with newsletters, photographs from our events, and generally being "down with the kids".

We'll be asking for nominations (including self-nominations) for these roles at the AGM. However, feel free to drop us an email if you'd like to get in early or if you have any questions. Email: secretary@wmtbc.org.nz

Te Ahumairangi update aka Snail update

By now you’ve probably seen a story, or the extensive discussion on Facebook about an unauthorised trail that was built on Te Ahumairangi (Tinakori Hill), endangering a rare snail habitat. If you haven’t, this story on Radio NZ provides a reasonable summary.

The club recently organised a planting day up on the hill to put in 200 seedlings where the unauthorised trail had been built. This isn’t something that we do lightly – we’ve been advocating for greater MTB access to Te Ahumairangi for the past 5 years, and opening up access, not closing it down is our goal.

Unauthorised trail building puts our discussions with the Wellington City Council and other land managers back significantly. In this case, it has put those discussions back to a degree that brought national media coverage.

Trails such as this one jeopardise trail access all across the city, not just on Te Ahumairangi. Right now, we’re lobbying for grade 5 trails on Johnston’s Hill, and a long loop in Te Kopahau, so we have to maintain a long term view.

Getting new trails built takes a long time – often we spend longer asking and negotiating for access than we spend building the trail, but the effort is worth it. All we ask is that if there’s a trail that you would really like to build, or features or changes that you want added to a trail, please come and talk to us first.

See you all Tuesday at the Southern Cross.

Thousands of trees to be planted in Polhill Reserve this Winter

Fri, 26 Apr 2019 23:49:23 GMT

Starting soon, volunteer teams led by the Brooklyn Trail Builders will begin Winter planting in the Polhill Reserve, and over 3,000 new trees are expected in the ground before the end of the season.

There will be a concerted focus on planting a diverse range of trees alongside the new downhill track (working name ‘Ikigai’). In addition to protecting the track from the weather and stabilising its banks, this planting will provide nourishment for the local bird life and support the Trail Builders' mission of replenishing Polhill's original forest.

There are also several other sites around Polhill that volunteer groups will be focusing on, such as Brooklyn Primary School who will be continuing their great work planting around the top of Sawmill track.

This Winter will see a big push to return 450 more nikau palms into Polhill’s many gullies. An additional benefit of the new downhill track is that it provides good access to many new locations for these nikau groves. While the palms will be initially quite small, your grandkids will enjoy watching them grow much larger.

Keen to help?

New volunteers are always welcome to help. Many hands makes light work, and planting new trees is a very rewarding experience. Keep an eye on Brooklyn Trail Builders Facebook page for information about planting bees.

Brooklyn Trail Builders update - June 2018

Fri, 01 Jun 2018 02:13:29 GMT

Spuds is open for business, and work continues...

Work continues on the new descending mountain bike priority trail in Polhill, tentatively named Spuds (www.trailforks.com/trails/spuds).

The first section which connects Sanctuary Fenceline and Highbury Fling is open now for your enjoyment. Tweaks are continually being made to the flow and alignment, so keep an eye out for people and equipment on the trail.

Work on the next section has commenced below Transient, and will steadily make its way toward Serendipity over the Winter months.

A reminder that there are usually organised digs on a Wednesday 12.30 to 1.30pm and on Sundays 2pm to 4pm (with a BBQ and Garage Project beer incentive at the end!). Keep an eye on the BTB Facebook page for updates.

Sincere thanks to all volunteers and supporters for getting us this far!

vision for an iconic new loop

As part of the consultation process for Wellington City Council’s 10-year-plan, BTB presented its vision for the future: an iconic 42km loop between Aro Street and the South Coast, via Te Kopahou Reserve and Spooky Gully.

This will be a long process. But rest assured, we'll keep you abreast of developments as they come to hand.

winter tree planting in polhill

Planning is well underway for Winter tree planting in Polhill. There’s the annual tree planting with students from Brooklyn Primary School in June, but the main focus is at the Hoki Mai site, just below the Highbury Fling track.

An access route is going in over the next month, and volunteers will plant in the 2,000+ trees through July and August. Keep an eye on the BTB Facebook page for information on planting bees.

BTB has also bought 200 Rimu trees to be planted in Polhill Reserve during the next four years -– adding to the area’s biodiversity. The plants are currently growing in the ideal conditions of a shade house at the City Council's nursery.

Appreciative shout outs to:

Wellington City Council for both the Rimu tree project and providing a grant for retaining materials for the Hoki Mai access route
Mitre 10 Crofton Downs who’ve been very generous with discounts and helpful arrangements for the Hoki Mai site

Cheers,

Brooklyn Trail Builders

Rounding up the month’s racing, upcoming events + Club member discounts

Wed, 11 Apr 2018 03:12:30 GMT

It’s been an action-packed month.

On the events front, it all began with the Dirt Merchants Polhill Enduro on April 1st. Wellington turned it on, and we were all treated to stunning day racing in the Capital. This past weekend kicked off in Miramar with the third Red Bull Pump Track World Champs Qualifier event, and unlike the previous weekend, Wellington reminded us why it's known as the Windy City. And on Sunday, a record number of riders turned out to race Makara Peak for the Kim Jong Un-duro.

More on each of these below, and information about upcoming Wellington Enduro Series races seven and eight. We’ve also got information about discounts that Wellington MTB Club members can grab around the city and abroad. And to cap it off, some entertainment reminding us #WhyWellington is where it’s at.

Dirt Merchants Polhill Enduro

Photo: Dan Sharpe

The annual Dirt Merchants Polhill Enduro has become a staple on the Wellington calendar. This year, over 150 riders turned out to race on closed public trails - a rare extravagance. Thanks to everyone that came out, including a good contingent from the Manawatu, and to our sponsors and volunteers for their continued support.

Check results here.

Red Bull Pump Track World Champs Qualifier

The Red Bull Pump Track tour visits cities all over the world, with winners at each venue scooping up a trip to Switzerland in September for the World Finals. Much to the excitement of local riders, the Velosolutions pump track in Miramar was selected as the venue for the New Zealand qualifier. The competition was hot, and spectators were treated to a show - the first of its kind in Wellington.

Congratulations to Billy Meaclem of Christchurch, and Shanaia Rawson of Tauranga - each off to the big event in Switzerland.

Shout out to Sydney Wainwright capturing the action.

Kim Jong Un-duro

Photo: Lisa Ng

Now in its fourth year, the satirical Makara Enduro last weekend hit a new peak (pun intended) with close to 200 riders pre-entering for the event, and raising close to $4,000 for the mountain bike park. But not before we had to overcome the tyranny of PayPal - read more on Chainslap.

Check results here.

Revolve Super V

Coming up on ANZAC Day, Wednesday 25th April - Revolve Cycling host their annual Super V in the Polhill Reserve, also the penultimate Wellington Enduro Series race.

As with the Dirt Merchants Enduro, this is rare opportunity to race on closed trails, normally shared with public. Competitors will also enjoy shuttles to the top for as many practice runs as possible, before a single timed run to Aro St.

For more information and online registration, head to Revolve.

Revolve are also seeking feedback on their membership structure, and would appreciate five minutes of your time to complete a short survey. If you're keen to help keep the Revolve movement alive and growing, take the survey here.

Wainui Enduro

The final race in the 2018 Wellington Enduro Series will take place next month in Wainuiomata. The competition in some Series categories is running down to the wire, and could be decided on this race. Keep a close eye on Facebook and Instagram for an announcement shortly.

Club Member Discounts

Local businesses play an important role in our community. They keep our bikes running when they’re run-down, keep us appropriately clothed when it’s cold, and provide us with a range of other important services to make sure we all get the most out of the time we have on our bikes. Please show your support.

Cactus Outdoor, 241 Thorndon Quay

At Cactus Outdoor, WMTBC Club Members now qualify for Cactus Pro-team Pricing. In-store, simply mention that you’re a WMTBC Member. Alternatively, shop for Cactus Clothing online, and simply email or phone to confirm your WMTBC Club Membership.

Follow Cactus Outdoor: Instagram / Facebook

Burkes Cycles, 16 Coutts St

The team at Burkes Cycles have come on board with a generous offer for our members. Visit them in store for 10% off all non-sale product and bikes. Simply provide your name and email to confirm your Club Membership at the counter. Excludes labour, applies in-store only.

Follow Burkes Cycles: Instagram / Facebook

Capital Cycles, 84 Dixon St

To show their appreciation for your contribution - the friendly team at Capital Cycles offer 10% off parts and accessories for Club Members in store. At the counter, simply provide your name and email to confirm your Club Membership. Applies to non-sale items only, excludes labour and bikes.

Follow Capital Cycles: Instagram / Facebook

Kahuts Shuttes, Arapuke MTB Park

A short two hour drive from Wellington lies the Arapuke Trails Mountain Bike Park. The expansive Arapuke network boasts 30 km of trails from beginner Grade 2, through to expert Grade 6. With thanks to Kahuts Shuttles - Wellington Mountain Bike Club members can now enjoy discounted shuttling in the park.

Pricing:

5 pass / $25 (save $5)
10 pass / $50 (save $5)
20 pass / $90 (save $10)
40 pass / $150 (save $10)

Hours:

Sat & Sun 9.30am-4.30pm
New schedule from Sat 28th April - Sat 1.30pm-5.30pm, Sun 9.30am-4.30pm

For bookings and more information head to Kahuts Shuttles.

Bryn Dickerson shows us what’s on offer in Porirua

Follow: Bryn Dickerson / Joram Adams

On the road with HighLow racing

Follow: HighLow Corp / Jacob O'Donoghue-Price

Red Bull Pump Track World Champs Qualifier this Saturday

Thu, 05 Apr 2018 03:35:58 GMT

Pump up the volume! The party comes to town this Saturday with the third Red Bull Pump Track World Champs qualifier event.

The stage is Miramar Track Project (map) and if you don’t know what to expect - take our word for it - this is not an event to be missed. But if you still need some convincing, check out the official video for the first qualifier event which went down last weekend in Bali.

Registrations are open now at Red Bull but keep in mind there are a few criteria: minimum 20” wheel size, flat pedals only, and you must be at least 16 years old on the day of the event.

For more information head over to the Facebook event page.

Pump Track Drop In Session - Friday 6th, 5pm

JoyRide are hosting a session for anyone keen on figuring this pump thing out in advance of the day. If you’re interested in attending this free session, register your interest here.

We’d like to extend huge thanks to Velo Solutions NZ, Burkes Cycles, Wellington City Council, JoyRide, and the team at Miramar Track Project.

Get ready - April’s all about racing!

Wed, 21 Mar 2018 04:17:49 GMT

Wellington's the place to be this April. We’ve got racing lined up throughout the month, including a qualifier event for the Red Bull Pump Track World Champs, and three opportunities to score Wellington Enduro Series points.

Sun 1st April: Dirt Merchants Polhill Enduro, Polhill Reserve

The Polhill Enduro is back for 2018, raising funds for new trail development and maintenance in the Polhill Reserve. We've got 4 excellent stages (or 2 if you're wanting an easier option), a shuttle to the top of the biggest stage, and the title of King and Queen of Polhill on the line.

Thanks to Garage Project, Santa Cruz, ODI, Fox Racing Shox, and WORD.

Sat 7th April: Red Bull Pump Track World Champs - NZ Qualifier, Miramar

Hold the phone! We're hosting the New Zealand Qualification Round of the Red Bull Pump Track World Championships!

Thanks to Burkes Cycles, Placemakers Evans Bay, and Joyride.

Sun 8th April: Kim Jong Un-duro, Makara Peak

Citizens of New Zealand - your venerable Supreme Leaders request your participation in the annual Kim Jong Un-duro.

Mass start at Mud Cycles before setting off on the Easy Course (two stages on beginner and intermediate trails) or Hard Course (three stages on hard and expert trails) and completing your stages in any order.

Keep an eye on the Facebook event page for information on how to win one of four Maxxis and Raceface prize packs.

Thanks to Mud Cycles, Marleen Wholesalers, Garage Project, One Fat Bird, Chainslap, Egmont Seed Company, and Makara Peak Supporters.

Wed 25th April: Revolve Super V, Polhill Reserve

The annual Revolve Super V returns for 2018. Fun for women of all levels - you'll enjoy unlimited practice runs (with shuttle rides up the hill!) and there are heaps of prizes to run away with.

Keep an eye on Revolve Cycling for more details.

2018 Wellington Enduro Series

There are three opportunities to score Wellington Enduro Series points in April: Dirt Merchants Polhill Enduro, Kim Jong Un-duro, and Revolve Super V. The Wainui Enduro (to be announced soon) is the final series race, and your last chance to get points on the board.

For more information and provisional standings visit Wellington Enduro Series.

WMTBC update - AGM, Enduro Series, Community Awards and more...

Mon, 31 Jul 2017 08:52:22 GMT

With the exception of being injured, no time of the year is harder for mountain bikers than winter. Unless you have the good fortune of a holiday in the northern hemisphere, there is little reprieve from numb toes, and muddy socks. We soldier on, but deep down, we’re counting the days until September 1st. That’s 30, by the way. Tick tock...

With all the rain recently, the city’s trails have come through relatively unharmed. Cheers to all the hard working trail pixies out there every weekend in the cold, doing remedial work and cleaning up. Unfortunately there has been one notable casualty, Mystic Portal. But there’s a silver lining. More on that, and other news below.

WMTBC AGM - Weds 2nd Aug, 6pm, Southern Cross

Once a year, we like to get together somewhere fun, and reflect on the past 12 months. We also take this opportunity to acknowledge our hardest working volunteers, and appoint new roles on the committee.

More information and registration here.

You’re all welcome! In fact, we encourage you to come along and get amongst the conversation. Even better, if you would like to get more involved in Wellington events and trails, there’s a spot for you on the committee.

Keep an eye on the Facebook page for more info. But mark on your calendar Wednesday 2nd August 6pm, Southern Cross, 39 Abel Smith St. If you are under 18, you must have a parent or guardian with you (it’s a licensed venue).

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2017 Wellington Enduro Series

This year’s Wellington Enduro Series was a banger. Thanks to everyone that participated in the 6 race series. Full Series results can be found here.

Numbers were up across all races and the level of racing was notably higher than previous years. This also contributed to all-time high WMTBC Membership numbers, which goes straight back into making Wellington mountain biking great, through investment in new and existing trails, and new equipment like the new SPORTident timing system we’ve been running successfully all season.

It was excellent to see really strong participation in all categories including the Juniors and Women. We’re striving to create inclusive events for you all to push yourselves, and most importantly, have a rad time.

Thanks to everyone that’s given us feedback on the Series. We have taken a lot of this on board. And a massive thanks also to all the volunteers (organisers, marshals, drivers) that make these events possible.

The 2018 Series kicks off with Mt Crawford on Wellington Anniversary Day, January 22nd, followed by Mt Victoria in early February.

Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards 2017 Finalist

A wee while back, we received an email from Wellington Airport, notifying us of our nomination for a Regional Community Award. This award “recognises the valuable contribution of volunteers to community groups across the Wellington Region”.

The reward for all our hard working volunteers and regular contributors is the satisfaction of a trail project complete, and smiles on faces at a successful event. But this nomination is recognition of teamwork in our community, and its contribution to Wellington City.

The Community Awards ceremony is on August 10 at which point we’ll know how the Club got on. Keep an eye on Facebook.

DHNZ Downhill Series coming to Wellington!

For the first time since the closure of Long Gully in 2015, we've got a round of the DHNZ Downhill Series coming to Wellington!

We're more than stoked to be able to share the local scene with riders from all over the North Island (and a few from the South) in a round of what has become New Zealand's premier DH race series.

The Wellington round will be held on the 18th of November, at K-Hole (behind Karori Park). Legend Mike Stirrat is leading the charge, adding a new top section to the track, and shaping it up for the race. And he could use your help.

Keep an eye on Facebook for information about dig days in the near future.

Brooklyn Trail Builders Update - A busy winter

Local contractors recently completed the resurfacing of Transient, and through all the rain we’ve had lately, it is holding up very well. Windmill was also partially graveled, and the BTB crew have put a request in with WCC for more in September. A huge shout out to Wellington Marathon Clinic, who funded $10k for the project, about half the total.

On the new tracks consultation which closed on 3 July, whose aim is to alleviate congestion on Transient. BTB would like to thank everyone who contributed to this. We are told the outcome is positive, but more will be known after a full Council meeting on 17 August, at which point we’ll let you know how they got on.

It’s been a busy, successful winter’s planting for the Brooklyn Trail Builders – Polhill Protectors’ collaboration, with 2,000 trees going in at five main sites, and numerous other places. The annual Brooklyn Primary School planting has transformed the busy intersection of the Sawmill and Fenceline tracks. WCC will soon further enhance this area by removing a section of intruding fence and improving the directional signs.

Other groups that have helped clear and plant areas are the Wellington Runners’ Meetup Group, the Conservation Volunteers, and some local riders and runners celebrating a 50th birthday together. A public planting for BTB and Polhill Protectors’ volunteers successfully infilled the scrubby area at the bottom of Clinical.

Other achievement of note was that the first rimu were planted in Polhill. Rimu were prominent in the original forest of this area and this was the first year this species was available from the WCC nursery. Lots more to come. BTB have purchased a further 200 rimu seedlings to grown on and plant out in about four years.

Mystic Portal update - Temporary closure

The recent foul weather wasn’t nearly as catastrophic for our trails as past weather events. Unfortunately though, a number of trees came down in and around Prince of Wales Park, resulting in the closure of trails in the area, most notably - Mystic Portal.

Jourdan, Eugene and the crew have done incredible work in there, and the Council has really come on board to support further development of the area.

We ask that you please stay clear of the area until the Council have been through, and repairs have been carried out. This work will take several weeks, but word from Council is that it may result in some fresh dirt on site for an alternative line, and to improve the existing line.

Wheels4Life Guatemala Project

This update via one of our members - Davide Yakuza, who spent the last few months fundraising to support kids in the developing world through the Wheels4Life Project. This past week, Davide presented a fleet of bikes to kids in Antigua. Congratulations, mate!

“I would like to massively thank the Welly MTB Community for the support given in the Wheels4Life project. Today I had the huge honour of donating 50 bikes to the EFTC (Education For The Children) school in Antigua to students who have difficulty reaching school. It was stoking to see the smile and the happiness of these kids and guys and how much the teachers and managers of this school were amazed with the donation. And this is all because of you guys!!!”

More information on the Wheels4Life Project here.

Enjoy a WMTBC Member discount at Burkes Cycles, Capital Cycles, and Cactus Outdoor

We’re very lucky here in Wellington, that we have local business who love to support the mountain biking community. Thanks to the following businesses, Wellington MTB Club Members receive discounts in store - the shop’s way of saying thanks for supporting Wellington Mountain Biking.

At Cactus Outdoor, WMTBC Club Members qualify for the Cactus Pro-Team discount. Benefits include trade pricing, preferential repair and alteration services, and access to other special offers from time to time. In-store at 241 Thorndon Quay, simply mention that you’re a WMTBC Member. Alternatively, shop for Cactus Clothing online, and simply email or phone to confirm your WMTBC Club Membership.

The team at Burkes Cycles have just come on board with an offer for our members. Visit them in store at 16 Coutts St, Kilbirnie for 10% off all non-sale product and bikes. Excludes labour, in-store only. At the counter, simply provide your name and email to confirm your Club Membership.

To show their appreciation for your contribution - the team at Capital Cycles (corner Victoria & Dixon Streets) offer 10% off parts and accessories for Club Members in store. Applies to non-sale items only. Excludes labour, and bikes. At the counter, simply provide your name and email to confirm your Club Membership.

Please support Wellington's local retailers

Unsung heros of events – A Photo Story

Dave — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Here's to the unsung hero's who without their selfless contribution, there would be no events for the rest of us to enjoy.

Before the big day, before you look at the weekend's forecast, countless hours are put into each and every little detail by event co-ordinators to ensure everything runs smoothly.

New lines are pondered – then before a spade hits the soil, Trail Managers work with the local council to get approval.

Then the big day arrives and before you've woken from your pre-race nap, the volunteers are on-site, setting up the event village, marking the track and getting briefed to herd cats.

Volunteers are human as well. Coffee is their morning drink of choice.

Track marshals keep a watchful eye over the riders, herd the public away from danger and get help to you when you wreak yourself.
It's often the track marshals who pull all the track tape down and take it off the hill – so be sure to thank them.

Shuttle van drivers get both you and your prize possession to the top of the hill, all well keeping up a good amount of friendly banter.

While you're having a yarn with your mates and drinking a cold one, event co-ordinators are busy collating results and getting everything ready for prize giving.

We like to look after our volunteers, so we love it when sponsors get behind us and offer us freebies to give to the hard working event volunteers.

Your club needs you!

WMTBC always have events on the horizon, so be sure to put your hand up, lend a hand and volunteer at one of our events. After all, there would be no events if it wasn't for the unsung hero's that are our volunteers.

Contact our Secretary to find out how you can help out.

WMTBC Christmas Newsletter

Mon, 12 Dec 2016 09:00:30 GMT

Some of you will understandably be quite pleased to see the back of 2016 as it exits the building. But in those times when it seemed like the world was spinning off its axis, bikes were always there to carry us back to a sense of normality. And with the holidays now less than two weeks away, we’re poised with our finger on the reset button. Roll on 2017!

First up, we put a bow on the 2016 Wellington DH Series, then we’ll give you a glimpse of Enduro events in the new year. We've got some correspondence from MTBNZ regarding National Champs, then we’ll catch you up with some exciting news from the crew working at Maidstone. Finally, we’ve got some ideas for under the Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas! WMTBC

'16 Wellington DH Series

That’s a wrap for the 2016 DH Series. This year’s three race series started, and concluded at Maidstone. The conditions at both races were challenging, with a bit of surface moisture keeping everyone on their toes, and providing no shortage of entertainment for spectators. Karori was the scene for Race 2, and conditions were a contrast to Upper Hutt. This was welcomed by competitors, who got to throw down on the steep, technical track, and brand new sections, in optimal conditions.

U19 Winner Jesse Cseh | Photo: Edward WIlcock/Peakside Media

We were blown away by the level of competition this year. Across all categories, the skills and speed on display were impressive. It’s obvious Wellington is cultivating some serious talent.

Overall: Bryn Dickerson
Hardtail: Matthew Dale
M1: Dan Taylor aka Rasta
M2: Rob Willis
Open Men: Bryn Dickerson
U15: Isaac Martins
U17: Albert Snep
U19: Jesse Cseh
Women: Lisa Ng

Full results

We have a few shout outs. Firstly, a huge thanks to our volunteers. Cheers for taking the time to support these events. They simply would not happen without your contribution. Thanks to Kiwivelo, Mud Cycles, and The Cycle Centre for supporting the events. From day to day, these pillars of the community keep our bikes in top shape, and they’re regular supporters of local racing. And a final thanks also to our Series Sponsor - RED Clothing. We’re extremely grateful to Luca for supporting the series, and we were stoked to see him on track at the events. Please show your appreciation by following RED Clothing on Facebook, and Instagram.

DH National Champs, Cardrona Alpine Park, Feb 25-26

Cycling New Zealand presents the 2017 Mountain Bike National Championships. This is NZ’s premier national mountain bike event, attracting New Zealand’s top Cross Country and Downhill Mountain Bike racers.

The 2017 event will be hosted by Bike Wanaka - Lake Wanaka's Mountain Bike Club, in the beautiful Cardrona Alpine Park. For more information visit: www.mtbnationals.co.nz

And hot off the press - MTBNZ have just announced the selection regulations for 2017 season international competition including Oceania Championships, World Cups, World Championship. They can be viewed here.

The New Year brings more local racing!

We hit the ground running in January, with two events back to back, and your first chance to score Wellington Enduro Series points. On Wellington Anniversary Day, Mon 23rd - we visit Miramar for the annual Mt Crawford Enduro & Kiduro, and on Sun 29th, we return to Mt Victoria for the Yeti NZ Mt Vic Super D & Mini D.

Entries for both events are limited, and open in January. Keep an eye on Facebook.com/WellyMTB, or WMTBC.org.nz for more information.

'17 Wellington Enduro Series

The 2017 Series consists of 6 races, with category winners being decided from their best three results. Points will be allocated based on competitors’ age group results. More details in the lead up to Race 1.

Race 1 - Mt Crawford Enduro & Kiduro, 23 January
Race 2 - Yeti NZ Mt Vic Super D and Mini D, 29 January
Race 3 - Polhill Enduro, 5 March
Race 4 - Revolve Super V, March
Race 5 - Makara Enduro, 18 March
Race 6 - Wainui Enduro, 30 April (TBC)

Keep up to date with MTB events at: www.wmtbc.org.nz/Events-Calendar

Maidstone - New Trail underway

If you’ve been keeping an eye on Facebook, in particular TGL Contracting, you may have noticed some impressive work underway at Maidstone. The new DH line has been built with the help of your Wellington MTB Club membership, and additional funding from the Upper Hutt City Council.

Initial feedback has been really positive on the track's jumps and progression, but there is still a fair bit of work still to complete before we can call it done. You can donate to Maidstone to help us complete the new line here, and by selecting Maidstone DH Track.

Trail Builder Bryn Dickerson testing one of his creations

Need a new pack? Evoc have your back

In the lead up to The Mt Vic Super D (or while stock lasts), Burkes Cycles and Capital Cycles in association with Evoc are offering 20%-50% of Evoc packs.

Head in store and check the range of packs on offer. Whether you're heading into the bush for an overnighter, or planning a full on day in the hills and need to carry provisions, these packs are awesome, and would make a great gift for the mountain biker in your family.

Cheers to Marleen Wholesalers (distributor of Evoc & Maxxis), Capital Cycles, and Burkes Cycles.

Cactus Outdoor WMTBC Member Discount

The team at Cactus Outdoor are New Zealand-based purveyors of quality outdoor clothing, and their kit is about as tough as kit comes.

Thanks to Cactus, all Wellington Mountain Bike Club members now qualify for the Cactus Pro-Team discount. Benefits include trade pricing, preferential repair and alteration services and access to other special offers from time to time.

Next time you’re in store at 241 Thorndon Quay, simply mention that you’re a WMTBC member, and boom – the best kit and a sharp price. Alternatively, shop for Cactus Clothing online, and simply email or phone to confirm your WMTBC Club membership.

Head into Capital Cycles for a Club Member Discount

We’re stoked when local businesses show support for our community. There's always a lot of work to do so we could use all the help we can get. The Club is a volunteer led organisation, so your membership goes a long way. It buys materials and equipment for projects like Polhill, Miramar, and Maidstone to name a few, and helps drive events like the Wellington DH and Enduro Series.

To show their appreciation for your contribution - Capital Cycles have very kindly offered to put up a Club Member discount in store. See the team at Capital Cycles for a 10% off discount on parts and accessories.

Applies to non-sale items only. Excludes labour, and bikes. At the counter, simply provide your name and email to confirm your Club Membership.

TrailFund NZ Rider Survey

Would you like to see better trails around the country, greater access given to mountain bikers on existing trails? Please take 10 minutes to fill out the TrailFund Rider Survey 2016.

It's for all mountain bikers, and it is very helpful to Trail Fund NZ, and other organisations (including DoC and local councils) who work in developing mountain biking and the necessary infrastructure.

Cactus Outdoor WMTBC Member Discount

Sat, 12 Nov 2016 06:05:23 GMT

The team at Cactus Outdoor are an avid bunch of mountain bikers. We have that in common. And much to our excitement, they recently opened a store at 241 Thorndon Quay.

If you’ve not come across Cactus Clothing before, check them out here. Cactus are New Zealand-based purveyors of quality outdoor clothing, and their kit is about as tough as kit comes.

Cactus also love to support the mountain bike community, which led them to contact the us recently with a very generous offer for our members.

All Wellington Mountain Bike Club members now qualify for the Cactus Pro-Team discount. Benefits include trade pricing, preferential repair and alteration services and access to other special offers from time to time.

More info on the Pro-Team Discount here.

Next time you’re in store, simply mention that you’re a WMTBC member, and boom – the best kit and a sharp price. Alternatively, shop for Cactus Clothing online, and simply email or phone to confirm your WMTBC Club membership.

Big thanks to Cactus Outdoor - an iconic, tough, Kiwi made brand.

Cactus Outdoor | 241 Thorndon Quay | Web: cactusoutdoor.co.nz | Facebook: CactusEquipment | Instagram: cactusoutdoor

Head into Capital Cycles for a Club Member discount

Fri, 11 Nov 2016 22:42:17 GMT

We’re stoked when local businesses show support for our community. There's always a lot of work to do so we could use all the help we can get.

The Club is a volunteer led organisation, so your membership goes a long way. It buys materials and equipment for projects like Polhill, Miramar, and Maidstone to name a few, and helps drive events like the Wellington DH and Enduro Series.

To show their appreciation for your contribution - Capital Cycles have very kindly offered to put up a Club Member discount in store.

See the team at Capital Cycles for a 10% off discount on parts and accessories. Applies to non-sale items only. Excludes labour, and bikes. At the counter, simply provide your name and email to confirm your Club Membership.

Capital Cycles | 84 Dixon St, Wellington | Web: capitalcycles.co.nz | Facebook: capitalcyclesnz | Instagram: capital_cycles

WMTBC October Newsletter

Thu, 06 Oct 2016 00:52:52 GMT

Winter is behind us! In a few weeks it’ll be like it never happened. Before you know it, that incredible day will come when you can put your bike away covered in dust, and you can wear your favourite kit for more than one ride unwashed, without looking like a creature that crawled out of a swamp.

We’ve got a few updates for you all in this newsletter, kicking off with the upcoming DH Series. We’re also pleased to announce the return of the Wellington Enduro Series, and Mt Vic Super D next year, the Brooklyn Trail Builders have more than one taste of exciting news, and we’ll update you on progress out at Porirua DH. We sign off with a cheeky little edit featuring Wellington's Bryn Dickerson.

2016 Wellington DH Series

The annual Wellington DH Series is upon us once again. Registration is open now at the Events page .

Race 1 - Maidstone, Sat 15th Oct | Race 2 - Karori, Sat 5th Nov | Race 3 - Maidstone, Sat 26th Nov

This year’s three race series kicks off on Saturday 15th October at Maidstone, Upper Hutt. Mark Latham and his team have been hard at work at Maidstone over the winter months, in addition to receiving a $1,500 cash injection from Trail Fund NZ, so riders can expect some welcome improvements to the characteristically fast, exciting race track. Race two will take place on the now infamous K-Hole track, behind Karori Park, Nov 5th. And likewise here, the track has had a good freshen up recently courtesy of Curtis and his crew. Riders will be treated to a few surprises, likely to keep the intensity high on race day. For the deciding third race, we return to Maidstone, Nov 26th.

Finally - a BIG shout out to RED Clothing who have come on board as series sponsor. Jump over to the website and show your appreciation.

www.rideeveryday.nz/ | www.facebook.com/REDmtb

Volunteers - WE NEED YOU!

If you’re keen to help out with the DH Series, we’re urgently seeking drivers, and course marshals. Please email events@wmtbc.org.nz with your name, contact details, and availability.

2017 Wellington Enduro Series

We’re very pleased to announce that after a brief hiatus, the Wellington Enduro Series returns in 2017, kicking off on Wellington Anniversary Day with the Mt Crawford Enduro & KidDuro, followed closely by the Mt Victoria Super D on Jan 29th. The Wainuiomata Enduro, Polhill Enduro, and for the women only, the Revolve Super V - will round out the series races in the months following.

More details to come!

Brooklyn Trail Builders - Update

Wellington Marathon Clinic has approved funding of $10k to go towards the cost of gravelling lower Transient track, with the Wellington City Council funding the balance, and also graveling part of Windmill Track. A contractor will be on site this month, closing the track for about a week to complete the work. We’d like to thank WMC for their continued support. They’ve previously supported BTB with a grant towards the development of Clinical, and we’re really pleased to be able to work with other community groups that appreciate the trail network like we do.

We’ve also obtained a $5k private donation, and a $10k grant from DoC for the purchase of traps to be installed in Carrey Gully, below the Turbine. We’re doing our bit to make Wellington predator free! Also, a further thanks to iRide for a $160 contribution from the donation box in September. This month, you can find the donation box at Capital Cycles.

On the awards front, BTB recently won the Sport & Leisure section of the Wellington Community Awards. We now have three sizable awards over the last few years. Keep your eyes open for commemorative native trees we’ve planted in the Reserve, each accompanied by a brass plaque, to mark the awards.

Finally, consultation will start soon for the descending track in Polhill, run by WCC. Please support the consultation when it comes out, and share with others in our community to get behind it.

www.facebook.com/BrooklynTrailBuilders

New Porirua DH update

Since the closure of Long Gully in 2014, the Wellington Region has been lacking a DH track suitable to host Nationals rounds. However, over the past months, we’ve been working with a couple of partners within the region towards the development of a new track suitable for DH racing, behind Porirua. The track will be good - nearly 350 vertical meters of descending, and features that are guaranteed to make it a classic.

We'll keep you up to date over the coming months with developments, hot off the press, including invitations to join the trail building team.

Mt Vic Dig Day, Sunday 16th Oct.

Here's your chance to get a taste of what trail building is about - get involved and give back to the mighty Mt Vic for a morning. Riders of all levels (and non-riders) are encouraged to come out, cut some new lines, earn some trail karma and have a hand in expanding the formidable Welly trail network.

Rod ‘Rodfather’ Bardsley along with experienced trail builders and good sorts from WMTBC, will lead digging on the Mt Vic Super D Trail on the day. Work will be focussed on cutting back vegetation and preparing the riding surface, tidying up the Super-D line along the side of the road.

Huge thanks to Specialized NZ who will be on site digging, and supporting volunteers with food, drinks, tools, AND maybe some bikes to ride afterwards!

Full Details here

It's always worth the effort

Bryn Dickerson knows a thing or two about bike handling. Check out this edit from Joram Adams, featuring Wellington’s Bryn, who recently returned from his successful World Cup DH campaign.

WMTBC has a new President

Dave — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 00:35:27 GMT

The Wellington Mountain Bike Club has a new President, John Baddiley.

Voted in at our AGM this week, John is a long standing committee member and has been involved with the club for well over ten years and is heavily involved in the Mountain Bike community both in Wellington and across the country.

I have complete confidence that John will carry on the success and growth of the Wellington Mountain Bike Club and encourage you to show your support to John as well.

Kind regards,
Dave Preece
(ex) Wellington Mountain Bike Club President (2010 - 2016)

Can you help? New Committee Roles For 2016/2017

Sun, 26 Jun 2016 07:16:43 GMT

This year’s Wellington Mountain Bike Club AGM will see a big change for the management of the club. Our longest standing and current President, Secretary and Events Manager, (Dave Preece, Russel Garlick and John Whale), will be standing down from their respective roles.

Dave, Russel and John leave behind a big legacy as they have been involved with all aspects of the club.

So how can you help?

For the club to exist and carry on into the future, it needs people to step up and take on the following roles at this years AGM;

President

The President is the principal leader of the Wellington Mountain Bike Club and has an overall responsibility to ensure the club functions are met.

Secretary

The Secretary is primarily responsible for ensuring that all club members are informed of club activities. This includes taking the minutes at meetings and producing the club newsletter.

Events - Event coordinators required

This is where the club has it’s biggest demands and is under resourced. We are seeking people to help organise and run club events throughout the year:

Wellington Downhill Series
Enduro events
Regular shuttle days

The club needs more people to help organise and run these events. With more people involved, we can divvy up smaller tasks to make sure everything runs smoothly for organisers and participants.

The current committee is proposing to splitting the events role into a number of roles to reduce the workload.

The committee is seeking people to fill these new roles that will be voted on at the AGM in August. Nominations to secretary@wmtbc.org.nz.

DH Series Event Manager(s)

This is the key contact for the DH series that we run each Spring consisting of 2-3 rounds. The club has developed templates for events covering everything from promotions, entries, to management on the day. This person would act as the coordinator for these events

Shuttle Day Coordinator(s)

Our membership loves shuttle days, and frankly we have this pretty much down pat.

The online system handles entries and registrations. What we need are people who are happy to advertise the shuttle days, book the trailers and vans, and organise drivers. This could be a single person, or done by a group. Once again all the contacts and templates are in place and are ready to be used, and improved upon if so desired.

Mt Vic Super D Event Manager

Mt Vic Super D is one of our marquee events. It is a big job to organise, over a period of months leading up to the event. The complex nature of Mt Vic, with multiple parties and stakeholders being involved means there are additional notifications and discussions to be had that we simply don’t have with our other venues.

Because of this, we are suggesting breaking this out of the Events Manager responsibility, and having one person whose job it is to get it across the line.

The work needs to start early in the Spring with coordinating road closures or traffic control permits. Once again we have event templates and checklists, it is a matter of having someone with the time to execute.

New Downhill race venue - New champion required

Over the last 5 years we have been working to find a suitable venue to build a new Downhill race track and race venue. We have been working with Mana Cycle Group in an effort to make this happen in Colonial Knob (Porirua). With club President Dave stepping down, we’re seeking fresh blood to pick up where he left off driving this important project.

There is a track marked out, we have World Cup talent leading the design, and we have endless offers of help to build the track. Problem being - the whole project needs to get across the line with the local council before any spade hits dirt.

A draft proposal has already been prepared, but needs revising. The project also requires earthworks to be carried out for shuttle turnaround. For this to happen, Porirua City Council requires the appropriate paperwork in order to give resource consent.

We need a Civil Engineering company to draft up the appropriate documents for the earthworks.

We then need to find the money to carry out the earthworks (est. $15-40k), and that is all before spending a cent on the track itself.

Once the proposal has been completed and submitted to Porirua City Council, the Mana Cycle Group then plan to lobby (with our help) to upgrade their park consent to allow greater vehicle access for shuttle operations. Without this, it will be simply impossible to run a national event there.

While the project lead role has been filled by Dave to date, that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the President’s responsibility going forward. We’re simply looking for the most committed and capable candidate/s to drive the project as their specific role within the club.

NewSLETTER EDITOR

Currently done by the Secretary, on an irregular basis. The committee currently relies heavily on Facebook for updates, but we are aware that we have a large number of members who don't use this medium. We would also like to engage with our membership on a regular basis. Would require capturing the current news from the monthly committee meeting to be shared with the membership.

WEBSITE MANAGER

Currently done by the President and Secretary. This is a new role to ensure that content on the site is current and up to date.

BIKE SHOP LIAISON

A new role. The current committee would like to engage more with the bike shops in the region to help promote membership and events.

Open Spaces Access Plan - The Tracks Plan - Consultation.

Sun, 26 Jun 2016 05:35:05 GMT

The Wellington City Council is currently seeking feedback on the Open Spaces Access Plan (aka The Tracks Plan). The plan is what the Council Officers will use as their guide when it comes to managing the track network for the next 10 years.

The Club's Stance In Short

There are a lot of positives in this plan for mountain biking. There are some good new track initiatives, an acknowledgement of the importance and need to engage with volunteer trail builders and an extension of MTB priority tracks into the Town Belt, outside of Makara Peak.

The club is concerned about moving the decision making around new tracks from Council Officers to Councilors, as we don't want to see tracks become a political football. We'd prefer to see a framework within the plan that defines how this decision making is made, that is ratified by the Councilors, and the day to day detail left to Council Officers.

We would also like to some more clarity around assessments for new tracks. The plan has some good guidelines and principles, and some that are harder to work with (e.g opening up the canopy). We would like to more clarity around the assessment process - who is making the decisions, how can the competing objectives of all the council plans of access and protecting biodiversity be resolved in practice.

E-Bikes are an issue that are likely to divide the riding community. As such the Club is neutral towards them, so need for nor against. However we agree with the plan for limited access on a trial basis so that some research can be done the impact of this type of riding with other trail users.

Missing from the plan is any kind of plan for the Council to engage about changing the status of Te Ahumairangi /Tinakori Hill. The club is calling for an open consultation on opening up at least some of the advanced trails for MTB use.

GET INVOLVED

Thanks to all those who turned up to our Drop In Session at the Southern Cross. You can download the slides from that event. TracksPlanPresentation.pdf

Following the event, we did receive some additional clarification from Council Officers that is included in this post.

A Call For Riders To Make Submissions

Submissions by individuals in Council consultations are extremely valuable. The Club will be making a full submission on behalf of our members, but we encourage all members and the wider community to do at least a written submission. If you feel more strongly about a specific issue than the club does, then make that known to the Council. Whilst we have had some small changes made to plan mid term (for example opening up Polhill to MTB), largely the Council and Officers will wait until the plans come up for renewal.

The best way to make a submission is to use the online form at. You can fill it out in 5-10 minutes. Once you have done it, encourage your riding mates to do so as well. Written submissions need to be in by 5pm Wednesday 13 July.

http://wellington.govt.nz/have-your-say/public-inputs/consultations/open/open-space-access-plan

Some pointers:

You don't have to answer every question. Just the ones which you have an opinion on.
There is a question at the end of the form that you can use to raise ideas that have not been mentioned in the form. The Te Ahumairangi consultation would be something to talk about here.
Keep it short. Use bullet points. These will make it easier to read. Just state what you would like to see in the plan, with a brief reason why.
Use your own words. If we get a lot of people copy and pasting what the club says, then those words will have less meaning. In the worst case, they would all get counted as one submission. If you agree with the club, take what we are saying, and try and put it into your own words.

Have A Strong Opinion On A Topic? Make An Oral Submission.

The Council appears to place a high value on oral submissions. Committing to turn up in person has a big impact on them. Councilors respect when an individual takes time out of their day to front up.

Individuals typically get 5 minutes to speak during an oral submission. Organisations like the club, typically get 10 minutes. Oral submissions will be scheduled for the first week of August.

Some pointers:

Do state how important the tracks are to you personally.
If you use them for walking, running, dog walking, or any other use, let them know. Get them to see you as a trail user, rather than just a biker. If access to MTB tracks is part of the reason why you are in Wellington, then say that as well.
Acknowledge that this is a good plan for MTB. Because it is.
Riding bikes in the town belt is great way of meeting the Council's stated goals of engaging with the local environment and driving healthier communities.
Stick to your main point.
Keep it to the one or two main points that you want to make. Don't try to hit half a dozen topics, you won't have time.
This one is up to you, but leave the mud slinging to the haters.
The club has had greater success with taking an inclusive, reasoned and pragmatic approach. You may get scheduled after a hater. We'd suggest that you let them look like an irrational fool rather than attacking them. But it is your submission.
Leave time for questions.
Councilors like to ask questions. Some of these will be easy, and support your stance (some of the Councilors are very pro mountain biking). Others won't be. So be ready for that. If they ask you something obscure, then it is ok to say I don't know, or I can't answer that, and use it as an opportunity to make your point again.

POINTS THE CLUB PLANS TO SUBMIT ON

The Club Committee will make a submission on behalf of the club. The content of this submission is based on the polling of the committee and the reading of the community, in particular club members, by the committee. Where is says "the club" below, please read it as "the committee".

The Good

MTB Priority Tracks Outside of Makara Peak

The Council is proposing to change a number of tracks in the Town Belt to MTB Priority. This means the tracks are still dual use, but instead of Walkers having priority, this would shift to Riders. The Club expects that this will require some education of the general public and some good sign-age so that all users are aware of the status of a particular track.

By and large, it makes sense which tracks have been nominated as rider priority. They are mainly tracks that were built by riders for descending. A notable exception that the club would like to see added to this list is Serendipity in Polhill. This is a track that has been designed as a descending MTB track, and there is a good alternative in the same area for use by other trail users.

Near Country / Epic Loops

The plan identifies a number of tracks as priorities for development that would be longer half day to multi day rides in the region. This includes more work on the Skyline track and a new Makara / South Coast loop that would take users from Makara Beach, around the South Coast and wind farm, to link up at Red Rocks. The proposal is for this track to be a multi day tramp. The club hopes that this track will be built to an Intermdiate / Advanced MTB standard, along the lines of a Queen Charlotte or Heaphy. This type of track would be a major asset to sit along side the generally shorter rides.

Adding Paper Roads To The Track Network

The club is supportive of adding paper roads to the network. This will help make it clearer that these are open for use by riders and will again assist with planning longer rides in the region.

Limited E-Bike Access To Track Network

The club is neither for or against Ebikes. This is a divisive issue for our community. As a new technology, there is little genuine research on to the impact of EBikes. IMBA has posted one report on the physical impact to trails (finding was that there was no observed difference between ebikes and bikes).

The club is supportive of the council's plan for restricted access within the track network. We are happy to see that the Council has kept this to either 4wd tracks for climbing and to descending trails, where the imapct of the speed differential between ebikes and normal riders is nullified.

We understand and appreciate that the council is trying to open up off road commuter routes for Ebikes and see this as a positive initiative. Our preference would be to see that Ebike definition is refined to electronic pedal assist, rather than electronic drive independent of pedaling for any bike that is using a track, as opposed to a 4wd track.

THE "Needs A Little Work"

Wayfinding

It is great to see that the council is looking to invest in making it easier to find tracks and to make connections between the various areas. However the Council seems to be focusing on digital wayfinding. The club thinks that this money would be better spent on physical signage. Digital wayfinding is already taken care of by crowd sourced initiatives such as Trailforks.com.

We have seen how the roll out of new signs at Makara Peak has improved the user experience and we would like to see better signage in the Town Belt. We appreciate that signage is more expensive to maintain, but our stance is that it is more useful.

THE "We Are Concerned About"

TRACK ASSESSMENT - HoW WILL THIS WORK IN PRACTICE

The club is supportive of having a clear framework for assessing new track works, for either brand new tracks or significant reworks.

The club is also supportive of the goals of Our Natural Capital Plan. Mountain bikers enjoy recreating in the bush because it is a green space, this is why our club includes planting in our trail building activities, and works closely with ecology groups in our project areas.

Section 5.4 attempts to document how these decisions will be made in principle. We want to have more clarity around how the assessment will be run in practice to ensure that the biodiversity values and recreation values are balanced.

Questions we have are

who will make the assessments? Council officers or 3rd parties?
how will biodiversity values be balanced with recreation and community engagement values?
who makes the final decision? Council officers? Councillors?

TRACK ASSESSMENT - CANOPY GAPS

In section 5.4, plan states that tracks "keep the tree canopy intact and not create canopy gaps - this can be accomplished through good track design".

The club would like to see this wording changed to reflect that track development "keep the tree canopy intact as much as practicable, and should minimse canopy gaps".

The Our Natural Spaces plan already outlines management for canopy gaps. Section 11.24 notes these as high priority areas for revegetation. The same plan called for "evidence based guidelines for trail development" (Implementation Plan Section 1. Protect 1.4.4) to be developed. We want to know if these assessment criteria are the result of these evidence based guidelines.

In both Polhill and Miramar, our experience has been that canopy gaps in the regenerating native forest created track building tend to close in relatively quickly (a few years in the case of the Miramar Trail). These canopy gaps also provide light wells to assist with the planting and growth of our species that can be pushed out by the monoculture of Mahoe and 5 Finger in many areas.

In short, we want to see and be involved with the evidence based guidelines for trail development. We believe this issue of canopy gaps is overstated and would like to see the evidence for this track assessment criteria.

All Decision Making Being Done By Councillors and Not Council Officers

In the plan, where it reads "Council", this means the Mayor and Councillors. Council Officers are those who work for the Council itself, like the Park Rangers and Reserves Team. The Club has a long standing effective relationship with Council Officers. This relationship is works because the Council Officers base their decision making and advice on the content of these plans.

The club accepts that some decisions should be at the Council level. For example we can appreciate that high value spend and issues such as opening up access in closed areas require community consultation and decision making facilitated by the elected officials. However we are concerned that the bulk of day to day decision making around new volunteer built and maintained tracks is being taken off the Officers and put in the hands of Council. The club believes that the Council should focus on creating and approving plans that have clear guidelines around decision making for Council Officers, rather than getting bogged down in day to day operational decisions.

The "JUST PLAIN Missing"

Extending MTB Access in Te Ahumairangi / Tinakori Hill

Te Ahumairangi is currently closed to riding, with the exception of a small number of tracks that have limited value to riders. In particular is the ridgeline track that descends down from the top of the hill to the Scout Hall. These tracks are essentially 4wd tracks, and represent the old school of mountain biking. They tend to be steep, fast, and dangerous in that they are also used by other trail users to climb to the top of the hill.

In previous consultations (Capital Spaces and Town Belt Management Plan), the Club has called for a consultation to be run on Te Ahumairangi. The hill represents a large area containing significant exotic and regrowth native bush, which according to the Council's own plans, makes it a candidate for track development as opposed to remanent native forest. The area is not designated as an ecologically significant site in the current "Our Natural Capital" plan. The area to the north of the CBD lacks the short rides close to communities, which is another stated goal of this Council Plan.

The club is not proposing to turn the area into a mountain bike park. What we would like to see is the area opened up to riding as per other areas of the Town Belt, such as Karori, Wright's Hill, Polhill, Mt Albert, Mt Victoria and Cenntinal Reserve in Miramar. The council's existing Town Belt management plans contains the needed provisions to manage trail building, as a restricted activity.

As we have shown with our recent work on Mt Victoria, we believe that we can address any perceived or actual concerns about trail user conflict by making changes where MTB trails intersect and cross existing walking tracks.

At the least we would like to see the Council open up access to some existing tracks that the club has identifed low impact to other trail users. We would encourage to Council to start a consultation process on Te Ahumairangi and give the entire community the oppurtunity to contribute to this discussion.

Descending Track As An Alternative To Upper Transient

The implementation plan provides no mention, either in planning or implementation, for a MTB priority track as an alternative to Upper Transient. The Polhill track network, built by one of the club's projects, the Brooklyn Trail Builders, is one of the major successes in the track network. We expect the popularity of these tracks only to increase over time. We are appreciative that Council approved the building of Clinical as another route into the area and to take pressure off Transient.

The Club has always been supportive of a harder descending route to mirror Transient. The Serendipity track has successfuly diverted the bulk of descending riders off lower Transient. We belive that a similar trail is required for Upper Transient from the Ashton Fitchett intersection.

Get Involved and Make A Submission

If you enjoy riding on these tracks, there are two things you can do:

Join the Club.
More members helps us when making our own submissions. It gives them more weight. If you are a member, make sure you renew.
Make a submission.
Take an hour, scan the documents, they are fairly easy to read. Don't be put off by the length of the document, there is a lot of white space and maps. Make a written submission, and if you are able to, make an oral submission. You can do it all online - http://wellington.govt.nz/have-your-say/public-inputs/consultations/open/open-space-access-plan

This is your chance to have your say on tracks, take it!

No Mt Vic Super D for 2016

Dave — Sun, 17 Jan 2016 23:59:35 GMT

We have the announcement surrounding the future of the Mt Vic Super D.

Since it’s conception in 2011, this event has become a Wellington staple. So, it is with great regret that we have decided to pull the pin for 2016.

Running large scale events on Mt Victoria was always very difficult due largely to it being a huge logistical exercise, its central location and increasing concerns from the public.

Instead, we are working with the lads at Dirt Merchants to make this year's Polhill Enduro epic. The kids’ Mini D, previously part of the Mt Vic event, will shift to Polhill. More details in the coming weeks.

But, to kick off 2016, we have the Escape from Mt Crawford event: http://wmtbc.org.nz/event-2129642

We'd like to thank everyone for supporting the Mt Vic Super D over the years. Without the support of volunteers and local businesses, these events can't happen. So, cheers!

WMTBC

The Welly Tracks T-Shirt is available now

Dave — Wed, 18 Nov 2015 01:02:44 GMT

It's all about Wellington Mountain Bike Trails! Orders for the first "Welly Tracks MTB Group" T-Shirt have opened here.

Leon the Wellington Lion, decked out in his rad glasses and Enduro-specific helmet, is ready for your viewing and is on a wide selection of T-Shirts for Men, Women and Youth. And the best bit is they are all available in five different colours. Even better is that five to ten dollars per T-Shirt will be donated to Wellington Mountain Bike Trail Building.

But if you aren't from Wellington, we still love visiting and riding your trails, and you can still wear this sweet looking T-Shirt! To buy or for more information please visit
https://wellymtbtshirt.myshopify.com/

Words by http://spokemagazine.com

Unsanctioned and illegal trails in Wellington

Dave — Sun, 15 Nov 2015 23:47:57 GMT

We have been notified that Wellington City Council (WCC) will be closing some unsanctioned and illegal trails. Does this mean the end for those trails? Maybe not. We're waiting for the press release from the WCC before we put out a more detailed response on a per track / area basis. We’ll keep you up to date.

It was great to see so many who are passionate about tracks and riding, willing to give up their Wednesday evening to come to our committee meeting last week.

From the Club’s point of view, we have been working with the Council on Te Ahumairangi (Tinakori) for a number of years. With the track closures we are going to ramp up these efforts. Just as with other trail areas (Mt Vic Trails, Miramar, Polhill etc.), there will be a new sub-group formed with a page on Facebook. Our point man on this is initiative is Jono Baddiley who has been involved in these discussions for a number of years.

WHAT'S THE CLUB'S ROLE IN ALL THIS?

Over the last few years, Welly MTB Club has being doing a lot to advocate for all riders in the Wellington area, not just gravity riders, not just beginner-intermediate riders either – but all riders. We are passionate about riding and building trails. We are also an open and accepting bunch, if you share a passion for riding, trails, and Wellington, then you will find a good fit with us.

The Club respects, and works within the plans and policies of the various land managers we work with. Whether it be WCC, Porirua City Council, Upper Hutt City Council, or private land owners.
With council lands, we accept that there are plans and policies that guide, and sometimes restrict our work. However, they are written in ink - not stone. So that means we can challenge them and advocate for them to be changed and updated.
The Club has done significant work in the last 3 years working within these frameworks to both secure access and funding, and then open up areas for riding for both Club members and non-members alike. This requires research, time, relationship building, and patience.

We engage not only with Council, but also other interested parties to seek alignment, develop relationships and resolve any issues, whether they be perceived or real.

We can point to the fantastic work done by the Brooklyn Trail Builders in the Polhill area, and Miramar Track Project. Both these groups have engaged with schools, local ecological groups and other trail users like running groups and this contributes to the overall success of these projects.
We can also point to the work that has started and is ongoing on Mt Vic to engage with Rotary on their planting efforts and other stakeholders to reduce track user conflict.

With respect to these trail closures, in order to enact change, we do it by following the framework laid out by the land manager (WCC), and always aiming to strike a balance with the needs of Wellington’s mountain biking community.

All we ask in return, is that you respect our time as volunteers.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

If you want to discuss something with the Club, then please get it added to our committee meeting agenda. Committee meetings are the 2nd Wednesday of the month, at 7pm. The location changes from time to time. Please email secretary@wmtbc.org.nz to add items to the agenda. Everyone passionate about riding, trails, and racing, who is prepared to engage and help out, is welcome at meetings.

If you are passionate about the areas that are getting closed, that’s great! Get involved. Here is what you can do:

Passion is great, ranting is not. Engaging with land managers and other stakeholders is how we get the ball rolling.
Get engaged with other stakeholders, try to understand their points of view, go to their planting days and community meetings.
Join the sub-projects (look out to the Tinakori / Te Ahumairangi group coming soon).
Join the Club. More numbers for us helps us when we are advocating on your behalf.
Plans and Policies are just documents. You can lobby and campaign for them to be changed.

Above all, respect the Land Manager's process. If that means no digging and no riding in an area, then please respect this. Disrespecting the process makes it harder for those advocating on your behalf. The Club will assist in any way it can using our knowledge of the process and relationships with Council, but riding and building in these areas undercuts any effort to open them up to riding.

If you want to delve further into the various plans that WCC use to guide their management, then check out the following:

The Town Belt Management Plan
http://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/plans-policies-and-bylaws/policies/wellington-town-belt-management-plan

Updated in 2013, the club successfully lobbied for greater access and recognition of mountain biking.

The Open Spaces Access Plan
http://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/plans-policies-and-bylaws/policies/open-space-access-plan

Updated in 2008, this plan is not currently scheduled for review or update.

The Track Recreation Activities Policy
http://wellington.govt.nz/~/media/your-council/plans-policies-and-bylaws/plans-and-policies/a-to-z/trackrecreation/files/trackrec.pdf

The notable error in this document is Polhill Reserve, which is now open for riding and a good example of how things can change.

For more general information on Mountain Biking:
http://wellington.govt.nz/recreation/enjoy-the-outdoors/mountain-biking

New Membership Year

Dave — Wed, 01 Jul 2015 01:20:49 GMT

New Membership Year

It's the 1st day of July – that means it's a new membership year.

Brand new membership stickers are on there way to those who have already renewed their membership.

Not a member yet or need to renew your membership?
Head to the Join Us page.

Wellington to get new BMX facility.

Dave — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 03:01:45 GMT

The WMTBC wishes to congratulate Capital BMX Club.

They have recently received $80,000 from the Wellington City Council to help them complete the first stage of their new UCI level BMX track at Ian Galloway Park, Karori.

In early September, Empire of Dirt (the Rotorua Crankworx dirt engineers) will commence construction of the track – which will be the biggest in the lower North Island.

The track will be a great facility for the Wellington community so please give your support to Capital BMX. You can join for free until the track is opened in December and by visiting their Give-a-Little fundraising page -https://givealittle.co.nz/org/capitalbmx. Capital BMX is a registered charity and you can claim a refundable tax credit of 33% for any donation made to the club over $5.

Join as a foundation member – $150 per person or $200 per family (up to three people) – must be paid by 31 August 2015, and your membership ends 31 August 2019.

Your support helps no matter how big or small.

Like their Facebook page to keep up with their progress
https://www.facebook.com/capitalbmxnz?fref=ts

ANNOUNCEMENT: Long Gully

Dave — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 07:32:44 GMT

Long Gully - the end of an era.

By now many of you will have heard that changes are on the horizon at Long Gully. We can now confirm that the official word from the landowners is that going forward, there will be no access for mountain bikes at Long Gully.

It is certainly a very sad time for the Club, its members, and the wider mountain biking community. Steve Watson, owner of Long Gully Station - the man who we’ve worked closely with over the years maintaining access to the land - has also expressed his sadness that this era has come to an end. Ownership and management of the land our tracks are on has passed on to Steve’s children, who have other plans for the land.

This was always a possibility and due to the nature of the Cub’s agreement with the Watson family, we’ve always accepted that this time may come.

This means that as of today - access to the Long Gully trails is completely off limits. This means no riding, and no shuttling. This applies to our entire membership, and all members of the public.

Where to from here?

The WMTBC have been working with Councils and other Mountain Bike groups to determine the best location for a brand new national level DH race track & MTB event venue.
Every effort is being made to get this project moving quickly, but as they say - Rome wasn’t built in a day. We will keep our membership up to date with this project as it progresses.

In the meantime - The Club will maintain its commitments to our existing DH trails at Karori Park, Maidstone & Prince of Wales Park. We also encourage you to continue to enjoy the abundance of incredible riding the Wellington Region has to offer, and keep your ear to the ground for upcoming events.

As a last harrar - we are organising a final shuttle day to give the Long Gully the send off it deserves. We will let you know the details as soon as they are finalised.

Dave Preece
WMTBC President

NZ MTB Nationals entry deadline is 6 February!

Dave — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 22:18:15 GMT

Have you entered the MTB Nationals?

The entry deadline is 6 February!

Riders are reminded that the entry deadline for the 2015 MTB National Championships is 5:00pm Friday, 6 February.

It's important that you meet this deadline as late entries will NOT be accepted. This is due to the high volume of late and on the day entries in previous years, meaning commissaires are unable to properly seed some riders, leading to rider complaints.

The event is once again being held in Rotorua, 14-15 February and attracts New Zealand’s top downhill and cross country riders.

For more information about the event click here.
To enter click here.

Please note: Any athletes who are seeking selection for the New Zealand MTB team to race at the 2015 World Mountain Bike Championships, or discretionary selection to World Cups (e.g. when insufficient UCI points are held by individuals), must race the NZ MTB National Championships. It is a compulsory selection race. Please view the 2015 MTB Team Selection Regulations contained here. Of particular importance are the eligibility clauses - please read them thoroughly. Athletes not meeting all eligibility requirements, will not be considered for selection.

Brook MacDonald in action - credit Trek World Racing.

WMTBC January 2015 Newsletter

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 23:20:17 GMT

Happy new year! We trust you had some good quality time with your bike over the break.
Summer is well and truly upon us, and with it - race season. It kicks off for 2015 this weekend with MTBNZ Cup race on Mt Victoria followed by the highly anticipated Mt Crawford Mini Enduro on Wellington Anniversary Day. Details below of these and other forthcoming races.

MTBNZ Cup Series - Sunday 18th January, Mt Victoria

The MTBNZ Cup comes to Wellington tomorrow with XC Round 2 on Mt Victoria. In true Mt Victoria style, the course presents plenty of technical challenges for riders and will undoubtedly be a good one to watch. Racing starts at 10am.

Enter at the BikeNZ website

Kids Mini Enduro Preride with WORD - 9am Sunday 18th January, Miramar

For the young ones and their families. You’re invited to come preride the Miramar Mini Enduro course with WORD this Sunday.

If you want to check out the course and see if it’s for you - meet Ash and Russ from WORD at the prison at 9am tomorrow for a run down the course. No registration necessary.

Details on Facebook

Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro - Monday 19th January, Miramar

The annual fundraiser for the Miramar Track Project is back for its fourth year. This is the place to be on Wellington Anniversary Day, Monday 19th January.

As always there will be the Felony (hard out) and Misdemeanour (cruiser) divisions. This year there will be new stage combinations to get your head around. Also on the cards is a Mini Enduro for the kids. And as always, all proceeds go straight back into track maintenance and ecological restoration by the MTP in the Centennial Reserve.

Thanks to the event’s major sponsors Yeastie Boys, Burkes Cycles and Placemakers Evans Bay!

Details and registration online here . Online entry has closed, but you can enter on the day - bring $40 cash.

Klunkers, Chainless & Kids Bike Dual Slalom - Saturday 24th January 12pm, Miramar

After a hugely successful event last year - Klunkers is back! Easy-going racing at the Miramar Track Project, generating bikes, parts and cash for charity. With Klunkers, Chainless and 'proKlunkers' categories, and also a kids bike dual slalom. 2 ½ hours of live timing, fastest run down Jailbrake counts.

Entry by donation of old (useful) parts, cash, or your bike. All bikes, parts and money go to Biketech and the Mechanical Tempest, helping others to get on a bike. There will be sounds, a BBQ and beer on hand, so dig out your old kit and 90's race weapon for some fun racing.

Registration on the day. For details, check out the Facebook event page

Dirt Merchants 476 Enduro - Sunday 1st March, Polhill Reserve

Kicking off March, Dirt Merchants will host the 476 Enduro. Expect 3 timed stages and some fancy dress. Proceeds from the event will go to the Brooklyn Trail Builders, supporting trail building in the Polhill Reserve.

More details in the coming weeks over at the Dirt Merchants Facebook page.

Revolve Super V - Saturday 14 March, Polhill Reserve

The Revolve Super V is back!

This year, the annual women’s race will kick off with a shuttle to the top of Barking Emu before an approximately 30-45min ride down the Polhill tracks, including Carparts Extension, Carparts, Roller Coaster, Highbury Fling, Transient, and Serendipty. The intermediate descent will finish in the Park on Aro St where fun and festivity will ensue.

Details and registration online here

Mt Vic Super D - Sunday 22nd March, Mt Victoria

The annual Mt Vic Super D is back for its fifth year, Sunday 22nd March, 2015. Keep an eye on the WMTBC Facebook page for updates over the coming weeks.

Event Details >>

Wainuiomata Trail Project Fundraiser - April TBC, Wainuiomata

The Wellington MTB Club is happy to announce the 2015 edition of the Wainui Enduro.

The event format will consist of an optional timed hill climb and three descents. Riders that complete the hill climb will be in contention for overall King/Queen of Wainui Trail Park for 2015. All proceeds from the event will be put towards completing the Super Plus descent from top of Wainui hill to Gracefield.

Keep the date in your calendar - more information will be posted in the coming weeks.

Proudly supported by Cycle Science, Wellington Mountain Bike Club, Lower Hutt City Council, Wainui Trail Park and Trail Fund NZ.

Trail Building Update

Over the coming months, there’s trail building activity in all the city’s main trail centres in addition to Wainuiomata and Porirua. Trail building and maintenance relies heavily on the support of volunteers. If you would like to contribute, keep an eye on Facebook for dig days scheduled in your area.

Volunteers needed for events

Events simply cannot run without the assistance of volunteer marshals and drivers. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated. If you’re interested in helping out at any of the events mentioned above - please contact events@wmtbc.org.nz and we’ll put you in touch with the right people.

Want to keep in touch? Follow WMTBC

For Club news, updates and media - follow us on Facebook, or check the Club page at WMTBC.org.nz.

WMTBC December Newsletter

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 18:46:51 GMT

In this newsletter:

Race report: WDHS Rd 2 - Karori
Juvie & Duel Slalom Track Opening
South Coast Kids Track Update
Draft Suburban Reserves Management Plan
WDHS Round 3 - Maidstone
WORD Bike-a-Polooza
Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro
Klunkers, Chainless & Kids Bike Dual Slalom
Trail Building Updates

Wellington Downhill Series Round 2 - Karori

The second race in the Wellington Downhill Series went down last month on the revitalised 98DH aka K-Hole. Historically, racing at this venue has been in the wet, and under these conditions simply getting a bike down the track becomes a game of survival. But on this occasion, Karori turned it on for riders.

At the end of racing - Daniel Meilink took out the Open Men category ahead of Michael Mells and Bryn Dickerson. In Masters 1 & 2 - Nathan Timoko and Ali Quinn claimed the top spots respectively. And the juniors were dominated by the Macdonalds - with Finlay taking out under 17 and brother Lachie, under 15. Current National Champ Sarah Atkin recorded a very respectable time that would have put her just outside top 10 in Open Men, and Finn van Leuven also put down a solid time in Hardtail.

We’ll catch everyone at the final WDHS round this Saturday, 6th December at Maidstone.

Race Results & Series Points

Juvie & Duel Slalom Grand Opening

Crews and contractors have been hard at work at Miramar of the past months and we’ve recently seen the completion of two new tracks - Juvenile Delinquent, and the Kids Duel Slalom. The sum of these, combined with the pump track and dirt jumps is a great zone for kids and beginners to hone their skills, only minutes from the City.

The grand opening of Juvie and the Kids Duel Slalom last weekend was a huge success. About 150 people turned up to mark the occasion on Sunday, including City Councillors and Mayor, Celia Wade Brown. Once the tape was cut, Mayor Celia spoke positively of the Club’s recent work at Miramar and Island Bay.

South Coast Kids Track Wins Another Award

You may recall that earlier this year, the Club received a Wellington Airport Community Award for its work on the South Coast Kids Track. Well last week the Kids Track did it again - this time at the 2014 NZ Recreation Association Awards.

The annual awards recognise excellence in the recreation and leisure industry, and the South Coast Kids Track was named Most Outstanding Project.

Thanks once again to Wellington City Council, Trail Fund NZ, Bike Wellington, Revolve Cycling and Southstar Trails.

Draft Suburban Reserves Management Plan

Submissions close this Friday 5th on the WCC Draft Suburban Reserves Management Plan. This is the last opportunity members of the public will have to share their views on the future management of Wellington’s suburban reserves - between Khandallah and Miramar (including Makara).

This plan will have a significant impact on the future of mountain biking in our city, and the planning process only comes around once every 10 years. So, if you have a few spare minutes and a desire to see the WCC supporting mountain biking in our suburban reserves, get in there.

Upcoming Events

WDHS Round 3 - Maidstone - THIS SATURDAY

The final round of the 2014 Wellington Downhill Series will take place THIS SATURDAY, 6th December at Maidstone, Upper Hutt. Check the WMTBC website for details and online registration. Online registration closes Friday, 5pm. Enter online >>

The Club would also like to welcome Adrenaline MTB as the event’s major sponsor.

**VOLUNTEERS** Race marshals and drivers are urgently needed for this event. We greatly appreciate any help offered. If interested - please contact events@wmtbc.org.nz.

WORD Bike-a-Polooza - Sunday Dec 7th

This Sunday at the Wainuiomata Trails - WORD invites you to join them for the first Bike-a-Polooza - New Zealand's best, super fun, and raddest kids mountain bike event ever! There will be four great courses to choose from on the day - so something for all the 3-17 year olds.

Cost: $15 individual, $40 family of 3 kids. For more info and online registration check out WORD Bike-a-Polooza

Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro - Jan 19th, 2015

The third annual Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro is upcoming - Wellington Anniversary weekend, January 19th. We’ve run the annual fundraiser for the Miramar Track Project for the past couple of years, and 2015 will undoubtedly be the biggest yet.

As per last year, we’ll be running two classes - Misdemeanor and Felony, plus the Sufferfest hill climb, and we’re throwing in a Kids Mini D for the little rippers. Also, in breaking news - Yeastie Boys have just come on board as a sponsor. This is great news if you like beer.

Online entries opening later this month Event Details >>

Klunkers, Chainless & Kids Bike Dual Slalom - Jan 24th, 2015

After a successful event earlier this year, Klunkers is back! The aim of the race is simple: dig out your old kit and 90s race weapon, do as many timed runs of Jailbrake as your body (or bike) will permit within 2 ½ hours, and heckle like you’ve never heckled.

There will be four categories: Klunkers, Chainless, proKlunkers and Klunkers (under 12), and an additional Kids Bike Dual Slalom race. Entry is by donation of old (useful) bike parts, cash, or your bike. All proceeds go to Biketech and the Mechanical Tempest.

Event Details >>

Trail Building Updates

Clinical (Polhill Reserve)

As you may recall from the last Polhill update, The Brooklyn Trail Builders reported significant progress on Clinical. When it’s complete, the track will round off a grand loop of the Reserve. Most of the track is now rideable, and it’s set for completion sometime during early 2015.

Currently, contractors are finishing construction of bridges on the trail, and volunteers are working on approximately 200m at the bottom. Although this section is incomplete, there’s a steep track that can be used to bypass it. The next dig is this coming Sunday, 7th December at 3pm. Details over at Brooklyn Trail Builders. There will be an event to commemorate the official opening of Clinical, tentatively around April 2015. We’ll keep you posted.

We would also like to congratulate BTB whose work was this week recognised at the Roll on Wellington Cycle Awards.

Mt Victoria

Thanks to all those who contributed recently to the Mt Victoria trail user survey. We’re currently compiling the results, but feedback was largely positive.

In case you missed it - here’s the full rundown. But in short, the WCC has requested that changes be made to the lower part of the Super D line. The Club, in consultation with trail leaders and the Council, has come up with a plan that involves essentially realigning the trail, from the SPCA south. In addition, the plan includes work around busy junctions to reduce the risk of conflict with other trail users.

No major work will take place on Mt Victoria until the new year. We’ll keep you updated.

Want to keep in touch?

For up-to-date Club news, updates and media - follow WMTBC on Facebook or check the Club page at WMTBC.org.nz

Mt Vic - So what is happening?

Sun, 02 Nov 2014 06:45:51 GMT

Mt Victoria has always been a great place to ride and with developments over the last couple of years it has become a more popular destination for mountain biking. This is really positive but due to being a public space that is also shared with other groups, has created a few issues that need to be addressed

The Club has been working with the Wellington City Council, public and other groups to ensure Mt Victoria remains an exciting destination for mountain biking.

The purpose of this post is two-fold. Firstly, the Club wants to keep the mountain biking community up to date with what’s happening on Mt Victoria. And secondly, we will be seeking your feedback on the developments outlined in the following.

There are a number of projects in the works for Mt Vic. Some have been finished, some are under way and some are just on the horizon. Below is a bit of an update on their current status.

What has been done recently?

The Southstar Trails crew have been hard at work on Mt Victoria, giving some much needed TLC to trails in preparation for the summer season.

The lower part of Hippy's has been reshaped
Some corners on the Hataitai Zig Zag have been reshaped and are now more in keeping with the rest of the track
There is a new climbing track above the Badminton Hall

In addition, some preliminary trail finding work has been done on a new exit at the bottom of TTS and Park Bench (described in more detail below). Mt Vic Trail Leader Rod Bardsley has also been communicating directly with Council representatives and demonstrating his plans for future building and maintenance on the hill.

What is being done at the moment?

Rod's Drop

The Council is in the process of putting a gate at the top of Rod's Drop which is expected to be fully installed within a couple of weeks. Why is this being done? Two main reasons:

The lesser issue is that the drop fires riders into an area of the field where teams tend to congregate. The field is leased by Wellington College from the Council, and used by them in addition to other sports teams.
The more significant issue is that it sends riders into the Southern Walkway at speed. Of particular concern to the Council is the step up after drop that lands riders right onto the walkway at a blind corner.

Once the gate is in, the drop will be open for events only.

For the interim, the old chicken line from the original Super D is still there and open for riding. The Club, and Rod in his capacity as Trail Leader, are working with the Council on options in this area for the future.

Mt Vic Management Plan

The Wellington City Council is running some consultation on a new management plan for Mt Victoria. In particular this is for the area from the SPCA (Chest Hospital) northbound. Just as the Club has engaged with the Council on the Town Belt Management Plan, it is also involved here.

WMTBC Club Secretary Russ has met with planning consultants who are preparing recommendations for Council. He presented the proposed changes (see below) accompanied by a rundown on the value of Mt Vic for the mountain bike community. The meeting went well, and we were able to provide the consultants with a great deal of information that they didn't have. They were especially impressed with Rod's plans around changing the exits of some trails to reduce conflict at junctions.

The development of this plan is ongoing and the consultants reported their initial recommendations to Council last week. Until this plan has been finalised, the Council have asked that no new trail building be done in this area of Mt Victoria. However, maintenance of existing trails can continue, so keep your eyes peeled for work parties, especially as the Super D draws nearer (March/April 2015). Announcements on the Mt Vic Trails FB page.

Regarding a timeframe on completion of the management plan - the best indication we have at this stage is some time within the next couple of months.

Right, so what is happening next?

Changes to Trail Exits

The hope is that once the Mt Victoria Management Plan is finalised, we can commence with Rod's plans to fine tune some of the more advanced trails to the north and west of the hill. The following alterations to existing trails have all been discussed with Council and agreed to in principle (although there may still be a few minor adjustments to the plan for Damains).

Damian's

Close existing entrance and re-open from LH cnr before wooden step-down on Hippy’s
Form a trail from new entrance to a safer walking track x-ing approx. 10m south of existing exit
Create a new trail from bush exit along grass plateau parallel to walking track to a slow LH trail x-ing. This new trail can have dirt brought in to create features
At main walking track intersection, create a natural barrier feature to slow riders and divert walkers away from bank step-down
Divert trail exit to a LH berm and slow uphill exit to prevent high–speed exit onto playing field

Grom (Jump) Track

Re-work trails exit with features to slow rider exit
Re-open lower trail to grass slope exit to prevent riders exiting down walking trail. Then extend trail along bushline to join with Damian trail exit

Rock Drop

Re-work trail after rock feature to slow riders up to treetrunk jump then join trail to Grom track exit

V Trail

Create a natural barrier to protect rider exit to upper walking track x-ing (below toilets) and improve sight lines
Re-work lower V trail exit and extend south to join with TTS at final walk track x-ing

TTS

Create new trail parallel and below road with slow exit to reduce rider/walker conflict and to prevent riders travelling down tarmac on wrong side of road
Create a natural barrier at main walking track x-ing to alert walkers
Alter trail exit to an abrupt LH uphill exit and add a new final trail section parallel to lower main walking track with a T-intersection exit to meet up with Park Bench trail and leading into playground trail exit

Park Bench

Re-shape traverse around ridge under bench
Add exit and entrance barriers at main walking track where LOTR tourists congregate to define rider direction
Create a new trail exit parallel to lower main walk track to connect with TTS so there is a single, safe exit

Lower Super D Line - Proposed New Track From SPCA Roots to Skills Area

The Council have informed us that closure of the the root line across the road from the Harrier Club will happen, when is TBC.

This is primarily for two reasons. Firstly, the heavy use in this area is eroding the ground around the roots of established trees. And secondly, the speed at which riders come off the roots into the path of other trail users is an issue.

However, the Council realises this is a popular section of trail, so what they have proposed is opening up a trail below the road that takes riders away from the road and walking tracks, and on to singletrack. This new track would have two sections, outlined below.

Top Section

The top section would go from the SPCA roots, with a new steep roll in and then sidle down alongside the road through the tall trees. It would meet up with an existing line and work its way through some trees and roots to a clearing above the trail Shuttle Cock.

This section would require significant retaining. The Council have indicated that they may be able to help with the major sections, with the Club doing the parts that only need to be a board or two high, similar to the new Reach Around track on Mt Alfred.

For regular riding, there would be a controlled speed exit onto the tarmac walking track. But for events, there is the option for the Club to put in a ramp that allows for a road gap over the walking track and onto the grass in the clearing.

Bottom Section

From the clearing, a new track would be built and have two exits - one into Shuttle Cock, and another into the Skills Area. This section of track still needs to be walked properly and marked out. Presently there are some large trees down from last year’s storms, that are across the intended line. From the scoping done to date, there are some natural hips and other features that will make for some sweet flowing single track.

The Complete Proposed Line

The images below give an idea of the complete proposed line. All is provisional at the moment and intended only to give an impression of where the track will go.

WCC have stated that they would like the trail to be Intermediate or Grade 3+. If you need an exemplar or comparison, think something around the same level as Swigg, Starfish, Carparts or Jail Brake (all in the dry). For the club's part, we have suggested that a main line at Grade 3 would be fine, if we can include some harder features off the main line for example a wall rides, rock drops etc.

Looking from the South to the North (click the photo for a bigger version)

If you have Google Earth, you can view the track outline by importing this file. MtVicSuperDRealignmentofLowerSection.kmz

So what next?

We are preparing a survey to get some structured feedback on the changes. Our goal is to get this up by the 5th of November. We'd then dearly like anyone who has an interest in riding on Mt Vic, club member or not, to take 10 minutes and fill out the survey.

We'll add a link to this post once it is ready. That should give everyone a bit of time to digest the above.

If you want to keep up to date on you can:

follow the Mt Vic Trails FB page. and Welly MTB Club FB pages.
attend the next committee meeting, 6pm Weds 12th Nov or
email the secretary -at- wmtbc.org.nz

Give us some feedback

We'd like your feedback on these plans. Please take 5-10 minutes to fill out our survey.

Mt Vic Survey >>

October Newsletter

Sat, 25 Oct 2014 06:23:59 GMT

In this month’s newsletter:

Wellington DH Series Rd 1 Report - Long Gully
Upcoming WDHS Races - Karori & Maidstone
Long Gully Start Ramp Retired
South Coast Kids Track receives Regional Community Award
8Wired, Bruhaus & WMTBC present Ales for Trails
Trail Building Updates
Chance to see “Rad Company” on the Big Screen
T-Shirt Orders

Wellington Downhill Series Round 1 – Long Gully

Matt Walker styles is up on the way to taking out the Pro Elite win. Photo: Dave Preece/Big Design.

The first race in the Wellington Downhill Series went down Saturday 11th October at Long Gully – and what a day. The race doubled as the second round of the NZ Downhill Series, so the field was stacked. All up about 140 riders took to the hill including a strong contingent from out of town and uncharacteristically for Wellington – the weather was hospitable, creating impeccable conditions for racing at the infamous Gully.

Top spots in the Pro Elite category went to Matt Walker, Louis Hamilton and Wyn Masters respectively, demonstrating the calibre of competition on the day. In other categories – Wellington’s Oceania Champ Sarah Atkin took out Open Women, and in Open Men – Lloyd Jenks snuck into 5th narrowly ahead of Jourdan Lethbridge in 6th. In Under 15 – the Hutt Valley’s Lachie McDonald took 8 seconds out of the competition, and Wellington dominated Masters 30+ and 40+ with Derek Winwood and Ali Quinn in top spots respectively.

A huge thanks to all our volunteers, and to everyone that came out to support. We’ll catch you at WDHS Round 2 in Karori, Saturday 8th November.

Full race results – WDHS points –Photoset from the event –Wyn Master’s race run

WDHS Rounds 2 & 3 - Karori & Maidstone

Rounds two and three of the Wellington Downhill Series are forthcoming. Round 2 next month - Saturday 8th November at Karori Park on the revitalised 98DH. And for the final round we visit Maidstone - Saturday 6th December.

Information and registration online at WMTBC.org.nz.

VOLUNTEERS

Race marshals and drivers are urgently needed for these events. We greatly appreciate any help offered. If interested - please contact events@wmtbc.org.nz.

Long Gully Start Ramp Retired

As some of you may be aware, changes are afoot at Long Gully. In short, the landowners are building a house at the top of the Race Track, and earthworks are starting this week. So - the time has come for the original Long Gully start ramp to be put into retirement.

We’ll bring you updates regarding further developments as soon as they come to hand. But in the meantime, as construction on the house begins - access to Long Gully will occasionally be limited. Status updates will be sent out as required via Facebook, WMTBC.org.nz, and email. We would appreciate your cooperation during this time.

We would like to extend our thanks to the Watsons for their hospitality over the past 14 years during which Long Gully has has become synonymous with Wellington Downhill.

Regional Community Award for the South Coast Kids Track

The award takes pride of place in Floyd's Cafe, right underneath one of the club's new posters that you will see up and around town. Photo Mat Wright / Floyd's Cafe

Last month the South Coast Kids Track was formally acknowledged at the 2014 Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards – receiving the top accolade in the Sports and Leisure category. The awards pay tribute to volunteer groups from the Wellington Region whose work has had a positive impact on their local community.

In June, the track was officially opened in Island Bay, and the past months have seen significant uptake by local families and children, and Island Bay School who are running cycling classes on the track. Future plans are in place to encourage more local schools to utilise the track, and Wellington City Council has indicated that the successful model could also be viable in other suburbs.

Thanks to Wellington Airport, Wellington Community Trust, Wellington City Council, Trail Fund NZ, Bike Wellington, Revolve Cycling and Southstar Trails, and importantly - all those in the community that have supported the project.

8Wired, Bruhaus & WMTBC present Ales for Trails

A few weeks ago we received a call from Brian at 8Wired asking if there is anything they could do to help us out. A few days later, we had a tap takeover at the Bruhaus organised.

There was an excellent turnout on the night, and some very tasty beers from their very special barrel aged series. All in all the event raised $600 for trail building, probably the easiest fundraising we will ever do, just turn up and drink beer.

A huge thanks to all those that turned up and imbibed, and to 8 Wired and the Bruhaus for organising the event and their donations.

Trail Building Updates

Clinical (Polhill Reserve)

The Brooklyn Trail Builders are nearing completion of the latest addition to the Polhill Reserve trail network - Clinical. The new track was made possible through funding received last year from Transpower, Wellington Marathon Clinic and private contributors.

Brooklyn Trail Builders volunteers hard at it on Clinical. Photo lifted from BTB Facebook page.

Ultimately it will be an uphill only trail completing an approximately 7km ‘Grand Loop’ of the Reserve. But for the short term Clinical will be open to two-way traffic, contingent on the development of the proposed downhill only trail - Ladylumps. Advice from the Brooklyn Trail Builders is that downhill traffic on Clinical should ride with caution, and give way to uphill traffic.

The majority of the trail has now been built including surfacing and the planting of approximately 500 natives by the trailside. All that remains is 200m of track to be built by volunteers over the next few months, and the installation of structures to cross a number of streams on the track.

Clinical will remain closed until opening in early-2015, and plans are in place to host an event marking the occasion. Watch this space.

98DH (Karori)

Over the past few months a crew have been working behind Karori Park rejuvenating the 98DH track which played host to Round 2 of the Wellington DH Series last year.

November 8th this year, 98DH will again host WDHS Round 2 and riders can expect a few welcome changes - most notably more elevation and a longer track. While the lower section into the finish remains relatively unchanged, the top section has been reworked, a number of new lines and jumps have been added, and a start ramp will be in place on race day. On the whole the track retains its characteristic technical personality and will undoubtedly keep riders on their toes.
Cheers to Curtis and crew.

Miramar Track Project

The big news is the completion of Juvie and the grade 2 loop, including the kids dual slalom.

The new kids dual slalom, part of the new beginners loop at the top of Mt Crawford.

Southstar toiled away for a couple of weeks with their diggers opening the line up, for TGL and vollys to come through and tidy up the line and put in several hundred plants. Thomas from TGL has been doing some long hours in the run up to Labour Weekend to get the gravel down and compacted so it was good to ride.

Plan is to have an official track opening and open day 30th November. Look out on the club site and Miramar Track Project facebook page for details.

Mt Victoria

Southstar have also been putting their 2 diggers to good use on Mt Victoria. The lower section of Hippy's has been tidied up from the wooden step down to the exit. New tables and hips have been shaped.

Futher down the hill, some of the other tracks have been tidied up, including the Zig Zag and a new climbing track down above the Badminton Hall.

WCC has also been running a consultation and coming up with a plan for the northern part of Mt Vic (from the SPCA to the summit). The club is working closely with the planners, ensuring that Rod's plan for those tracks gets incorporated.

The club has also been working with WCC on the design for a new descending track from the SPCA roots to the kid's skills area. This proposed new track will eventually form part of the Super D line and will work round some sections of this track that the council is going to close. A high level plan has been mapped out, and can be see on the club site.

Reserves Consultation

Yup it's WCC Consultation time again. This time it is the "Suburban Reserves Management Plan". This plan hasn't been updated in 10 years, so now is the time for us as Mountain Bikers to get some input.

Whilst most of our tracks are either in the Town Belt, Outer Town Belt or special areas that have their own plans, like Mt Vic, this will impact a small number of tracks. Most significantly Miramar and likely, 98DH.

The proposed plan also includes some intentions by WCC to investigate options for Watts Peninsula. This is the Defense land north of the prison in Miramar.

If you want more cycling facilities like pump tracks and skills areas in local reserves, then head over to the WCC website and make an online submission. We have had some really great turnouts from the community over the past couple of years on these and it has made a big difference to these plans, and the money is starting to come, so please take 5 minutes and fill out the form.

Rad Company Showing - 26th November

The Aotearoa Adventure Film Festival is returning to Wellington!

BRANDON SEMENUK'S RAD COMPANY - WELLINGTON - ONE NIGHT ONLY

The Aotearoa Adventure Film Festival (AAFF) is proud to return for its second year. Presented by RotoruaNZ.com and Torpedo7, AAFF is pleased to present some special one-night only screenings of the latest epic Red Bull mountainbike film: Brandon Semenuk's Rad Company.

Film Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr-4LbSSriY

Spectacular riding and filming, so grab some mates and come on down for a night of cinematic mountain bike action on the big screen

Wellington - Rad Company
Date: Wednesday, November 26th, 8pm
Venue: Lighthouse Cinema Cuba
Tickets: $15 available directly at www.lighthousecuba.co.nz and limited door sales on the night.

We hope to see you at the festival!
Web: www.aaff.co.nz
Facebook: www.facebook.com/aotearoaadventurefilmfestival

T-Shirt Orders Are On Again

Just in time for a summer of shredding, or for stocking stuffers, we are doing another run of our classic logo T.

As per normal, we do preorders only. This means that we can offer more colour combos.

The T's are all 100% cotton, AS Color T's and screen printed here by Brazen.

$30 to you, all profits go back into the club to help us with events and trail building.

Orders will close Sunday 16th November. You will have your Tshirt 7-10 days later.

Order yours on the club site now.

Want to keep in touch? Follow WMTBC

For up-to-date Club news, updates and media - follow us on Facebook, or check the Club page at WMTBC.org.nz.

1080p WMTBC Desktops

Mo’ whips. Rider: Wyn Masters

Download Desktop

And here’s one commemorating the recently retired Long Gully start ramp. Rider: Steve Wallace.

Download Desktop

New Track To Be Built in Miramar - Juvenile Delinquent

Mon, 18 Aug 2014 01:01:09 GMT

A new Grade 2, beginner track will be built in Centennial Reserve this September. The Miramar Track Project, a project of the Wellington Mountain Bike Club, has been working closely with the Wellington City Council and Southstar Trails on the design for this track called "Juvenile Delinquent", or "Juvie".

Where does this track go?

Juvie will be a digger built, grade 2 track. The track start at the Boot Leg exit (White Gate Car Park) on the Mapuia side of the reserve. From there is will sidle around to join up with Conviction (the uphill track) just below where the tree fall from last year's storm occurred. Those who know the area well, will know that there was an old walking track that went up to a small clearing that was created from some tree fall a few years back. Juvie will make it to this clearing and then run underneath, then cross that existing walking track before continuing on to join into Conviction.

(Click the image to see a full size version)

To complete a Grade 2 loop, the very top of Conviction and Boot Leg will have some new work done on it to reshape corners and ease the gradient. As part of these new works, the board walk that was damaged as part of the storm will be repaired and this section of track reopened. In addition to this, the very top section of Boot Leg, that runs on the old farm bench under some old pines, will be closed and a new track to the Boot Leg clearing will be opened. This track is at risk from these old pines and tree fall, so this is a great opportunity to mitigate this risk.

In addition to these changes, a new down hill pump track / mini 4x section is planned from the Boot Leg clearing to the Water Towers Gate.

What style of track / who are the intended users?

The end goal is to create a Grade 2 loop at the top of the trail project. This means that riders heading up Conviction (Grade 3+) will enter onto an easier trail at the top of the climb.

The new sections of trail will be digger built by Southstar Trails. The design goal is "my first single track". The goal is to create a trail that will offer progression from the Miramar Kids Track and SoCK Track in Island Bay into riding single track. The gradients will be easier than Koru, but with Southstar operators at the helm, we can expect lots of nice flow and progressive trail features in the form of grade reversals and rollers.

The changes to Boot Leg will make the track wider and remove some of the pinches in the climbing corners. This will:

make it easier for junior and beginner riders to climb up to the Boot Leg clearing
provide more space for passing walkers and other trail users on the very popular section of track between Nevay Rd and the Water Towers Gate
provide a bit of respite for those climbing up Conviction

When is this happening?

Southstar trails will be on site in late September. The expectation is that we should have at least the new sidle, and hopefully all components open for Christmas.

There will be signage up on the tracks when the digger is on site. The new part of the trail will have no impact on access. However when the crew are reworking the existing top section, the tracks will be closed for a few days. You can keep up with progress via the Miramar Track Project facebook page.

Can I help?

The bulk of this build will be done by contractors. This includes the digger build, gravelling and the tidying up and securing of wind fallen pines in the boardwalk area.

Saying that, there will be tidy up and finishing to do once the track beds in. Next winter we will be going through and planting out again around this track and the dual slalom/4x section.

Why are you making these changes? Was this always the plan?

To all those that are thinking, Oh man, you are dumbing down the climb!
Yup, and we are unapologetic about this.

Firstly there are very few proper beginner trails in Wellington, and none in Wellington East. We have a great new crop of kids and beginner riders coming through, and frankly there is no progression for them. Just as Jail Brake and Solitary were designed to help riders progress to trails such as Long Gully, we need beginner trails to help these riders progress.

Secondly, the top part of the track is also the busiest, with a large number of local walkers using the connection from Nevay Rd to access the the trail network and get through to the water towers area. A wider track provides for better sight lines, and more room for different trail users to pass each other.

And as we mentioned earlier, the only part of the climb that is being completely rerouted is a section of existing farm bench. Not only is this too steep, but it is at risk of tree fall.

There will be no changes to the lower part of Conviction, other than routine maintenance.

The idea of a zero/low gradient loop has always been a part of the Miramar Track Projects planning.

What other plans do you have?

Well nice of you to ask, seeing as Southstar is going to be on site, we are going to work on the third and hopefully final phase of the pump track extension. In this phase, the left over material at the southern end of the pump track is going to be used to make another series of rollers and a return.

Once in place, it is expected that these rollers will provide more variety, and also a way that riders can build up more speed to clear the 3 doubles on the current extension.

When the extension is finished, planting beds will be installed on the side of the extension as per the rest of the track, to minimise run off and improve the appearance of the track.

Above: An example of the new planting around the pump track. Thanks to WCC for putting the beds in place, and local volunteers for the planting.

Who do we thank?

A huge thanks to the Wellington City Council Parks, Sport and Recreation for supporting and funding these works. This project is a signficant investment in the Cennential Reseve. Along side these developments, there are plans for another beginner level track in Karori that is currently in the planning stages.

"Through the consultation work in developing the Our Capital Spaces Plan and via the mountain bike workshops held at the end of last year it was made clear that one area of the trail network in Wellington that is missing are Grade 2 mountain bike trails. If these trails are designed, built and managed well they can also serve the purpose of providing an easy walk for those individuals and families who are after a shorter and easily accessible bush reserve experience." - D Halliday, Project Officer

So a big thanks to all those who have been involved in the consultation and submission process for the Capital Spaces Plan.

More information?

If you want to know more details, you can contact Miramar Trail Leader and Club Secretary Russel at secretary -at- wmtbc.org.nz, or contact Ben or Russ via the MTP Facebook page.

Through the consultation work in developing the Our Capital Spaces Plan and via the mountain bike workshops held at the end of last year it was made clear that one area of the trail network in Wellington that is missing are Grade 2 mountain bike trails. If these trails are designed, built and managed well they can also serve the purpose of providing an easy walk for those individuals and families who are after a shorter and easily accessible bush reserve experience.

2013/2014 Annual General Meeting Minutes

Sun, 10 Aug 2014 01:54:32 GMT

The club's AGM for the 2013/2014 season was held on the 7th of August.

Read the minutes >>

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

I would like to thank my fellow committee members for their support and assistance during the 2013/14 membership year. Additionally I would like to thank those members (non committee) who frequently offer their assistance and time, and all members and sponsors for your continued support of the Wellington Mountain Bike Club.

We have seen consistent growth in our club membership over the last few years and a 23% increase in the last year (184 vs 149 in 2013), this has been largely in part to The Club widening its appeal to the community through our trail building, events and advocacy.

A year of solidarity

In 2013, the club was approached by a small group of parents, a couple of whom were already club members, who wanted to develop a kids loop track in Island Bay. They are lead by a highly motivated Janet Miller and Jeremy Blake. We talked them through their options in how they could operate and they decided the best long term option would be to undertake this project as part of the club’s umbrella. From here, the group and our committee worked together to gain tools, funding and expertise, all to ensure the projects success.

The South Coast Kids Track (in Island Bay) have been selected as finalists in the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards 2014 – Wellington City Region (Sport & Leisure Category) Thanks to WCC for nominating the project and to all of those who helped to build the track. We hope you're all out there putting it to good use!

In our first year of being a registered charitable organisation, the club received an impressive amount of financial support from both the public & funding organisations. This money has gone directly back into benefiting the community; through trail building, tools, equipment and secure storage.

Due to the success of funding received, in late 2013 the Club became GST registered with IRD. The Committee agreed for the Club to absorb the additional 15% in operational costs (rather than passing the cost onto our membership) as a large percentage of our GST payable can be offset through the Club’s events.

As you may have noticed, The Club has started promoting itself a bit more to the general public. We started with membership stickers for our members bikes, the sale of branded t-shirts (that we will be continuing) and the start of two brand campaigns (we will be launching posters in local businesses over the next few months).

I would like to personally thank the following businesses and organisations for their support over the last year – Burkes Cycles, Bike Barn, Bicycle, Mud Cycles, Dirt Merchants, Cycle Science, Place Makers Evans Bay, cSixx Products, Spoke Magazine, Bike Wellington, The Rock FM, BIG design, Floyds Cafe, Yeastie Boys, Gasworks, Infinity Foundation, The Lion Foundation, Transpower, Trail Fund New Zealand, Upper Hutt City Council and Wellington City Council.

Trails

Long Gully

Over the last year Tony Harvey, Adrian Armstrong & Dan Smith (along with their happy trail pixies) have all done an outstanding job ensuring the existing trails at Long Gully remain ridable for everyone to enjoy.

As many of you have by now heard, the future of Long Gully is set for some change. Tim Watson and his wife plan to build their family home on the section of land we use for our trails. The entire Watson family are extremely supportive of the Wellington Mountain Bike Club and wish to ensure we retain access to our trails on their property.

There will be some change coming – trail access and some trail location may be changing, also the Watsons have proposed raising the amount we pay them to help their ever growing cost to maintain the road we use for shuttling. Over the next few months the Committee will be working on ways The Club can ensure we can financially afford to keep access. This may also include raising the trail users cost to access Long Gully.

I would like to ensure you that The Club acknowledges the importance of Long Gully to its membership and we do wish to retain access, along with the trails, at Long Gully for everyone to enjoy.

This is an ongoing project and we will keep you updated with developments through our newsletters.

Miramar Track Project

The focus this year for Miramar has been on fixing trails after last July’s storms, and finishing off the Pump Track/Kids Area. A grant from the Infinity Foundation, together with funds raised from the enduro events was used to purchase a container for tools and to act as an in town base for the club for trailers and race equipment. With the assistance of local earthmoving contractors, WCC and South Star trails the pump track has been increased to twice it’s original size. MTP have been continuing with their rubbish collection and planting efforts. In the coming year, there will be some changes to the top of the tracks to re route around some dangerous trees and open up a family loop at the top of Mt Crawford.

Brooklyn Trail Builders

After the opening of the new Windmill climbing track and the revamped Car Parts, the focus for BTB moved lower down Polhill. The new Serendipity downhill track takes the load off the busy lower part of Transient and is already proving to be a hugely popular ride.

On the other side of the valley, a substantial grant from Transpower has allowed the club to run a paid trail crew, working on a hand built uphill called Clinical. The track runs through some very challenging terrain that’s difficult to build in and whilst progress is slower than originally planned, the end result will be very high standard. The track should be completed by summer.

BTB have been very busy with planting both at the Aro Valley park end and up on Sawmill. Planting days have been very well attended, and have been well supported by the local community and schools. The work by volunteers has been supplemented by the recent investment from WCC to tidy up the entrance to the trails in Aro Valley. Design work is ongoing for a new descending track (Lady Lumps) that will connect into Clinical. The hope is that approvals will be granted for this track in the coming year.

Mt Victoria

Mt Vic was hit particularly hard by the July storms. From this devastation new opportunities have presented themselves. Once again club members and other riders mobilised in large numbers to help clear the debris on the trails. A fallen tree on Hippy’s, become a brand new table top, thanks to WCC and some digger time from Southstar Trails. Trail Leader Steve Wallace worked very closely with the council on mapping out the existing trails and installing trailhead makers. The super d line is now marked top to bottom with special trail makers. In terms of new build, the climbing track from the saddle now provides an easier climb up to the top of Mt Alfred and helps separate riders from walkers on this busy area. Steve has since stepped down from the trail leader role to focus on a new professional opportunity, and we thank Steve for his efforts in establishing Mt Vic Trails. This coming year we welcome back Rod Bardsley into the fold who will be continuing Steve’s good work.

South Coast Kids Track

As mentioned earlier, this brand new project has proved itself an instant success. The club is proud to be associated with this project and commends the hard work from the team of parents who drove this project. The project received significant support from both Trail Fund, for tools and trail surfacing, and the WCC Community Fund which allowed the club to contribute towards Southstar Trails digger time. The expertise from Southstar, combined with the grunt from the digger meant this track could be largely realised in less than a week. There has already been interest from other Wellington communities in this type of trail and the club looks forward to contributing to these projects and the development of these very junior riders.

Portal

The timing of the July storms could not have been crueller to the Portal trail crew. No sooner had they put in place some new, quality structures, the storm came through and decimated large portions of the hill. Undeterred, Eugene, Jourdan and the rest of the crew have been chipping away at the track, rerouting new obstacles and revitalising a number of the old stunts and creating new ones.

Karori

The storms were again brutal on Karori. But thanks to the efforts of local diggers, led by Tony Harvie and the WCC tree team, the track was cleared and ready for racing in round 2 of the DH series. This was a huge ask given the amount of tree fall.

Tony has sinced moved out of Karori and has turned over care for the trail to Curtis Johnstone. Huge thanks to Tony for all his efforts, and his continuing work on the Race Track in Long Gully. Curtis is working with the likes of Ricky Pincott and the council on a possible extension to the track that would move the start line to further up the hill and make the most available vertical. This extension should add some more time to the track and with a little luck and much effort, it could be ready for the DH series this spring.

Maidstone DH

Maidstone had been one of the areas that was in need of some TLC and some leadership around the trail crew. Our thanks to Kerry White for putting his hand up here. Thanks to his hard work, both on the tools and coordinating other volunteers, the track was in tip top shape for the first round of our DH series.

Mt Albert 4X

Another area that was in need of someone putting their hand up to take some leadership in the care and maintenance, the 4X had become somewhat neglected. Kudos needs to go the club members who organised some impromptu work parities to clear the line and reshape the lips last spring. In the coming year we look for better and bigger things to come with Dan Smith and Peter Cassidy coming forward to coordinate digs on the track. The goal is to get some casual Friday night racing going again over the summer.

Events

The Club has continued our strong relationships with both Revolve & PNP in support of both there and our events. A special thanks goes out to Bernie Cruze for his help in providing quality timing at our events.

DH Series

After taking a year off, 2013 saw the long awaited return of our Downhill Series. The series proved to be popular again with 79 individual competitors competing across the three events. We are eager to build on this momentum and plan for this years series to attract even more riders to Wellington.

As part of the series in 2013, we secured $5,000 worth of funding. This ensured the purchase of a new PA system and Portable Generator (these have both been put to good use) along with some money to go towards the cost of hiring First Aid, Toilets and Shuttle Vans.

Enduro Series

This year the club ran our first Enduro Series. Comprised of some already established events, the Escape from Mt Crawford, the Mt Vic Super D and Revolve’s Super V and two brand new events, the Wainui and Makara Peak Enduro’s. There were over 500 entries over the 5 events.

Funds raised from this series went directly to the trail centre’s hosting the races, with over $8,000 raised to go towards trail maintenance. The club drew no revenue from this series and were happy to do so as many of our projects were direct beneficiaries. Next year we will be looking to run the series again and take a small per rider fee to cover our costs. A huge thanks to the Yeastie Boys for their support of the series.

Shuttle Days

Our Shuttle Days have proven to be hugely popular with both members and non-members. Our Christmas Shuttle Day was hugely popular and we managed to raise $350 for Arthritis New Zealand.

Once again, by running these events both within and outside of Long Gully, the Club has also attracted new riders who would normally shy away from events.

Fundraisers

Tom (the Pom) Adams was the brainchild behind the inaugural Klunkers for Chainless for Charity. The goal was to raise some funds and collect parts and bikes for the Mechanical Tempest and Bike Junction. A great evening of low key racing on bikes of all types.

In partnership with SPOKE Magazine, we showed the New Zealand premiere of Won't Back Down, the Steve Peat movie. The event had a reasonable turnout and the auction we ran was hotly contested in which we raised $220 for Sarah Atkin to help get her to the 2014 World Championships in Norway

WMTBC Members racing overseas

During 2014 the Wellington Mountain Bike Club have had club members racing internationally. After claiming the New Zealand title, Sarah Atkin secured the Oceania DH Womens Elite title as well.

Local rider Bryn Dickinson has been competing in both the European and World Cup races for the Devinci Global Racing DH team. Both Sarah and Bryn will make their way to Norway to compete in the 2014 World MTB Championships

Advocacy / Community engagement

Over the last 12 months our Committee has been working directly with the Wellington City Council (along with other community groups) to advise on the following topics,

Town Belt policy
Draft Annual Plan
Capital Spaces Plan
Transport planning
EBikes policy.

This has involved a significant amount of time in the preparation of both written and oral submissions. The officers would also like to thank all club members who made individual submissions on these plans.

The committee has also been engaging with council officers on short and long term plans for track and mountain biking in the city. It is encouraging to see that the council is placing an emphasis on outdoor recreation and informal sport by looking to include it as part of the recent Sport and Recreation Forum that I and some of our trail leaders attended.

Our contribution and involvement in these projects has been widely recognised by Wellington City Councillors and has helped in solidifying our name further within the Wellington community.

Achieving Goals

Last year the committee laid out a Strategic Plan for this year. It is indeed encouraging that so much of what we set out to achieve was achieved in the areas of trail building, events, advocacy, and governance of the club.

One area that is ongoing is working on a suitable replacement for the 12 bike trailer. This trailer is really not suitable for use outside of Long Gully due to the size and nature of the tyres and width of the deck. A number of options have been investigated for new trailers and designs, with the committee very nearly closing a deal for a ready made trailer, only to find that although it was shorter, it was in fact wider than the existing 12 bike. Our thanks to Bike Wellington and David Woodnorth for the use of their trailers over the past year. The committee now has a plan for the trailers and is collecting quotations in preparation for a funding application to purchase at least one new trailer.

Ongoing challenges

Volunteers – We need to grow the number of people who can both help organise, perform jobs and marshall at our events. Without this help, we simply can not run events. We continue to look at ways to incentivise volunteering, but our ideal would be for club members to encourage friends and family to help out wherever they can.
Trail user conflict – We encourage all trail users to be courteous to each other while using the trails. Even if the other user is at fault in an incident, by being polite, it will help build a good repore for all mountain bikers.
Illegal trail building in the community makes both mountain bikers and WMTBC look bad - it affects our sanctioned work we are carrying out with the WCC.

Looking ahead to the next year.

The committee has developed a strategic plan which puts in place some tangible goals we are looking to achieve in the coming year. We will present this plan at the AGM. These goals have been aligned with a broader vision for the next 5 years. I encourage you all to review these plans, and invite you to help us make these a reality.

Please continue to support your Club & your incoming Committee. Thanks for all your support over the last year.

Best wishes to all in 2014 & 2015.

Dave Preece

WMTBC President

July Newsletter and Notice of AGM

Sun, 13 Jul 2014 08:19:46 GMT

New membership year - time to renew

No doubt you have received your reminders via email. Memberships are now open for the 2014/2015 year.A reminder that you need to be a current financial member of the club to vote at the AGM and to be nominated for an officer or committee role.

New Family Membership

This year the committee is very happy to announce a new Family membership for $50. This recognises the growing number of families that are joining the club, and hopefully will encourage a few existing members to sign up the rest of their family. A family is defined as two or more family members who all live at the same address. Sign yours up now.

Just a note that you should be able to change your membership from an individual to a family at renewal, any problems, then contact the club secretary.

Notice of AGM

A reminder that our AGM will be held on Thursday August 7 starting at 6:30pm with pizza, then into the meeting at 7pm. If you are intending on coming, please RSVP by registering for the event so that we ensure we get enough pizza.

The agenda is as follows:

Minutes of last years AGM
President's report
Treasurer's report and statement of accounts
Election of officers
Constitution updates
Strategic Plan review
New Business

Nominations for officer and general committee roles are now open. A good number of our existing committee are happy to continue their roles, but as always, we are keen to get new people involved. See the AGM event for details about the committee roles and how to make a nomination.

Constitution Updates

The AGM is an opportunity to update our constitution. As a registered charity, we need to take special care when we update our constitution to ensure that we comply with the charities rules.

This year we are making 3 changes. These are all around payments the club can make to club members for services they provide, and a new clause that allows for (but does not require) honoria payments to committee members. A great deal of research and talking with Charities and the Societies Office goes into preparing these changes and the committee would like to thank Peter Cassidy for his efforts here. To see the full proposed changes, see the AGM agenda. A majority vote of those present is required to pass these changes.

Racing Update

The club would like to congratulate Sarah Atkin on her selection for the World Champs in August. Sarah has had a stellar year capturing both the National and Oceania titles. It is an expensive business getting to World's and there is no financial support from the national bodies. As a privateer, this means Sarah has to pay for the lot out of her own back pocket. If you would like to to help her out, head over to her giveallittle page and make a donation. See the full team kiwi announcement on the BikeNZ site.

Brynn Dickerson is in Europe with Gypsy Racing and starting to get some solid results. Check out his track preview of the Val di Sole course on Pinkbike, Yeah boi!

"Whisky" Mike Cowlin is on a van trip of BC and has been hitting up a few Enduro races. Looks like he has been giving the locals a scare with some solid finishes, even as he contends with some bruised/cracked ribs after giving himself a scare on some BC singletrack.

We wish all our Welly racers well. If you know of anyone else giving it a crack overseas, then drop us a line so we can give them a feature.

Planting Season In Full Swing

Epic Turn Out For Planting in Polhill

BTB had an epic turn out for their mega planting work party in early June. 50 people turned up to help put the 350 plants into the ground and spread mulch. A great cooperative effort with Aro Valley Regeneration Group and Kai o te Aro, the neighbouring community garden. Brooklyn Primary School then got stuck in and got another 350 plants into the ground at the top of Sawmill. Top effort all round.

Cleaning up and planting out in Miramar

The Miramar Track crew started their planting season with a clean up, with a dozen volunteers, including some kids and trail dogs, picking up rubbish at the Nevay Rd entrance. The team managed to fill a skip in less than an hour and make a start on their planting efforts for the season. Miramar will be running at least two more planting work parties in early August, so watch their Facebook page for details.

New Trail Leader For Mt Vic

Steve Wallace has stepped down from the Mt Vic Trail Leader role due to new work commitments. The committee would like to thank Steve for his efforts over the past couple of years. On top of the new track development around the Saddle, Steve has been working hard with the council on maintenance and signage for riders on the hill.

The committee has confirmed Mt Vic fanatic, Rod "he of the many many #tag" Bardsley as the new trail leader. Rod's focus in the coming year will be on maintenance and reworking exits on some of the trails that cross popular walking tracks to reduce walker/rider conflict. Rod is planning a group ride to run through and discuss some of the changes, so keep tabs on the Mt Vic FB page for details.

South Coast Kids Track Official Opening

The SoCK Track crew planned their official opening to coincide with a big planting work party. Due to the large turn out, the planting was done and dusted in around 20 minutes!

This meant the kids could get straight into the fun, with an old school lolly scramble (if anyone from OSH/ACC is reading, no one was killed or maimed) followed by race. A le mans start, with the parents messing around with the parked up bikes, then a lap of the track. Congratulations to the winner Izzy. Her prize, to help Deputy Mayor Justin Lester cut the ribbon. The track has been nominated for a Wellington Community Award, well done to Jeremy, Kether and the rest of the crew.

A big thanks to WCC for their continued support of the track, Trail Fund NZ and Revolve for kicking in some funds, Southstar Trails for the epic build, Floyd's Cafe and New World Island Bay for donating food for digs and sausage sizzles, Welly MTB Club members for pitching in at work parties and Placemakers Evans Bay for lending us their epic BBQ trail for the sausage sizzle at the track opening.

The track has received some huge praise, with congratulations and interest from as far afield as Perth, WA. The club is already talking with WCC councillors about the possibility of similar tracks elsewhere in the city, so watch this space.

Wicked Wellington Competition

Bike Wellington and HELiPRO are turning it up for the ultimate adventure experience. After being choppered in to Makara Peak, you'll ride the track down with a professional photographer snapping you like a pro. If you are keen, all you need to do is enter online.

See you on the trails!

May Newsletter

Tue, 20 May 2014 10:13:21 GMT

1. Enduro Series Wrap

Time flies and it is over a month now since we wrapped the Welly Enduro Series. We had over 500 entries across the five events, and raised near on $8,000 for the various track projects.

A big thanks to The Yeastie Boys for sponsoring the series, Placemakers Evan's Bay for helping out with their mega bbq trailer and Floyd's Cafe for keeping our volunteers well fed. A special thanks to everyone who helped out with the races, whether it be timing, marshalling, registration, driving or general helping. We do rely on the good will of volunteers to ensure that we can run these events, so a massive thanks to all of you.

Full series Results

2. Welly Racers Heading Overseas

The international race season is already well under way.

It was great to see National and Oceania Champ and club member, Sarah Atkin getting back into the swing of World Cup racing in the mud at Cairns. Sarah qualified in 12th and improved to 11th in her race run. She is running as a privateer this year and is aiming to make the World Champs, and hopefully a few of the europe based races along the way. Sarah is fundraising, so if you can spare a few buck head over to her Give a little site and help her get to world champs.

Also heading to Europe after putting in some hard yards in our paid trail crew in Polhill (and smashing out a couple of firsts in the WES) is Brynn Dickerson. Brynn has been picked up by the Devinci development team - Gypsy Racing. He is now on his way to Europe to hit up the IXS Cups, European World Cup races and other selected events.

On the Enduro side of things, Rosara Joesph has got herself a slick new Enduro sled and will be heading off shortly to tackle some EWS rounds and other races.

Best of luck to Sarah, Rosara and Bryn.

3. Big changes in Polhill

WCC has initiated some improvements for the park area at the bottom of Transient/Serendipity. Once the works are finished, the area will be safer for all users and there will be an all weather surfaced track leading to the entrance of Transient.

The club's employed trail crew has been making steady progress on the new uphill on the other side of the valley, Clinical. This track is about 60% complete. Now that works has finished on Serendipity, the work of our hired trail crew will be supplemented by volunteer digs. Keep tabs on the BTB facebook page for these that will be run every second Sunday.

4. South Coast Kids Track Opening

Stop press: Due to the weather forecast, this has been postponed till June 7th at 2pm.

This Saturday the 7th of June from 2pm, the SoCK track is combining their offical opening with a planting work party. After the planting is done, the track will be opened with some fun races kids vs parents. The Placemakers Evan's Bay BBQ trailer will be on site, so bring some gold coins.

The track recently recieved a coating of gravel, with WCC and Trail Fund supplying the money for the materials and local parents and club members suppling the labour. This should ensure that the track is good to go year round.

For more information on the Opening / Native Tree Planing Work Party - check out the SoCK Track Facebook page.

5.Wellington- The Coolest little MTB Capital in the World!

Mountain Biking Proposal to Wellington City Council Economic Development

Wellington is mountain biking’s best kept secret. There is a great opportunity to market Wellington as a MTB destination and deliver significant economic growth to the city and region. In recent months a group of Wellington mountain bikers (including club representatives) have held meetings to discuss this- a bold vision supported by a business plan that identified both marketing and track/infrastructure development was identified.

Last week, the core committee (John Hutchings, Matt Farrar, Anthony Edmonds, Ash Burgess and Ben Wilde) proposed that Wellington City Council invest $60k out of the economic development fund to develop a comprehensive business plan (there was a news article about this in the DomPost ).This funding will pay for a dedicated project manager/business plan writer to lead the development of the plan and an independent economic research specialist to validate benefits proposed. It is anticipated that investment identified in the plan will not just be funded by WCC. Support will be sought from key central Government agencies (for example the Toursim Growth Partnership), Greater Wellington Regional Council, Hutt City Council, educational institutions, Wellington businesses and sponsors and the mountain bike community.
We look forward to spreading the word to the world about our great little city we call home!

John Hutchings will be the project leader and will update on progress with the application via club newsletters. For any queries or more information in meantime please contact John, john.hutchings@paradise.net.nz

6. AGM Dates and Membership 2014/2015

This year's AGM will be held Thursday 7th of August at 6pm. Club will be shouting drinks and pizza. As per tradition, there will be a bike movie after the AGM. More details to come closer to the date.

The committee has decided that memberships for next season will remain at the same rate with $30 for membership, and $15 extra for the Long Gully car pass. Next year we will also start offering a family membership. This will cover a family living at the same address for a rate of $60. Just a reminder that all club memberships are due 1 July and are valid through to 30 June.

7. It pays to be a member

On Saturday we were advised by Hutt police that they had recovered a bike with a club membership sticker on it. Dan our memberships guy checked our records and we were able to reunite Kerry with his bike. As they say, membership has it's rewards.

Position Vacant: Paid Trail Builder [CLOSED]

Dave — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 02:29:46 GMT

The Wellington Mountain Bike Club has a position available as a Trail Builder based in Wellington City.

This is an exciting role that will see you working on the newest trail in the Polhill Reserve, Clinical.

Our ideal candidate will have trail building experience, and be passionate about the development of new trails. A First Aid Certificate is also preferred.

Approximately 4-30 hours of work are required per week. However, working hours/days are flexible so you’re able to manage other commitments.

This is a 4 week fixed term contract, commencing Saturday 10th May until Friday 7th June 2014 and remuneration is $15.00 per hour.

Applications closed 5pm, Sunday 27th April 2014.

2014 cSixx Mt Vic Super D + Mini D results

Dave — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 00:25:37 GMT

Click here for full results

February Newsletter

Wed, 26 Feb 2014 07:27:30 GMT

NZ National Downhill 2014 - Sarah Atkin FTW!

Sarah going for the win. Photo "borrowed" from BikeNZ website.

The big news from the recent National Downhill Champs held in Rotorua is Sarah Atkin’s inaugural Elite title. Wellington local Sarah took the top step emphatically with a 6 second lead over Alanna Columb, and almost 7 seconds ahead of Harriet Letcham, both from Queenstown. Some would say, ourselves included, this has been coming for a long time and it’s great to see Sarah riding strong.

The Elite men’s field was stacked as usual and the title was taken out by Hawkes Bay’s George Brannigan, with Wanganui’s Sam Blenkinsop less than a second back followed by Switzerland’s Nick Beer.

So sending a massive congratulations out to Sarah and to all other club members who took part in the event! Check the full report over on the BikeNZ site.

Christmas Shuttles x Longest Day Ride

It’s a while ago now, but we neglected to mention it earlier. Saturday the 21st marked the fifth annual Longest Day Ride and we thought it was a good opportunity to get our Club members together for some Christmas Shuttles. Besides an amazing excuse to ride your bike all day, those participating in the Longest Day Ride raise funds for Arthritis NZ.

And what a day! The super keen were up at Polhill for a run at first light and shortly after 9am, the late risers were met at Miramar. After a couple of hours there, we moved on to Wainui, then to Karori Park followed by Mt Victoria and then finally back to Miramar for the last runs. By about 8pm, the last handful of riders were calling it quits and yarns were being spun around the BBQ.

At its high point we had about 30 riders and surprisingly there was only one incident all day involving one lad riding off Hippys. You’ll be pleased to know he wasn’t off the bike for long.

We’re also pleased to announce that $350 was raised for Arthritis NZ. Many thanks to all those that came along and to the drivers.

Welly Enduro Series

For a full calendar of events, results and points standings head over to wmtbc.org.nz/enduro

Round 1 Report - The Escape from Mt Crawford

Round 1 of the Enduro Series at Miramar was a blast. Over 90 riders on the day, so great conditions and relaxed vibe. The riders in the Felony class soon mastered the top of the track diversion (nick named “Ball and Chain”) and everyone got three runs under their belts.

The Sufferfest Hill Climb up Jail Brake lived up to it’s billing. Riders must have been hitting their max heart rate by the time they hit the rock drop.

Karl “The Weasel” Patterson backed up his performance from last year and took at the Felony class Enduro and the King of the Mountain. Whilst in the Women’s it was Sascha Smith taking the double in the Women’s.

A huge thanks to Placemakers Evan’s Bay, The Rock FM and Burkes Cycles for supporting this event, and of course to The Yeastie Boys who are supporting the entire series.

Round 2 Next Sunday March 9th at Wainuiomata

The second round of the WES will be at WTP next Sunday.

This will consist of 2 runs down different courses, with untimed liaison stages to the top of each course.

Registration from 9am. Race runs should be done and dusted by 1 with prize giving shortly after.

We are running all age group classes, with prizes for each class. Excellent Yeastie Boys beer for those of age, and something equally sweet for those who aren’t.

Enter online >>

Round 3 Revolve Super V

Ladies, don't forget there is one round of the WES just for you - the Revolve Super V. This will be a fun day of shuttles and racing in Polhill. Head over to the Revolve site to enter.

Round 4 cSixx Mt Vic Super D Entries Open Now

March 30th is lining up as a big one. The Mt Vic Super D gets bigger and better each year.
Entries are open now on the club site.

New for this year is the Mini D, a super D for 7 - 12 year olds. This will be held on a different course that follows some of the easier trails down from the top of Mt Vic back to the event village at the Harrier Club.

Steve Wallace and the Mt Vic Trails Crew will have a few course changes in store for this edition of the event that will keep you on your toes. Digs are running mid week in the evenings. Check the Mt Vic trails facebook page for details.

Volunteers Needed - Get us a volunteer, get free entry.

We need a number of volunteers, particularly to Marshall for our upcoming events and we need your help to find them. To that end we are going to offer free entry to all of those who find us a volunteer.

Here is how it works:

Find us a volunteer for Wainuiomata, and you get free entry to the cSixx Mt Vic Super D
Find us a volunteer for the cSixx Mt Vic Super D, and you get free entry to the Makara Enduro
If your volunteer turns up and does their bit on the day, then we will sort you an entry.
It is that easy.

If you have a husband, wife, brother, sister, father, mother, friend or flatmate who can help out, then please email secretary at wmtbc.org.nz with their contact details.

T-Shirt Order - Get your order in before this Thursday Night

Yes we are doing another run of T-shirts, and you have till tomorrow night to get your orders in.

Men’s and Women’s styles, a range of colours, $35 including NZ postage.

Order yours now >>

Karapoti - Volunteers required.

We have had a request from Michael Jacques for 6 more volunteers required for help on Saturday, including tail end Charlie.

There will be free lunch, T shirt and a free entry to next years event, if you can help please email Michael direct- Michael Jacques michael@mdj.co.nz

Xmas Newsletter

Fri, 13 Dec 2013 08:33:20 GMT

The end of the year is upon us, summer is here (kinda), time to get out and hit the trails.

Wellington DH Series Round Three and Series Wrap

Final round of the WDHS was held at Long Gully on Sunday the 8th, in shall we say, testing conditions. Strong winds resulted in a start change, and a smaller field, but there was some great racing from those hardcores who did show up, including plenty of action of the revitalised Creek Jump. The club would like to say a huge thanks to Dan Smith who has been leading the charge on tidying up Jawbone and to everyone who helped him.

Our thanks to Bike 88 for supporting this round.

Full results are up on the club site . Congratulations to everyone who placed in the final round, and to our series champions. Don’t forget all rounds of the WDHS are NZ MTB Crown events, and so your results will be up on nzcrown.co.nz shortly.

Cheers to Ricoh of Running Quail Productions for the Photos - head over to Flicker to check them out.

And here are some vids of the race action.

Longest Day Shuttles

For the final shuttle day of the year, we are combining the club xmas party with the Longest Day ride. We will be doing shuttles all around Wellington. We will finish up with a BBQ and the newly revamped Miramar Pump Track. There is a limit of 30 spaces, and as this goes to print, there are less than half the spots left.

This is a member only event, so if you want to take part, you will need to join the club first. This event is part of the Longest Day Ride, and a contribution from each riders event fees will be donated to Arthritis NZ.

Register for this event on the club site

Club T-Shirts - $35

If you were at the the race in the weekend you would have seen Club President, Dave, and Events Manager, John wearing the new club t-shirt. We are going to offer 9 colour combinations in both mens and women’s sizing. The Tees are all the AS Colour T-Shirt, which is the same as the Trail Fund NZ ones.

Head over to the order page and select your colour combo and size. We will close the order off before Xmas, and send off to the printers. All going well they will be ready in the early new year.

Price is $35 including local Wellington postage.

For this order, to keep things simple on our volunteers, we will be running the whole thing through the Paypal order system, no cash or direct credits. Sorry if this is a pain, but it is easier for us to organise.

Get your order in via the club site.

Wellington City Council brings Southstar Digger to town

First stop - South Coast Kids Track

The awesome people at Wellington City Council Parks and Reserves have contracted Jeff Carter and his digger from Southstar Trails to work on some of our projects for the next few weeks. Jeff and Matt have already blazed through the new South Coast Kids Track in Island Bay. And frankly, it looks rad. We are pretty sure it won’t just be kids giving this a work out.

The South Coast Kids Track was a proposal brought to the club by some enthusiastic parents and is something the committee is very proud to be part of. We have been working with them on the layout and helping with funding grants. Check out their facebook page for updates. Now the main track is in, they will be running work parties to add the finishing touches.

Next up - Miramar Pump Track

The digger is now working at Miramar on the long awaited pump track extension. The huge mounds of clay have finally dried out and are ready for shaping. Keep your eyes posted on the Miramar facebook page for updates. All going well, the boys will be heading to Mt Vic for some work on Hippys before heading out to Super Plus and WTP next week. Should be lots of sweet new track to session these holidays.

Clinical Crew Gets Going

Thanks to the grant from Transpower, the club has now employed 4 diggers to work on the clinical track over summer. The digging crew will be overseen by Mike The Hippy who is back in town. All going well they should be all but done by the end of January.

Over the other side of the Polhill Gully, the volunteer built Serendipity is almost through to the end. You can ride ¾ of the track and it is riding sweet, so get into it.

Bikes, Beer and BBQ - Wellington Enduro Series kicks off Jan 20th

What is the WES?

The WES is a multi round, cross club series. There are 4 events for the guys, and with the addition of Revolve’s Super V, 5 for the women. Points will be allocated in each round with *your best 3 placings* counting towards the overall total. You must compete in at least 3 events to be eligible for the overall, and the crown of the fastest trail rider in Wellington. In addition to this, each round is also a NZ MTB Crown bronze event.

Save the dates:

Mt Crawford Mini Enduro - 20 Jan
Wainui Enduro - 9 March (Doubles as Wgtn College and PNP Mtb Champs)
Revolve Super V - 23 March (Women’s only event)
Mt Vic Super D - 30 March
Makara Peak Enduro - 6 April (Doubles as the Wgtn College Sports Enduro Champs)

First Up - Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro

The first round of the WES will be held at Miramar on Wellington Anniversary Day, Monday Jan 20th. We are hoping for good weather this year and the chance that we will be able to run the Sufferfest Hill Climb up Jail Brake.

The event will be mini enduro style with multiple runs down the tracks in the Miramar Track Project.

Entries are open now on the club site. Discount for all club members.

A big thanks to Burkes Cycles who have supported this event for the last two years and to Placemakers Evan’s Bay for supplying their BBQ mega trailer for this event.

We are also very pleased to announce that the Yeastie Boys are coming on board to support the series with some very tasty prizes (for those over 18).

New Treasurer

Our current Treasurer, Peter Cassidy has stepped down from the role. Peter has been instrumental in getting the club finances knocked into shape in the last 18 months and working on systems to make it easier for someone to perform this role. The committee is most thankful for his efforts. Peter will be staying on as a committee member.

In accordance with the club constitution, the committee and club officers have appointed a new treasurer to fill the role through to the next AGM. Our thanks Adian Forrest for stepping up.

Cheers for your support

The committee would like to thank all members and volunteers for their continued support. Whether it be trail building or running events, we can't do it with out people putting their hands up to help out. Enjoy your holiday riding!

November Newsletter - Racing Returns!

Fri, 15 Nov 2013 01:22:09 GMT

Once again another busy period for the club. Lots of good work going on by the trail projects, and the return of club racing. With all the events on, trail building updates take a back seat for this issue, but will be back in force next time. Lets hope this good weather sticks around and we get another golden summer of riding.

WDHS Update

The first two rounds of the Wgtn DH Series have given us some exciting racing in very different conditions.

Upper Hutt turned on a stunner for the first round, a blue bird day with only a slight breeze. The Maidstone track was in top condition thanks to Kerry White and his crew of volunteers. On a dry track, some riders opted for long travel trail bikes over DH rigs, and with a pedally section at the top this paid dividends with some of these riders making the podium.

Maidstone Results

Event Photos and Videos

>Round two and a return to 98 DH in Karori.This area had been hit very hard by the July storms, and 6 weeks before race day, it was a mess of fallen trees. A huge thanks to WCC and their Tree Team for getting in there and clearing out the worst of it, and also to Tony Harvie and Curtis for leading another group of (mainly the same) volunteers to clear out the track and get it running again. With some wet weather early in the week, the tech sections of the track were always going to prove a challenge, especially the "Chute of death". A smaller turn out but once again some great racing.

Karori Results

Event Photos and Videos

Sherwin’s videos on YouTube

The final round of the series will be held at Long Gully Station on Dec 8th on Jawbone. Once again the track will be in tip top condition and our thanks to Dan Smith to leading the charge here again with that ever present band of volunteers. Over labour weekend, the track received a much over due hair cut and with some upgraded features, it should be an awesome race.

Jawbone Digging Circle vid - no digger? no worries.

Whilst some categories look all but sewn up, the overall title is still very much up for grabs in Open Men, Masters 1 and Under 19. In Open Men, 25 points is all that separates the top 4 racers. It should be a great day of racing so get your entries in today.

The club would like to thank John Whale and Dave Preece for organising the races, and all the volunteers who help out with marshalling, timing, driving and everything else. With out people giving up their time to help out, we simply couldn't run these events, so we appreciate all your efforts.

Shuttle Days Will Be Back

Shuttle Days have taken a back seat for the last few months due to the DH series swallowing up nearly all our available volunteer time. But never fear, they will be back, and we have a little something special planned for December so stay tuned to the Facebook page for details.

The Welly Enduro Series Is Coming

Yup we are well and truly jumping on the band wagon. The Welly MTB Club is partnering with PNP, Revolve, WTP and Makara Peak Supports for a new Enduro Series that will kick off in late January.

The series will bring in some existing events, including the Miramar Mini Enduro, Revolve Super V and the Mt Vic Super D. There will also be two brand new events for this year, that will both be multi stage enduros, one in Wainui and the other at Makara Peak.

The goal is to raise money for trail building and maintenance in each of the 5 trail areas that will be hosting an event.

Riders will accumulate points throughout the series, with their best 3 results counting towards the overall championship. In addition to this, all events will be part of the NZ Mtb Crown Enduro series. Most events will offer 2 courses, 1 for the hardcore, with a bit more tech thrown in, and another for the rest of us who want to test ourselves on something less critical.

So save the dates:

Mt Crawford Mini Enduro - 20 Jan
Wainui Enduro - 9 March
Revolve Super V - 23 March (Women’s only event)
Mt Vic Super D - 30 March
Makara Peak Enduro - 6 April (Doubles as the Wgtn College Sports Enduro Champs)

Series entry will open in December, with a special deal for all those who sign up before Christmas.

We will need plenty of volunteers to help us run this series, so please get in touch if you know someone who can help us out. Drop an email to events@wmtbc.org.nz.

A Huge Thank You To Our Supporters

In addition to all the sponsors who have been assisting with the race series, the club has been very successful with grant applications recently. The committee has been putting in the hard yards on getting grant applications into shape.

Miramar Track Project received a grant to help fund a container for tools and other equipment from the Infinity Foundation.
Transpower has kicked in with a huge contribution for the Brooklyn Trail Builders to help complete the trail network. Check our news item for more details
A huge thanks to the Lion Foundation who are chipping in to support the health and safety needs of the DH series. This includes a grant to help towards a new PA and generator which we will be using for race briefings at all our events.

And finally thanks to all the supporters of the Welly DH Series

Cycle Science - Round 1 Title Sponsor
Mud Cycles - Round 2 Title Sponsor
Bike88 - Round 3 Title Sponsor
The Rock Wellington
Big Design
PNP
Upper Hutt City
Wellington City Council

And now for something completely different

BMX set to return to Wellington

The new Capital BMX Club is looking to get a nationals level BMX track built at Ian Gallloway Park. The committee see this as a great opportunity for all riders in Wellington and are very much in support. Capital BMX are looking for expressions of interest from potential members to help with their plans and to get support for the track. For $10 you can register your support now, and this will be deducted from your first subscription.

2013 Wellington Downhill Series - Overall Points

Dave — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 02:45:13 GMT

Here they are, the 2013 Wellington Downhill Series overall standings (after round 2)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

2013 Wellington Downhill Series – Round 2 Results (Karori)

Dave — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 07:16:29 GMT

Click here

Brooklyn Trail Builders Get Huge Boost From Transpower

Wed, 30 Oct 2013 04:47:42 GMT

We’re very happy to formally announce that Transpower have made a significant financial contribution to the development of trails in the Polhill Reserve, Wellington. This news comes after the hard working team at Brooklyn Trail Builders in conjunction with the Wellington Mountain Bike Club, submitted an application to Transpower for their CommunityCare Fund.

The Fund provides one-off grants to community projects along the national grid’s route and to communities that are affected by new Transpower projects.

Over the coming years, the funding granted to Brooklyn Trail Builders will contribute to the development of a new trail ‘Clinical’ in addition to the planting of natives and investigating routes for further trails in the Polhill Reserve.

The Trail Builders’ long term vision for the area which is situated between the Aro Street and the end of Windmill Road, Brooklyn, is the development of an extensive trail network. The Reserve is already a staple for locals and those travelling into the region due to its close proximity to the central city and the trail access it provides to Brooklyn, and other trails extending further South.

Looking to the future, Brooklyn Trail Builders’ Craig Starnes believes the project will be a positive contributor to the local economy through recreation tourism, that working with local schools provides opportunity for students to gain valuable work experience, and that planting can improve biodiversity within the Reserve.

In the shorter term, the benefit to Wellington trail users is variety. Combined with existing trails Transient and Highbury Fling, Clinical will complete a Grade 3 ‘Grand Loop’ of the Reserve. The approximately 7km complete loop will allow cyclists, runners and walkers to travel in both directions, with multiple access points and numerous opportunities to take in the Reserve’s unique scenery.

Construction on Clinical began in July and is set for completion late 2014. In the meantime, the Trail Builders are underway with other projects including a Grade 4 mountain bike only trail Serendipity, which is nearing completion.

In light of the successful application, Craig reiterates the importance of funding for projects like Polhill Reserve and the successful Transpower application highlights how community-based initiatives rely on support from the community, and local Government.

Brooklyn Trail Builders and the Wellington Mountain Bike Club would like to thank Transpower, Wellington Marathon Clinic, Wellington City Council, and the businesses and groups that supported the application. Special thanks also to the regular and corporate volunteers for all their hard work on the ground.

September Mega Newsletter

Mon, 09 Sep 2013 10:25:18 GMT

It has been a busy start to the new membership year. There is a lot to look forward to this spring.

Events

Shuttle Days

First shuttle day for the year was held at Long Gully on Saturday August 31st. Amazingly, the weather was perfect, warm, and little wind.

The next shuttle day will be 28th of September out at Maidstone, Upper Hutt. This shuttle day is being run as part of Upper Hutt’s Breakaway Cycle Festival with the support of Upper Hutt City Council. There are a limited number of spaces, and the only way you can reserve a spot is via the club website. See http://www.breakaway.org.nz/ for more details about the festival.

Wellington Downhill Series Is Back

After a hiatus last year, the DH series is back.

3 rounds this year, all at different venues.

Maidstone, Upper Hutt 20 October sponsored by Cycle Science
98 DH, Karori 10 November sponsored by Mud Cycles
Long Gully 8 December sponsored by Bike 88

We have organised the events so that they do not clash with the NZDH rounds, so you can do both series if you are really keen. Along with prizes for each round, competitors will earn points from each race towards the overall series championship. For the super competitive, points from each round will also contribute to the new NZ Mountain Bike Crown.

Each round will be a 1 day format, with practice in the morning, and one timed race run in the afternoon.

Enter online and save $10 over on the day entries.

Summer Of Enduro Is Coming

The Wellington MTB Club is working with other clubs and track projects in the wellington region to bring together a multi round Super D and Enduro series running Jan through Mar this summer. There will be hard and less hard courses at most rounds. Just like the DH series, there will be men’s and women’s overall crowns up for grabs.

We Need Volunteers To Run These Events

Can you, or someone you know help out at any of these events. For the race series in particular, we need people to help with registration, driving and most important marshalling on course. If you, your friends or family can help out, then please email events@wmtbc.org.nz. Marshalling in particular guarantees one of the best spots to see the action.

Dodzy Memorial Skill Park Fundraiser

This weekend, Wellington plays host to the Trail Fund and MTBNZ conference. On Saturday night, there will be get together held at the Southern Cross. During the evening there will be spot prizes and a charity auction with goodies from Cactus, Camelback, Endura, Revolution Productions, Chromag and POC up for grabs. All proceeds from the event will go towards the skills park being built in Rotorua as a memorial to James “Dodzy” Dodds who died last year. Dodzy was a huge contributor to the MTB community, as a skills coach, bike designer and trail builder. Tickets for the event are $20 and cover entry and food. There will be a cash bar. Head to Trailfund.org.nz for your ticket.

Track Building

Maidstone

After a few years with not much happening, both lines are getting some love thanks to Kerry and a crew of keen volunteers. Plenty of work has already been done, with step downs and berms reshaped. Long term the plan is to try and add a little extra length to the race line, but for the moment the focus is on getting the tracks running sweet for the upcoming Breakaway Festival Shuttle Day and Round 1 of the Wellington DH Series. Kerry has set up a FB group that is open to all for organising digs.

Long Gully

Both the Racetrack and Jawbone are getting plenty of maintenance at the moment. Jawbone should be in tip top shape come Round 3 of the WDHS. Dig days are being posted on the club FB page. Just a warning, the big ladder drop at the top of the track is currently closed as a number of the slats are broken. These should be replaced shortly.

Mystic Portal

The Council have Treescape in cleaning up after the big July storm. They will be removing broken trees, and those that are susceptible to coming down in the next big blow. It should take about 3 weeks. Once the tree clearing is finished, then the council have offered some digger time to help reinstate areas of the track. Please respect the track closure during this time. For more details, see the notice on the club site.

Polhill

Work on the Serendipity track is still forging ahead. The regular diggers have been getting a helping hand from Adventure Wellington and most recently 41 volunteers from the BNZ as part of their “Closed for good” day. It is looking good to have the track running sweet for summer. This winter has also been a busy one for planting in this area. Along with native’s supplied by the council, BTB has sourced a number of Nikau that used to be a common site in the gully. Check the BTB page for dig days.

Miramar

A semi permanent re route around the Boot Leg bridge is in place. It is a a bit of a grunt up the old farm track but worth it. A new entrance has been built at the Boot post clearing. Entrance is over the large branch and a roll into to a new corner.

Work has started on the Pump Track extension and this will be the focus for the next few months. The big news is that we now have a container next to the pump track. a big thanks to the Infinity Foundation and everyone who has entered the Escape from Mt Crawford event over the past 2 years. The container is now a secure, and most importantly dry, place to leave tools.

Mt Vic

Most of the trails are open and it shouldn’t be too long before the big tree on Hippy’s is removed. Steve is working on a plan for mid week evening digs once daylight savings kicks in so stay tuned to the Mt Vic Trails FB page for details.

South Coast Kids Track

The club is partnering with a team in Island Bay to develop a new kids loop near the skate park in Island Bay. The SC Kids Track team recently got awarded grants from both Trail Fund (for tools) and the WCC Community Fund (for digger time). They will be breaking ground in the next month or so and hope to have a track up and running before summer. Check their FB page for updates.

Have You Renewed Your Membership?

Membership for the 2013/2014 season opened 1 July, so we are right into the season now.

Why join?

Discounted race entry
Discounted shuttle days
Access to Long Gully
Eligible for DH series overall crown
(semi) Regular News letter
Mega trail karma

Join or renew today.

And to finish with, something new...

Club Trail Rides

You asked, so here we go, organised club trail rides.

We have 3 planned this month:

Wednesday Sept 18th - Join Jono to explore the tracks on Tinakori Hill(the legal ones) and Johnson’s Hill. Bring your lights as you will be gone till dark. Meet at the rose garden in the botanical gardens at 6:30pm. Jono knows where all the best single track is, so come ready for bit of tech.

Thursday Sept 19th - Explore Mt Vic with Ranger Steve. Do you still get lost on in the Mt Vic labrynith of trails on Mt Vic? Suitable for intermediate riders and up, committee member and Senior Park Ranger Steve will take you on a couple of his favorite loops. Meet at the Pririe Street Playground/car park at 6pm.

Sunday Sept 22nd - Who says there is no riding to the North of the CBD? Meet Jono again to explore the Skyline and Crow’s nest and probably some other hidden gems. Leaving from Izard Park on Wilton road at 10am.

For more details, check the club Facebook page.

See you on the trails!

Track Closure - Mystical Portal for Tree Removal

Sun, 08 Sep 2013 21:57:28 GMT

ust got this from the council. Following the July storm, the tree team will be in there removing many of trees. The track will be closed for up to three weeks.

Good news is that at the end of this, we have been promised some digger time that Eugene will put to good use reinstating the track. So please be patient, this doesn't effect long term access to the track.

----

Removal of Fallen and Storm Damaged Trees: Prince of Wales Park

This letter is to let you know that the storm damaged and fallen pine and macrocarpa trees will soon be removed from above Hutchison Road as part of the City Council’s storm clean up work.

Some of the standing trees will also be removed as they are at risk from new wind loadings and are a hazard to park users and the road (see Map over page).

This work will be carried out by our contractors, Treescape. It will commence on Tuesday 10 September and should take three weeks, weather permitting.

Machinery will be used during the removal and the tracks in the area will be closed.

The site will be accessed from the Salisbury Terrace entrance to Prince of Wales Park.

The timber and wood recovered from the trees will be removed from site and all other wood will be placed through a large mulching machine. There will not be any firewood available to the public.

Notice of SGM - Proposed changes to the club's consitution

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 08:14:22 GMT

The committee wish to inform the membership that a Special General Meeting (SGM) will be held at 6 pm on Wednesday 7 August 2013 at Catalyst House, Level 4, 150 Willis Street, Wellington.

The purpose of the SGM is to:

present the Club’s annual financial statement for the 2012/13 year; and
consider Resolutions amending the Club’s existing rules (as set out in the Club’s Constitution).

The purpose of this post is to explain the Resolutions to be considered at the SGM.

The Committee has reviewed the Club’s existing rules to ensure that they are “fit for purpose”. As a result of this review, the Committee considers that certain rules should be updated to ensure they meet this objective.

In accordance with rule 7.1 of the Club’s Constitution, a two-thirds majority of members present at the SGM must approve a resolution for that resolution to be passed.

A copy of the Club’s existing Constitution can be found on the Club’s website

Resolution 1

Existing rule 3.5 provides that subscription fees and the date on which they shall be payable shall be determined by the Committee. This conflicts with existing rule 4.1, which provides that the annual subscription shall be set by the Club at the AGM and that the subscription shall become payable immediately upon application for membership.

To resolve this conflict, the Committee propose the deletion of existing rule 3.5 and the insertion of a new rule 4.1 (see Resolution 2).

Resolution 2

As noted above, existing rule 3.5 and existing rule 4.1 conflict with one another. To remedy this, the Committee propose the insertion of a new rule 4.1. This new rule provides that the Committee in June of each year shall set the annual subscription (membership) fee for the forthcoming membership year.

Resolution 3

Existing rule 3.6 provides that any member shall be permitted to attend a General Meeting (ie, an AGM or SGM). In accordance with current practice, the Committee proposes that any member shall be permitted to attend any Club Meeting (being an Annual General Meeting, a Special General Meeting, or a Committee meeting).

Resolution 4

To clarify current practice (presently authorised under existing rule 3.5), the Committee proposes the insertion of a new rule 4.1(a). This new rule empowers the Committee to offer a reduced subscription (membership) fee in conjunction with the payment of an entry fee for an event organised by the Club.

Resolution 5

Resolution 5 clarifies that the Club’s membership year commences on 1 July and ends on 30 June of the following year.

Resolution 6

Existing rule 6.1.1 provides that the AGM must be held between the beginning of May and the end of June. This means that the Club must hold an AGM before the end of the membership year (and the financial year) to which the AGM relates.

To remedy this anomaly, the Committee proposes the deletion of the existing rule 6.1.1 and the insertion of a new rule 6.1.1. The new rule provides that the Club must hold an AGM within three months of the end of its balance date of 30 June. The new rule also codifies the current practice that the Committee shall determine the date and location of the AGM and that the Secretary shall give written notice of the AGM.

Resolution 7

Existing rule 6.1.3 provides that at the AGM that the President and the Treasurer shall present reports to the AGM. The Committee propose the deletion of existing rule 6.1.3 and the insertion of a new rule 6.1.3 that sets out in more detail the business to be conducted at the AGM. The proposed new rule 6.1.3 is modelled on a rule contained in the sample rules for an incorporated society at the Companies Office – Societies and Trusts website (the Sample Rules).

Resolution 8

Existing rules 6.2.1 to (and inclusive of) 6.2.6 concern the administration of Committee meetings. The Committee proposes the deletion of existing rules 6.2.1 to 6.2.6 and the insertion of new rules 6.2.1 to 6.2.6. The new rules are modelled on rules contained in the Sample Rules.

Resolution 9

Existing rule 7.1 provides that a two-thirds majority of members present at an AGM or SGM must approve an alteration to the rules. The Committee propose that the words “and voting” are inserted after the word “present” to clarify that the majority is calculated by reference to members present and voting.

Existing rule 7.1 provides a notice period of 14 days for the convening of an SGM. The Committee proposes the amendment of this rule to make it clear that the notice must be in writing (including email).

Resolution 10

Under the law, no rule change has effect until registered with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies. The Committee proposes the insertion of a new rule 7.3 that expressly reflects this.

Resolution 11

Existing rules 8.1 to 8.5 concern the appointment of Committee members. The Committee proposes to replace the existing rules with rules modelled on rules contained in the Sample Rules.

Resolution 12

Existing rule 9.3 provides that the Secretary and the Chairperson must sign every document affixed with the Club’s Common Seal. The Committee propose the amendment of existing rule 9.3 by replacing Chairperson (a term new that does not appear in any other rule) with “President”.

Resolution 13

The Committee propose the deletion of the existing rule 10.3 and the insertion of a new rule 10.3 that clarifies that the financial year commences on 1 July of every year and ends on 30 June of the next year.

Resolution 14

The Committee proposes the insertion of a new rule 13.2, which contains definitions of the terms “Club Meeting”, “Money or Other Assets”, “Rules” and “Written Notice”.

Resolution 15

Currently, the rules inconsistently use lower and upper case for the key terms “club”, “committee”, “president”, “secretary” and “treasurer”. The Committee proposes that the rules are amended so that in each instance where these words appear in the rules they are in upper case.

Resolution 16

Currently, some rules use the phrase “Annual General Meeting” and other rules use the term “AGM”. In the interests of consistency, the Committee proposes that the rules use the expression “AGM” except for in rule 6.1.1.

Resolution 17

Certain existing rules (for example, rule 5.1.1) refer to “social member”. The membership categories of the Club do not include a “social member”. Accordingly, the Committee proposes the deletion of every reference in the rules to “social member”.

Recommendation

I consider the Resolutions will promote the success of the Club and are in the best interests of the Club and its members. Accordingly, I recommend that you vote in favour of the Resolutions.

Voting on all Resolutions at the SGM will be by way of show of hands.

If you have any questions concerning this letter or the formal notice of the SGM, please contact either:

myself at

president @wmtbc .org .nz

; or
the Club Secretary at

secretary@wmtbc.org.nz

.

I look forward to seeing you at the SGM.

Yours sincerely

Dave Preece

President, WMTBC

NOTICE OF SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN

that a Special General Meeting of the Wellington Mountain Club Incorporated (the Club) will be held on Wednesday 7 August 2013 at Catalyst IT, Level 4, 150 Willis Street, Wellington at 6:00 pm to consider, and if thought fit, to pass the following Resolutions to alter the rules of the Club. In accordance with rule 7.1 of the Club’s Constitution, to approve a resolution a two-thirds majority of members present at the SGM must approve the resolution.

Resolution 1

Delete existing rule 3.5.

Resolution 2

Delete existing rule 4.1 and insert the following new rule 4.1:

4.1 The Committee in June of each year shall set the annual subscription fee, for each membership category, for the forthcoming membership year. The annual subscription fee shall be payable immediately upon application for membership.

Resolution 3

Delete existing rule 3.6 and insert the following new rule 3.6:

3.6 Any member of the Club shall be permitted to attend any Club Meeting.

Resolution 4

Insert the following new rule 4.1(a):

4.1(a) The Committee may set a reduced annual subscription fee (for each membership category) where the reduced fee is offered in conjunction with the payment of an entry fee for an event organised by the Club.

Resolution 5

Delete existing rule 4.4 and insert the following new rule 4.4:

4.4 The membership year of the Club commences on 1 July of every year and ends on 30 June of the next year.

Resolution 6

Delete existing rule 6.1.1 and insert the following new rule 6.1.1:

6.1.1 The Annual General Meeting (AGM) shall be held no later than three months after the end of the Club’s balance date (30 June). The Committee shall determine when and where the Club shall meet within those dates. The Secretary shall give all members at least 21 days Written Notice of the time, date, location and business to be conducted at the AGM.

Resolution 7

Delete rule 6.1.3 and insert the following new rule 6.1.3:

6.1.3 The business of an AGM shall be:

Receiving the minutes of the previous AGM;
The President’s report on the business of the Club over the immediately preceding membership year;
The Treasurer’s report on the finances of the Club and the annual financial statement for the immediately preceding financial year;
Election of the Officers of the Committee and the election of Regular Committee Members;
Motions to be considered;
General business.

Resolution 8

Delete existing rules 6.2.1 to (and inclusive of) 6.2.6 and insert the following new rules 6.2.1 to (and inclusive of) 6.2.6

6.2.1 Subject to the Rules of the Club, the role of the Committee is to:

(a) Administer, manage, and control the Club;

(b) Carry out the purposes of the Club, and use Money or Other Assets to do that;

(c) Manage the Club financial affairs, including approving the annual financial statements for presentation to the members at the AGM;

(d) Set accounting policies in line with generally accepted accounting practice;

(e) Delegate responsibility and co-opt members where necessary;

(f) Ensure that all members follow the Rules;

(g) Decide how a person becomes a member, and how a person stops being a member;

(h) Decide the times and dates for Club Meetings, and set the agenda for Club Meetings;

(i) Decide the procedures for dealing with complaints;

(j) Set membership fees, including subscriptions and levies;

(k) Make regulations.

6.2.2 The Committee has all of the powers of the Club, unless the Committee’s power is limited by these Rules.

6.2.3 All decisions of the Committee shall be by a majority vote. In the event of an equal vote, the President shall have a casting vote, that is, a second vote.

6.2.4 Decisions of the Committee bind the Club, unless the Committee’s power is limited by these Rules.

6.2.5 A quorum for a Committee meeting shall be two Officers and two Regular Committee Members.

6.2.6 Subject to these Rules, the Committee may regulate its own practices.

Resolution 9

In rule 7.1 insert the words “and voting” after the word “present” and replace the words “14 days’ notice” with the words “14 days Written Notice”.

Resolution 10

Insert the following new clause 7.3:

7.3 No rule change approved at an AGM or at a Special General Meeting shall take effect until the Secretary has filed the change with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies.

Resolution 11

Delete the heading to existing rule 8 and delete existing rules 8.1 to (and inclusive of) 8.5 and insert the following new rules 8.1 to (and inclusive of) 8.8:

Appointment of Committee Members

8.1 The Club shall have a managing committee (the Committee), comprising the following persons:

The President;
The Secretary;
The Treasurer; and
Such other members as the Committee or Club shall decide (Regular Committee Members).

8.2 The Officers of the Club are the President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer.

8.3 There shall be a minimum of two Regular Committee Members, in addition to the Officers.

8.4 The Secretary shall receive nominations for the Officers and the Regular Committee Members after the announcement of the AGM and from attending members at the AGM. All retiring members of the Committee shall be eligible for re-election.

8.5 If the position of any Officer becomes vacant between AGMs, the Committee may appoint another Committee Member to fill that vacancy until the next AGM.

8.6 If the position of any Regular Committee Member becomes vacant between the AGM, the Committee may appoint another Club member to fill that vacancy until the next AGM.

8.7 If any Committee member is absent from three consecutive Committee meetings without leave of absence, the Committee may declare that person’s position to be vacant.

8.8 Every member of the Committee shall hold office from the date of his or her election or appointment until the earlier of:

the next AGM; or
they resign by giving notice to the Committee.

Resolution 12

In rule 9.3 replace “Chairperson” with “President”.

Resolution 13

Delete existing rule 10.3 and insert the following new rule 10.3:

10.3 The financial year of the Club commences on 1 July of every year and ends on 30 June of the next year.

Resolution 14

Insert the following new rule 13.2:

13.2 In these rules:

“Club Meeting” means any AGM, any Special General Meeting, and any Committee meeting;

“Money or Other Assets” means any real or personal property or interest therein, owned or controlled to any extent by the Club;

“Rules” means the rules of the Club filed with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies;

“Written Notice” means communication by post, electronic means (including email, and website posting), or advertisement in periodicals, or a combination of these methods.

Resolution 15

In each instance where the word “club”, “committee”, “officer” “president”, “secretary”, and “treasurer”, appears in the Constitution replace that word with respectively “Club”, “Committee”, “Officer”, “President”, “Secretary”, and “Treasurer”.

Resolution 16

Except for rule 6.1.1, where the phrase “Annual General Meeting” appears in the Constitution replace these words with “AGM”.

Resolution 17

Delete each reference to “social member” from the rules.

Wellington Mountain Bike Club - Annual General Meeting - June 2013

Thu, 11 Jul 2013 09:41:07 GMT

The AGM of the Wellington MTB Club was held on 20th June, 2013 and was attended by 30 people.

Full meeting minutes and are still to come but the following is available from the meeting:

Presidents Report
Strategic Plan
including goals for 2013/2014 embership year and for the next 5 years.
Profit and Loss Report 1 July 2012 - 17 June 2013

Next committee meeting wlil be held on the 6pm 17th of July at Level 4, Catalyst House, 150 Willis Street. All welecome, especially anyone who is interested in helping us organise shuttle days and the Club DH series to be held Oct - Dec.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT YEAR END 30 JUNE 2013

Thu, 11 Jul 2013 09:19:05 GMT

I would like to thank my fellow Committee Members for their support and assistance during the 2012/13 membership year. Additionally I would like to thank those Members (non Committee) who frequently offer their assistance and time, and all Members & Sponsors for your continued support of the Wellington Mountain Bike Club.

We have seen growth in our Club Membership this year (149 vs 56 in 2012), this has been largely in part to our expansion of club shuttle days and offering discounted memberships with our event entry.

A year of change

In December 2012, WMTBC become a Registered Charity. This is huge! it makes the WMTBC more desirable to funding organisations & has meant we could receiving donations from the general public and as you will see in the Financial Report, they have already started coming in.

In previous years, the committee have been ‘front-end’ focused with running plenty of events - whereas this year, the committee has focused on solidifying the club’s foundations. A lot of time & effort has gone into streamlining ‘back-end’ management systems.

Website
WMTBC’s new website went live in July 2012. This streamlined our membership & event management systems & also allowed us to receive online & credit card payments.
Accounting
Utilizing ‘Cloud’ based systems, our Treasurer has streamlined our Accounting System.
Document Storage and Collaboration
Our Secretary installed and streamlined the way the Committee stores and shares its files.

I would like to thank all those who have been involved with these projects, the Club as a whole has benefited greatly from your hard work.

Events

The Club has continued our strong relationships with both Revolve & PNP in support of both there and our events.

Once again, the Clubs Mt Victoria Super D & Miramar Enduro events were a hit. Competitors of the Miramar Enduro turned out with huge smiles, despite the abysmal weather. Mt Victoria Super D pleased the punters, but was run by skin of teeth this year. Major factors were the weather, time of year & a low number of volunteers.

The Club are still struggling to get the volunteer numbers required at our events.

Our shuttle days have proven to be hugely popular with both members and non-members. By running these events both within and outside of Long Gully, the Club has also attracted new riders who would normally shy away from DH events.

Unfortunately, we were unable to run any DH races over the last year due to time & resource constraints, but rest assured, we are gearing up to run a Wellington DH Series in late 2013.

However, this will still a huge challenge for us if we are unable to source volunteers to help with our events – this is particularly something the Club needs in order to remain successful.

Looking ahead to 2014, we’re planning more enduro style events as they are attracting new riders & members to the club.

Community engagement

Over the last year, the Club have officially taken on the trail management of Mt Victoria & Polhill (Brooklyn Trail Builders) in our ongoing effort to expand our trail presence in Wellington.
We welcome Craig Starnes and Kev O'Donnell from BTB to the team.

This means WMTBC are now managing trails in Long Gully, Miramar, Mt Albert, Karori (98 DH), Mt Victoria, Brooklyn & are currently working with the Wellington City Council (WCC) to officially incorporate the Portal trail into the WCC trail network.

WCC kindly donated a small amount of WMTBC Trailhead markers, so you will start seeing these out on the Wellington trail network. The Trailhead markers let other trail user know that the Club built and/or maintains that trail and invites them to contribute to our efforts.

Diggers summit.

Held in association with Wellington Trail Alliance, the Diggers Summit was an opportunity for all volunteer trail builders in the Wellington region to get together, listen to talks from internationally regarded trail builders and swap their own stories so they could learn from each other. Wellington has a strong volunteer trail building community and the Summit was about making it stronger. The summit also helped expand WMTBC’s presence in the community and we will building on this when we host the MTBNZ and NZ Trail Fund conference here in September.

Wellington City Council approved contractors.

BTB were donated $5,000 from the Wellington Marathon Clinic to go towards paying trail builders to carry out work on their trails, so the WMTBC have had to register as an employer so we can pay employees. Before work could start, the WMTBC have had to gain approval from the Wellington City Council.

After 4 months of paperwork, the club is the final stages of becoming an approved WCC contractor. What this means the club can do in the future: carry out paid work for WCC. We believe this is a first for any MTB club in the country to become an approved contractor to a local council and is a testament to the expertise of the trail builders in our club, and the quality of trail we can deliver.

WMTBC in MTBNZ

Two of our committee members have been elected into the Mountain Bike New Zealand committee.

Jordan Moss: President
Ben Wilde: NZ Trail Fund

The club acknowledges the hard work that these two are doing to sort out the issues between BikeNZ and MTBNZ, and to establish the Trail Fund.

Trails

Long Gully:

Thanks to Jono Baddiley, Tony Harvie, Adrian Armstrong, Dan Smith & everyone who has volunteered their time to maintain the Long Gully trails. Tony has been keeping the Race Track in top order, and Adrian has been fettling away on 420. During the beginning of the season, we had no owner for Jaw Bone, and it was getting quite overgrown. Thanks to Dan Smith, Dave Nendick, Brett Turia for getting this track open again and their continuing efforts along with Jono and Mike.

Karori:

Thanks to Tony Harvie for his continued efforts in Karori on 98DH. There have been some issues with young kids getting in there and altering the track, and Tony has been working with the Council Ranger team to work through this issue and he has been repairing these features.

Mt Victoria:

Steve Wallace has taken up the leadership role in managing the Mt Victoria trails as part of agreement with the council. This has included maintenance work on existing trails such as Hippy’s and TTS, along with helping out PNP with maintenance of the Zig Zag track. The Mt Vic Trails crew have also put in two new lines on the Super D track, including a short jump line to get riders off the walking track before the saddle and then a new line on Mt Alfred, once again to provide a more interesting alternative to the walking trail that leads into Rod’s Drop

Miramar Track Project:

MTP started off the year with an accolade, receiving an Wellington Airport Regional Community Award for Health & Wellbeing. This shows how Miramar and the Club’s trail building activities are acknowledged and appreciated by the community. Along with maintenance on the existing tracks, the new Solitary DH line has bedded in with more work planned to make it more sustainable, whilst keeping the feel. In recent weeks, work at the Water Towers area has ramped up again, with improvements to the Kids Track and the Pump Track extension.

A significant amount of planting was done in the past year, with over 500 plants going in around the trail network, in particular Solitary and most recently around the Pump Track extension.

Brooklyn Trail Builders:

It has been a busy year for the BTB. The Windmill track was finished, and now offers a more interesting uphill alternative to the road to access the trails further out in the Te Kopahau reserve.

On the city side of the trail area, work is underway on both sides of the valley. Work on the Serendipity track (Grade 4 down only) is well underway and targeted for the end of the year. This will provide an alternative descent to the very popular Transient track. Work is also in progress between Holloway Road and George Denton Park. After a long consultation process, led by the WCC, permission has been given to build a new two way, grade 3 track up to the park. Once this is complete, then the existing Squatters track will be repurposed as a Grade 4 descending trail. These two tracks will provide a city side loop for this popular trail network.

Along with ongoing maintenance, the BTB has worked with other stakeholders in the area to plant 600 trees in the area. A full report of the BTB activities is available on the club website.

Portal:

The club has been working with the WCC to get this track sanctioned as an official part of the track network. It is currently classed as an unsanctioned track in an area open for mountain biking. This quite different to an illegal trail (such as those on Tinakori Hill). Eugene Black has worked on a comprehensive plan to rebuild the features to council approved standard. The agreement is that once this, and the handling of the intersection with the walking track is done, this track will become an approved, official track. The club has committed some funds to this project, and we will be looking for funding to help complete these works.

Ongoing challenges

Volunteers - as noted earlier. We need to grow the number of people who can both help organise, perform jobs and marshall at our events.
Illegal trail building in the community makes both mountain bikers and WMTBC look bad - it affects our sanctioned work we are carrying out with the WCC.

Looking forward to the next year.

Please continue to support your Club & your incoming Committee. Thanks for all your support over the last two years.

Best wishes to all in 2013 & 2014.

Dave Preece
WMTBC President

Your tracks need you to make a submission to the Capital Spaces plan

Sun, 07 Jul 2013 08:29:38 GMT

Ok, so you might not care there are local government elections later this year, but you should care about this.

The Wellington City Council are asking for submissions on their Capital Spaces Plan. This is the plan that they use to sort out their priorities in sport and recreation, and that includes the track network.

If you want to see more and better tracks, then you need to make a submission.

It is easy, you can do it online.

Even though the online form has 10 questions in section two, none are compulsory. You can answer just one, or simply leave a comment at the end.

Simply just say something like that you are a mountain biker, and that you want to see Wellington continue to be a great place to ride.

The Club's stance is that overall the plan is pretty good. There is good support for mountain biking throughout the sections of the plan.

However, we'd like to see the council:

recognise Wellington's track network as a major asset to the city, and it needs more, not less, investment to realise it's potential.
supporting informal recreation like mountain biking along side formal sports
looking to increase the amount of land available for recreation, particularly tracks. The club is particularly interested in areas on Watt's Penisula (Miramar north of the Prison) and the availability of any land that could be opened up for track development to the north, between the CBD and Tawa.
investing and providing more support for the areas of the council that we work directly with, such as the Ranger team. We can do more if we have more access and support from the council.
doing more to promote the trail network. It is rare to have such quality trails so close to an urban area. More people using the network, should lead to more investment and more tracks.

This plan hasn't been reviewed for a number of years, and it may be many more before it is again, and it will set what gets money and what doesn't for some time to come. So take 5 minutes and fill out the form online.

June Storm - Track Damage - Now with track status updated 2 July

Tue, 02 Jul 2013 08:00:30 GMT

It has been a pretty exciting last couple of days in Welly. No doubt you will have all seen trees down right across the city.

Our friends in the WCC Ranger team have been working flat out. Over 400 callouts since last night and that is just for trees on roading reserves. With the weather looking better for the weekend, no doubt many of us will be looking to head out onto the tracks.

Please take care and look out for fallen trees and branches.

With the number of call outs and the focus on residential properties and road reserves, the council has not got out into the track network yet. So you should expect there to be windfall around every corner.

We have had reports that there is significant damage to some tracks on Mt Vic, with half the bench slipping away in places.

Track Status - updated Tuesday 2 July

A big weekend for work parties and there are more to come in the following weeks. The following is the status of the tracks that are maintained by the club:

Long Gully

Race Track - Clear
420 - A few small trees down
Jawbone - Clear

98DH Karori - unrideable

Trail leader, Tony Harvie, confirms that 98DH has been hit very hard by the storm. There are many large trees down in the area. There are also large trees down across the Kids Track and Wahine.

Polhill - all tracks open!

Miramar Track Project - major damage

Ben, Russ, Sherwin and Caban walked all the trails on Saturday afternoon (June 22nd).

Jail Brake - Clear. A crew of 14 adults and a lot of kids turned up on Sunday the 23rd of June to clear the trail. Removed small trees and branches, debris is up to 30cm deep in places on the track, unblocked the drains etc. Trail will be in better shape than it was before the storm in a couple of days once it has had a chance to get rid of some of the water that has fallen this past week.
Solitary - Half a dozen trees down on a the section between the JB Pine Tree Berm and Merge into JB, more down on bottom chute. Hope is to get the top section open by the end of next weekend.
Conviction - Clear - The big slip has been cleared, and whilst there is still a big tree down across the curved bridge, there is a new diversion in place that takes you up towards Nevay Rd (bit of a steep push on a bike). At the top of the track you can turn left and continue on along Boot leg
Boot Leg - Clear to the Boot, closed after that. - A new exit of the track has been put in. This will need some gravel, but now takes you out to the clearing. From there the best bet is keep going down the grass and under the Pine Tree where the old Prison sign used to be. A new line is going in to link into the last part of the track and should be finished in a couple of weeks.
Repeat Offender - Some trees down on the climbing berms. These will be cleared by hand, rest of track is clear.

Mt Vic - major damage, some tracks open

Mt Vic Summit - severe damage.
Hippy's - blocked by large tree. But alot of work has been done to tidy up the rest of the track. An Arborist has been in and looked at the tree and it has been assessed as too dangerous to try and clear it. A scratched out line appears to be in place, but a new permenant line will be marked out. Working parties to be advertised shortly.
Super D* - is clear from the end of Hippy's through to the Finish. However there is a large Macrocarpa where the finish line should be and another on the berm closest to the Crawford Rd/Wellington Rd Roundabout
Shuttle Cock - clear. However there is a large gum tree across the walking track on the velodrome side that cuts off this loop.
Mt Alfred and Rod's Drop - Trees are still down, but new lines around the trees have been benched.
Damian's - bottom clear, tree across section before the field.
TTS - clear
Park Bench - clear
No reports for Grom, Rock Drop and Virginia .
Walking Tracks on North Face - severe damage. The old line down from the top is littered with large trees. In particular the section below Hippy's to the clearing. It appears all the walking tracks in the triangle from the Summit, down to Charles Plimmer Park and Majoribanks Street are blocked to some extent. No eta on when these will be open. Be aware, in some places very large trees have partly fallen over and are being held up by other trees. It is best to stay well clear of this area.

Portal - open

The track is now open top to bottom with some diversions in place. More work is ongoing.

Rollercoaster - no report at this time

Other tracks

Makara - lower tracks have been cleared, but there are trees down across Salley Alley and North Face. See Makara Peak Facebook page for updates.
Salvation is now open again (we think)
Deliverance is clear, but the track has changed signifcantly. A section of the track at the bottom has be rerouted.
Tinakori Hill - Jono has been through and has this update
"Many blockages over te ahu mairangi as well. At the northern end of the northern walkway (off wadestown road) two trees have come down - one you get get under (I cut the branches out of the way), the other has taken out half the track.

The southern end of the walkway (4wd track that drops down towards the chinese embassy) is blocked by a massive slip that has taken out 3 or 4 large trees. Connector above chinese embassy walkway also blocked by a couple of large trees."
Colonial Knob - The track through to Ohariu Valley is not passable and quite dangerous...the pine forest has huge damage and many many fallen trees.
Wainui Track Project - clear, but very wet. Give if a few days to dry out.

What can you do to help?

Join A Work Party - Earn Some Trail Karma

If you have been thinking about joining a work party, now is your change. Most of the work required at the moment is pretty easy clearing of leaves and small sticks and branches.

The club and our project will be organising work parties over the coming weeks to clear as many tracks as we can by hand.

Best place to look is Facebook

Miramar Track Project
Brooklyn Trail Builders
Mt Vic Trails
Welly Tracks Group
and of course The Wellington Mountain Bike Club page. We will be posting progress and digs there as well.

For track damage, particularly to tracks that are managed by the club, please either

Contact us via info@wmtbc.org.nz with a photo and details of where the damage is or;
Post to our Facebook page

We will be organising work parties to get out and fix these tracks just as soon as we c

Large Fallen Trees

For large trees and branches, the council will get in and clear these. We can all help by letting them know where to find them. A reminder - the use of chainsaws on WCC land by members of the public is strictly prohibited.

When you come across a large tree or branch either:

Call the council on 499 4444 or
Use the Online FixIt Form
Even better, download the Fixit Smartphone App and send in the details

WCC FixIt App

Can't Dig - Then Donate!

The Wellington Mountain Bike Club is a registered charity. You can donate on the site, either via PayPal or directly into the club bank account.

When you Donate, you can choose which trail area is the recipient of your funds. Your money will be used for tools, equipment and materials to reinstate, maintain and if necessary, build new tracks in your chosen area.

All donations over $5 are eligible for a tax credit and the club will issue you a donation receipt.

As all ways, take it easy on your first DH run. Stay safe.

Winter Newsletter and AGM reminder

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 01:30:00 GMT

The days are short, the nights are cold, but riding doesn't stop for a little bad weather.

World Cup DH and Enduro World Series Underway

A late start to the international racing season this year, but some excellent results for the Kiwis at Fort Bill. Congrats to the Bulldog and Blenki for making the podium and a shout out to the club's own Bryn Dickerson who qualified for the finals.

If you haven't seen it, Bryn keeps a blog of his exploits at Racing for my dinner. Here is hoping there is a post soon about his latest foray into the World Cup series soon.

Next race is at Val de Sole this weekend. Full coverage on Redbull.com

At the end of the month, the Enduro racers head to France for the next round of the EWS. Will the (ex) downhillers continue to dominate, or will the all mountain specialists rise to the challenge?

Club AGM

The Club AGM will be held on Thursday, June 20th at 6:30pm. For full details, see the events page.

We will be running through a report of what was achieved this past year, a look at the clubs financials, electing new officers and going over some goals for the next membership year.

Nominations

It is great to see the majority of the committee wants to stand again. If you would like to contribute for the management of the club, then nominate either yourself or someone else for a role on the committee. All nominees need to be current club members, and if you nominate someone else, please supply their details so that we can contact them and confirm they wish to stand.

Items for the Agenda

If you wish to raise a matter for the membership at the AGM, then please contact the secretary and we will add this to the Agenda under General business. It helps matters along if you can put the details of the matter or proposal into writing so it can be distributed.

Why do I have to register?

The club will be putting on pizza. We are told that some people don't like Hawaiian with Olives and Anchovies. If you want to ensure that there is something else on offer, then please register.

Wellington City Council: Our Capital Spaces

The WCC are reviewing another of there management plans that effects how the track network is governed and how much funding it receives. This follows on from the Town Belt Management Plan that the club, and many club members submitted on early in the year.

Read about the Our Capital Spaces plan on the WCC site.

Your trails need you

to make a submission

The club and our projects will all be making submissions. But the more submissions we can get from club members and riders, the better. All you need to do is take a scan of this plan on the council site, then fill in the online form. Aside from your contact details, you don't need to answer all questions, you can just answer one if you like.

The most important thing you can do is let the council now how important mountain biking on WCC tracks is to you.

The club will be publishing our submission on the club website after the AGM as it will be aligned with the strategic plan that will be presented to the membership at this time.

WORD Riding Camps

Looking for something to do these school holidays? We have just received this from Ash@WORD.

WORD Winter MTB Camps!
July School Holidays 2013

We're launching WORD (Wellington Off-Road Riding Dept) winter MTB camps, whoop whoop! These will be open to kids of all MTB skill abilities. Each morning we'll jump in the WORD van and head off to a new riding location. From 8.30am-1pm we will be shredding, climbing, launching, shuttling and building in Wellington!
$150 for each camp ($100 for the 2 day camps), sweet! Bookings open NOW!

10-12 year olds:15-17 July
7-9 year olds: 18-19 July (2 days)
13-17 year olds: 22-24 July
10-14 year olds (Girls only!): 25-26 July (2 days)

'Tis The Season For Digging

The dirt is soft, so digging season is in full swing.

The Portal is receiving a major overhaul, with all the structures being rebuilt to council standards. Once this is done, then it will be a canditate for being officially included in the track network. Check the Club facebook page for details.
The Brooklyn Trail Builders are making great progress on their new track, Serendipity. There are multiple digs each week and they love to see new faces. The hope is to get this up and running and will bedded in before summer.
The Miramar Trail Project are working away on 3 fronts, with Solitary receiving some tweaks, a new pump track extension in the works and some new features on the kids track. There will also be some planting days coming up. The project will be moving a number of their digs to Saturday afternoons, check the FB page for event details.
Out in Long Gully, some new life is being breathed into Jawbone. A new berm is already in and there are some more plans afoot. Once again, check facebook for details.

See you on the trails (or at the AGM).

Russel Garlick

Club Secretary

secretary -at- wmtbc.org.nz

URGE Mt Vic Super D Results

Tue, 28 May 2013 05:03:50 GMT

The Wellington Mountain Bike Club would like to thank all the competitors, volunteers and sponsors for all contributing to making this year's URGE Mt Vic Super D a grand success. A special thanks to our friends at PNP for helping out with the timing and traffic management on the day.

Here is a summary of the coverage on the web

Thanks once again to our incredible sponsors:

Blackseal.co.nz and URGE Helmets, bicycle.co.nz, Wheelworks, PNP, iRide, MTB Skills Clinics, Mud Cycles, Floe, WCC, Dirt Merchants, Spoke, Burkes Cycles and Floyds Cafe

Full results are up here.

Junior Men (Under 15)
6    Eden Cruise   Junior 1 Men (Under 15)   05:36.7   05:40.7
78    Finn van Leuven   Junior 1 Men (Under 15)   07:34.9   07:30.3
89    Tom Booker   Junior 1 Men (Under 15)   07:42.3   07:42.9

Junior Men (15-17)
14   Jack Compton   Junior 2 Men (15-17)   05:57.1   05:55.8
15    Gregor Wilson   Junior 2 Men (15-17)   06:09.0   05:57.0
33    Jack Humphries   Junior 2 Men (15-17)   07:28.9   06:23.9

Old Men (30+)
1    The Weazel   Masters Men 1 (30-39)   05:36.4   05:24.0
2   Mikey Northcott   Masters Men 1 (30-39)   05:30.0   05:25.8
11   Tom Adams   Masters Men 1 (30-39)   05:51.2   05:51.3

Older Men (40+)
8    John Jacob   Masters Men 2 (40-49)   05:49.0   05:46.3
12    Jonny Waghorn   Masters Men 2 (40-49)   05:57.1   05:52.1
19    Jeremy Blake   Masters Men 2 (40-49)   06:11.7   06:02.1

Ancient Men (50+)
58    Dave Carlyon   Masters Men 3 (50+)   07:13.9   06:50.8
73    Doc Wongsta   Masters Men 3 (50+)   DNF   07:15.7

Novice Women
107    Abbie Bull   Novice women   08:53.2   08:35.6
115    Isla Day   Novice women   10:53.1   10:13.1

Open Women
65    Ash Burgess   Open Women   07:08.6   07:02.0
99    Anna Harding-Shaw   Open Women   08:36.9   08:12.3
-    Sarah Atkin   Open Women   07:04.1   DNF

Open Men
3    Miles Davies   Senior Men (18-29)   05:24.2   05:26.2
4    Elliot Pearce   Senior Men (18-29)   05:40.7   05:38.7
5    Stefan Gardner   Senior Men (18-29)   05:47.8   05:39.6

Autumn News Letter

Thu, 02 May 2013 23:37:19 GMT

Well it has been a long time between drinks on the newsletter front. That long, dry, dusty summer is just but a distant memory. Time to embrace winter, with all it's slidey, night ride goodness.

So what has been happening?

Events

Long Gully Shuttle Days

Shuttle days were held in March and April, one dry and one wet. These wouldn't have been possible with out the help from all the volunteers. A special vote of thanks to those keep the gully trails in order. Cheers to Tony Harvie (Racetrack), Adrian Armstrong (420) and Dan Smith and his helpers for leading the charge on tidying up Jawbone. Just a note to all, that tools are often left on the side of the tracks in the Gully on purpose by the builders when they are working on spots. Please leave them there.

Events Manager, Mike Stirrat has been out with his camera, and you might want to check out the vids on Pink Bike.

Long Gully Club Ride on Pinkbike

Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro

Miramar Track Project ran their annual fundraiser and on a wet and wild Sunday a few weeks back we got 55 competitors who turned up and try to claim the King and Queen of the Mountain Crowns. Big thanks to Burkes Cycles for their support of the event, and PlaceMakers Evan's Bay for showing up with their mega BBQ Trailer. After some negotiations with LINZ (who are managing the Prison Land) we were able to start right out side the prison. Congrats to The Weazel for taking the men's overall, and Sarah Atkin for the women's. View the fill results.

The lads from Burkes teamed up with Holden Bros to put together this clip that captures the day pretty well.

Mt Vic Super D is back!

26 May

Yup it is back. And being held later in the year, we'd expect the course to throw up a few more challenges than the dry and dusty runs of the past couple of years.

Get your entry in today via the club web site . This year there is a discount for all Welly MTB Club members, so entry is $35 for club members, $45 for non members.

Event organsior Steve has been doing some fettling on the track, so expect new lines to challenge you.

A big thanks to all the sponsors of this event, and especially URGE helmets who are back again as title sponsor and are fronting up with a new helmet to all class winners.

One change to be aware of this year is that there is a compulsory seeding run. So you will need to check the event time table and make sure you are there to get your run in.

We are still on the look out for volunteers to help with timing, marshalling and driving. If you are coming to the event, and bringing a mate or family member who can help out, then please drop Steve a line via the Club facebook page

Trail Building

In addition to all the good work going on at Long Gully, trail crews have been at work all around Wellington.

Brooklyn Trail Builders

The Brooklyn crew have been going gang busters on some new trail developments. The alternate downhill for the bottom of Transient, called Serendipity is well under way.

In addition to this, the club and BTB are working with the WCC to open up some trails on the other side of Polhill that would link into George Denton Park. This required a great deail of consultation with the community, and some hard work by all involved.

Dig times are:

Wednesday 12:30 - 2pm
Sunday 1 - 4pm.

Head over to the BTB page on Facebook for updates

Mt Vic Trails

Steve and his crew have been working on some new lines around the saddle area to reduce conflict with walkers on the Super D track.

The first is the new short jump line from Park Bench to the Saddle. All this wet weather is helping this to settle in.

The next phase is an alternate line into Rod's drop which will avoid the walking track. Once again this will be a huge bonus as it will add a new line and keep other trail users happy.

Diggers are being run mid week and are all advertised on the Mt Vic Trails facebook page.

The club would like to thank Mud Cycles and Floyds Cafe for their support of these digs.

Miramar Track Project

The wet weather means that trail building is back on in Miramar. Now the Solitary track has been ridden in, some refinements and improvements are being made to make it more sustainable during the winter months, whilst trying to keep the original feel of the track.

If you have been up at the water towers recently, you will notice there is a huge amount of clay sitting and waiting to be shaped into the pump track extension. Hamish Kay has some excellent plans to extend the existing track and build different lines to cater to both the huge number of kids using this track and more advanced riders. At the moment, digger time is what is required, so if you have contacts in the Earthmoving world, then please let the crew know via their facebook page.

Some new features are being built for the kids track off site and should be in place in the coming months.

Miramar runs their digs on Sundays from 2pm. Check facebook for event details.

Mystic Portal

The club is happy to announce that we have been working with the city council to get this popular track added to the track network. At the moment it is classified as an unsanctioned track in an area that is open to biking. The goal is to make some changes to the track to bring it to a level that the council will be happy to approve it.

There is going to be some significant work required, particularly in the area where the Portal crosses the walking track and to replace some of the old decaying stunts. Eugene Black is leading the charge here, and is organising digs. Check the Club Facebook page for details.

Notice of Wellington Mountain Bike Club Annual General Meeting

Thursday 20 June at 7pm

Add it to your diaries, the date has been set for this year's AGM. It has been a busy year for the club, with a lot of working going on behind the scenes. This is your chance as a club member to come and hear about some of these developments, the plans for the future and give your feedback.

More details will be posted on the club website in the coming weeks.

End of Year Newsletter

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:21:53 GMT

So long 2012

It has been a busy end to 2012 for the club. It may be the holidays, but as we roll into the race season, it is still busy as ever. In this edition of the newsletter we have a summary of what has been happening and what to look forward to in 2013. Here's hoping the weather is kind over the rest of the holiday season so we can all get out and enjoy some riding!

Wellington MTB Club Now A Charity

Way back in August, the committee put in an application for charitable status. After some toing and froing, we received the good news in the middle of December.

The club is now a "not for profit incorporated society with charitable status" (quite a mouthful). This means that it will be easier for us to apply for funding and that any one who wants to make a donation to the club can receive a tax credit. We will be firing up our donations page on the site in the New Year.

A Couple Of Reminders

Please Check Your Details On The Club Site

If you signed up for club membership via one of our events, you may need to go back and complete your membership by accepting the club rules and long gully waiver on your web site profile.

Simply log into the club site, and use the "View Profile" link on the left hand side under the navigation. Use the edit tab and make sure that you have accepted the rules and waiver then save.

If you are under 18, you will need to provide details of a parent or guardian you can accept these on your behalf. In order to ride the Long Gully Trails, you must accept these rules and conditions.

4WD Vehicles Only In Long Gully Please

A reminder that you must have a 4WD vehicle with a valid Welly MTB Club car pass to shuttle Long Gully outside of club shuttle days. These are the club rules and they are in place to ensure your safety and to minimise the impact of vehicles on the private roads in the area. Please do your bit to ensure that we can keep access to this area by following these rules. Remember the speed limit is 30 km/h at all times on these roads.

All Tags And Passes Have Been Sent

If you have signed up for the club, you should have received your gold tag for the 2012/2013 season. There have been a few reported issues with tags getting damaged in the post, so if you have not received yours, then please contact Dan, our Memberships Coordinator at memberships -at- wmtbc.org.nz.

Diggers Summit

Over the weekend of Nov 30th / Dec 1st, the Club partnered with the Wellington Trails Alliance to host over 80 people at the first Diggers Summit. We had a wide range of people attend the conference from all over the region.

On the Friday, there was a series of talks covering everything from what is the WTA, working with land owners, sustainable trail design, and native planting. Jeff Carter rounded out the session with an epic slide show of the work NZ Trail Solutions is doing around the world. The summit also saw the launch of the Trail Fund. Look out for more on this initiative soon. A website is in the works, but for the moment you can follow updates on the Trail Fund facebook page.

Saturday was on site, with the WCC Ranger team doing sign offs on power equipment, and a series of on track sessions in smaller groups. The Saturday avo ride morphed into a shuttle session at Miramar and Mt Vic, which just happened to coincide with an Enve demo day. Cheers to Ash from Bike Wellington for helping us out with the shuttles. We rounded the Summit off with the Diggers Ball at the Southern Cross on the Saturday night.

It was great to see representatives from DoC and the local councils, plus trail builders both new and old from right around the Wellington region. There is a national event in the works for the middle of 2013, so if you missed out this time, check back to the club site in the new year for more details.

Tracks Update

The holiday season normally sees a slow down with new track builds and maintenance as trail builders get out and ride, however there has still been a lot happening.

New Tracks Approved for Polhill

The Windmill track and Car Parts upgrades are barely finished and the Brooklyn Trail Builders are right back into it. Just before the holidays, the team received the green light for two new trails in the Polhill area. The tracks will go from Holloway Road to George Denton Park. The existing walking track will be upgraded to a dual use (mtb uphill), and a new downhill track will be built. This is great news for a popular riding area. See the BTB Facebook pages for updates and dig days.

Race Track

Anyone who has been to a shuttle day recently will know that the Race Track is in tip top condition at the moment. Tony Harvie has been fettling away on the track keeping the lines open, big thanks to Tony for the hours that he spends working away on the track.

4X Gets A Touch Up

In early December, Steve Wallace and the Mt Vic Trail Crew gave the Mt Albert 4X some love. Grass and weeds were cleared back and some shaping done. The hope is that this will see the track through summer. Later in 2013, the club will be looking to move some new clay in to complete a more comprehensive overhaul. Keep up to date with the Mt Vic Trails crew on Facebook.

Solitary Bedding In

The dry weather is seeing the Miramar Track Project taking a break for few months. But the new Solitary trail is open for riding. The top half is pretty much done to spec and you can ride just this and join back in (carefully) with Jail Brake at the small rock drop/hair pin. After this Solitary gets much rougher, in particular the corners. If you like it like this, then now is the time to ride it. In the new year, those tetchy corners on the bottom section will be getting built up to be more like those at the top of the track.

Town Belt Submission

At the beginning of December, submissions for the new Town Belt Management Plan closed. Thanks to all those who did a personal submission. The Club and the Brooklyn Trail Builders both did submissions to go along with the Wellington Trail Alliance one. Oral submissions are in the New Year, and the club will be fronting for these as well. In summary, the plan is encouraging for mountain biking in the Town Belt, and the club is in support of then new plan.

Events Update

Shuttle Days Going Off

Club shuttle days are going from strength to strength. After a wet and wild event in town at Miramar and Mt Vic in November, it was great to see the sun come out for an excellent day in Long Gully for the end of year shuttles in December. The plan is to have a shuttle day at least once a month. All shuttle days will be advertised via the facebook page, but you must register via the event on the club website.

National Series Kicks Off This Week

It's race season and the National Cup series kicks off this week in Bluff and it is only 7 weeks till Nationals in Rotorua starting February 15th. All the best to everyone competing.

National Cup DH Series Dates

Round 1, Bluff, Jan 4th
Round 2, Mt Hutt, Jan 12th
Round 3, Levin, Feb 2
Round 4, Auckland, Feb 8th
National Champs, Rotorua Feb 15th-17th.

Club Racing

21 April - Escape From Mt Crawford Goes Enduro

The Miramar Trail Project are jumping on the Enduro bandwagon. This year's event will see riders in two categories, Misdemeanor (easier) and Felony (harder) do 3 runs down a combination of Miramar trails. After each timed down hill run, there will be a mandatory, non timed liaison stage back up Conviction to the start. All proceeds will go back into trail building in the area. More details in the New Year.

Mt Vic Super D Back On In May

The Welly MTB Club will be partnering with PNP to bring the Mt Vic Super D back for 2013. This year it is being moved to May (final date tbc). This should see some more variable trail conditions and will give the Mt Vic Trails crew time to build a few new features for the race. Stay tuned for more details.

Club Contact Details

Check our Facebook page for more regular update - https://www.facebook.com/WellyMTB

If you have any questions or queries please feel free to contact either

Dave Preece (Club President) president -at- wmtbc.org.nz or.

Russel Garlick (Club Secretary) secretary -at- wmtbc.org.nz

Spring '12 Club Newsletter

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 00:00:22 GMT

My how time flies. Whilst it seems like just yesterday since the AGM, we are now a third of the way through the year.

2012/2013 Committee

The new committee has been working away and it has been great to see some new faces come on board this year. Committee meetings are held the first Wednesday of each month. Meetings are open to all club members, so if you have a matter you would like to raise, then please email Russel, the Club Secretary so it can be added to the agenda. View the committee>>

Shuttle Days

The club is looking to run Shuttle Days at least once a month (weather permitting). The first two shuttle days at Long Gully have been a great success.

On November the 3rd we will be running a city focused shuttle day. This day will start in Miramar before heading over to Mt Vic. If you have mates who are keen to shuttle, but perhaps a bit daunted by the Long Gully Tracks, then this is the perfect intro to gravity assisted mountain biking. Register for the 3 Nov Shuttle Day.

Women's Festival Of Cycling

Shuttle Day New Zealand's first dedicated Women's Cycling Festival is going to be held over Labour Weekend. The Welly MTB Club is a proud sponsor of the event, and helping out with the Shuttle day on 21st October. Ladies, this will be something special. The Polhill tracks, including the ever popular Transient will be closed to all other users. Now is the time to register via the event website

Trail Building News

You may not know it, but the Welly MTB Club is so much more than just Long Gully. Club members have always been involved in projects outside of the Long Gully trails, and in the past few months the club has looked to formalise some of these arrangements with the City Council.

Long Gully

Tony Harvie continues to do great work on the Race Track, and Adrian Armstrong is still fettling away at the 420 line. Long Gully Manager, Jono Baddiley is in the process of getting a plan of attack together for the other trails, so expect to see some dig days advertised via the Facebook pages soon. Please remember that all trails at Long Gully have an overseerer, so please contact them before starting any trail work. Long Gully Trails >>

Miramar Track Project

It has been a busy winter out in Miramar. Jail Brake has been recieving some some TLC, with new drainage, and an all new Pine Tree berm. The Miramar crew have also been working away at a new trail called Solitary. This will run on the ridgeline between Conviction and Jailbrake, and will be less groomed, but aimed to be as much fun as Jail Brake. The top third is currently open as a pilot track, take it easy on your first run down as this is still very much a work in progress.

The Miramar Track Project also recieved an accolade in the recent Wellington Community Awards with a highly commended in the Health and Well Being category (much to their surprise). Miramar digs run every Sunday at 2pm. Check their facebook pages for digs >>

Mystic Portal

Eugene has been fettling away on the track and by all accounts it is running better than ever. Eugene posts dig days on the Club FB site, so look out for these if you are keen to help out.

Mt Vic Trails

Steve Wallace (former Makara Peak chair) has agreed with the council to manage the MTB trails on Mt Vic under the banner of the Club. Steve has already led a couple of digs, tidying up some spots on the Ridgeline/Super D track. Steve has got some great plans for the area, so like the Mt Vic Trails FB page to keep up to date.

Brooklyn Trail Builders

Craig, Kev, Andrew and Chris have been going great guns over the past few years developing 12km of trail in the Polhill area. After discussions with the Brooklyn boys, they have now come on board a project of the club. The lads of recently set up a face book page with the future plans, which include a new downhill only option along side the bottom part of Transient. They are also working hard with the WCC to open up the other side of the valley to MTBs. We welcome the Brooklyn Trail Builders on board. They have regular Wednesday lunch time digs, and will be posting more regular weekend digs on the new descending tracks up on the Facebook page.

WTA Diggers Summit

The Welly MTB Club is working together with the Wellington Trails Alliance to host the first ever Wellington specific trail builders conference, the Diggers Summit. Spread over 2 days, there will be a mix of indoor and outdoor, theory and practical, social and riding activities. The idea behind the summit is to bring together all trail builders in the Wellington region and provide an oppourtunity to get to know each other and share knowledge. There are more details on the Club Website, a facebook event for registering your interest and a twitter feed for updates.

Club Riders Overseas

It has been a bit of a mixed bag for our racers overseas. Unfortunately Sarah Atkin had a pretty good crash and did her collar bone that saw her out of the final rounds of the World Cup and World Champs. Brynn Atkinson has been whipping up a storm in Norway at the final round of the DH World Cup, where Richard Leacock qualified for the finals. On the Enduro side there were strong showings from Wellington locals, Jeremy Blake and Mike Williamson in the MegaAvalanche.

Mike the Hippy has moved on from Europe, survived a mugging on arrival in South America and started up work digging in Chile. We'll be looking to reproduce some of his updates (un edited of course) shortly.

If you have any updates from other Welly riders, please drop us a line.

Reminder - Club Memberships Are Open Again

Joining up for the club has never been easier or cheaper. Just head along to the club website, and you can do it all online, with a credit card or direct credit. For the super low price of $30, you'll not only get access to the trails in Long Gully, but you will be supporting all of our other projects city wide. If you sign up for the Nov 3rd Shuttle Day, you'll even get a discount on your membership.

And remember, only Club Members are allowed to ride the Long Gully tracks outside of shuttle days. This is liability and saftey issue for the club.

If you enjoy riding the gully trails, then please join up as a member. This ensures that you see, read and agree to the Long Gully rules. Please respect the fact that these are on private land, and that the club has worked long and hard to ensure these trails are there for members to use.

Membership Tags Are On Their Way

For those of you who have signed up and are wondering where your tag is, they should be in your mailbox shortly. The reason they are so late is due to a pretty catastrophic machine breakdown at our tag supplier. But we have the tags now, and you will be recieving yours shortly.

Well cheers for making it through this mammoth update. Here is looking forward to a great summer of riding ahead. Good luck to everyone heading up to Levin this weekend for the second round of the NZDH series.

Shuttle Day Postponed to 6th October Sept

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 03:18:44 GMT

With regret, we have had to postpone Satruday's shuttle day at Long Gully until October 6th

The weather forecast is pretty foreboding and as Dave quoted on facebook - 140kph gusts and Resource Consent (jumps) will only end badly.

The event has been updated.

The good news is that we are still taking registrations for the shuttle day.

If you have registered, but can now no longer make the day, then please let us know. You have the option of staying prepaid for our next shuttle day (we aim to have one every month) OR a refund (if paid via PayPal less a small account fee). In either case, please email events @ wmtbc.org.nz

Changes to Membership for 2012/2013

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 05:22:42 GMT

We are now accepting membership applications for the 2012/2013 membership year. Join today!

This year there are some changes:

You can do it all online - no need to print out and post anything back to us
You can pay by credit card - via PayPal
We have simplified the membership options.

Here is a quick FAQ that we have compiled. If you still have a question, please email club@wmtbc.org.nz

What happened to the base club membership?

The committee has decided to roll the club membership and the Long Gully supporters membership all into one. This was done for two reasons:

Based on feedback from members who were unsure about what base club membership entitled them to
To simplify member management for our volunteers who look after this.

So we have rolled the two into one - easy! This year's membership is $10 cheaper than if you had a club and Long Gully supporter membership last year - deal!

What do I get for my membership?

Members of the Wellington MTB Club get many benefits:

Reduced entry fees at Club organised events
Receive our regular newsletters
Affiliation to BikeNZ (required for race licence)
Access to Freelap timing system
Access to Long Gully trails
The knowledge that they are supporting trail building throughout the Wellington Region - trail karma plus!

How long will it take to process my membership?

Once your payment is confirmed, your membership will be confirmed. If you pay by Credit Card this will happen straight away, if by Direct Credit this will take a few days.

There is then a manual step where we will send you out your tag, membership card, and car pass (if you have purchased one). This may take up to two weeks, but usually will be quicker than that. If you are concerned that you have not received your card, please contact us. Either at memberships @ wmtbc.org.nz or secretary @ wmtbc.org.nz

What happens if I am under 18?

The club still requires that your parent or guardian accepts the waiver. This means that if you are under 18, regardless of whether you plan to use the Long Gully tracks you will need to supply your parent/guardian's contact details. We will then call them to confirm that they accept the waiver on your behalf, once this is done we will approve your membership and send out your card and tags.

How long will my membership last?

The membership year runs until the 30th of June 2013. There are no prorata membership rates for part year membership.

Will my old log in still work?

Sadly no. We were not able to migrate all the old accounts to the new membership system. Members with existing site logins will need to sign up for new accounts on the site.

New Club Website

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 00:28:16 GMT

Welcome to the new website of the Wellington Mountain Bike Club.

Why have we moved?

The new site is powered by Wild Apricot. This is a platform that is specifically designed for clubs and societies to manage events and membership.

Once the move is complete, the site will offer the following:

online membership application
online event registration
credit card payments via Paypal for membership and events

In the future we hope to offer additional features for a members such as online booking for shuttle trailers.

All these features should make it easier for the club to provide more benefits for club members more easily.

We hope you enjoy the new look.

Russel Garlick - Club Secretary.