znomit wrote:

Fango wrote:

Sickman wrote:Plenty of Kiwi's roaming the track at night. I have had a few run across the track in front of me when tramping in that area.

FYI... The plural of kiwi is kiwi. Even if there was an "s", there would be no apostrophe. Two grammatical errors in one word is good, even in a Vorb forum.

Mud glorious mud!

Record high rainfall and a lack of maintenance on the west side of the Heaphy Track have created very muddy conditions for the estimated 1000 mountainbikers who rode the track last month.

The poor state of the track has led the Golden Bay Mountain Bike Club to advise its own members not to ride it in rain but to wait for at least two dry days before undertaking the popular trail.

The 78.4km trail was opened to mountainbikers on May 1 as the beginning of a three-year trial by the Department of Conservation permitting mountainbiking on the track during the winter months.

A staggering 1910mm of rain fell on Perry Saddle during May, the highest rainfall recorded in the Tasman district last month, according to Tasman District Council hydrologist Martin Doyle.

Rain [was] forecast for the Nelson region on last Saturday and Sunday with heavy rain forecast for northwest Nelson.

Golden Bay Mountain Bike Club representative Mark Godden said after a club meeting on Wednesday night that members were being advised not to ride the track in rain. Exceptional rain on the track had made it very muddy from Mackay Hut westwards, especially where the track runs alongside the Heaphy River.

"[The conditions] are very hard on equipment – it's chewing up bike brake pads," he said.

Derry Kingston, manager of the Heaphy Track Help business, returned from walking the track two days ago.

"The mud was ankle deep and squishy," said Mr Kingston, who estimated a fifth of the West Coast section had suffered badly from the rain.

"One mountainbiker told me it would be unrideable by September without more gravel work on the track," Mr Kingston said.

New Zealand Cycle Trail project manager Jonathan Kennett advises mountainbikers to ride the more durable Golden Bay side and return the same way. People should spend two to three days riding the track rather than attempting it in a single day, he said, added that many bikers underestimate the difficulty of the track.

Golden Bay DOC representative Neil Murray agreed that heavy rain had made conditions on parts of the track tough for mountainbikers. He said the West Coast area office planned work within the next financial year.

DOC Buller area manager Bob Dickson said parts of the track were suffering but he didn't regard it as particularly significant, nor did he think the track was showing any greater signs of damage than having large numbers of trampers go through.

Abusive, arrogant mountainbikers riding the Heaphy Track in one day will not be tolerated, says the Department of Conservation.

DOC is warning if it finds cyclists who are attempting to ride the track in one day riding at night that they will be prosecuted.

DOC Buller area manager Bob Dickson said other track users were reporting that cyclists who were riding the track in one day were "rude, arrogant and abusive".

He said the riders were out to set records on the track and had reportedly been pushing in front of people waiting to get across footbridges across streams.

Mr Dickson said that group of riders were causing trouble on the track.

He said mountainbikers as a whole were underestimating the difficulties of the track and its conditions. Even experienced riders who were doing it in two days were miscalculating it and found themselves riding sections of the track in the dark.

He recommended that people do the track in three days and two nights, so they could slow down and enjoy the ride and scenery.

He said the track was long and if cyclists were caught out with a gear failure or other trouble, they were a long way from anywhere, so they needed to take the correct gear with them.

Mr Dickson said the high numbers using the track since it reopened to riders in May had been an economic boon for places like Karamea, which were traditionally quiet in winter.

Heaphy Track Help leader Derry Kingston, who walked the track last week, said he had not encountered any abusive or arrogant behaviour by anyone, although he acknowledged that the muddy conditions on the West Coast side were difficult for cyclists.

Sickman wrote:

znomit wrote:

Fango wrote:

Sickman wrote:Plenty of Kiwi's roaming the track at night. ...

FYI... The plural of kiwi is kiwi. Even if there was an "s", there would be no apostrophe. Two grammatical errors in one word is good, even in a Vorb forum.

I count three.[/quote)]
I count at least four if that turns you on. I wanted to convey the plural to all and it worked so is that is good. English language is ever evolving so just chill out and let it evolve. Stop being a stuck up old dude who only wants status quo.