awesome work guys.

BTW I just wanted to praise the quality of the track builds in Makara after riding on the weekend.

Salvation was a succession of squelch and bog and greasy turns. Yet the trials I rode on Makara, even though they'd had the same amount of rain, were relatively dry and pretty much bog free.

A real testament to the skill of the builders so well done to them!

nice work Robbie, I need to get back there and give you a hand at some stage

Though something I have been meaning to mention to you is right at the top after the 1st right hander there is a short straight section into some steep but short rollers, myself and others have noted everytime we hit them we almost get biffed over our bikes. They are a bit short and steep to pump or roll effectively at pace imo.

@ Vert

True, they are packing down and we have knocked the tops off them also.
The new gravel may have steepened them up a touch, the low points between them being box drains.
I rode them last saturday, paying attention to how they were, and although one of them looks a bit sharp, my lame riding skills coped easily.
They would be a worry for those sitting on their saddles however..

catmannz wrote:awesome work guys.
BTW I just wanted to praise the quality of the track builds in Makara after riding on the weekend.
Salvation was a succession of squelch and bog and greasy turns. Yet the trials I rode on Makara, even though they'd had the same amount of rain, were relatively dry and pretty much bog free.
A real testament to the skill of the builders so well done to them!

Cheers! There are a couple of guys who have worked huge purely voluntary hours to keep the tracks as they are, and a larger number that have only worked there every single weekend.

I even rode about myself on Saturday, and found maybe 1 or two puddles, no boggy bits and no slime, one day after a decent storm. Pretty good huh.

Robbie wrote:

catmannz wrote:awesome work guys.
BTW I just wanted to praise the quality of the track builds in Makara after riding on the weekend.
Salvation was a succession of squelch and bog and greasy turns. Yet the trials I rode on Makara, even though they'd had the same amount of rain, were relatively dry and pretty much bog free.
A real testament to the skill of the builders so well done to them!

Cheers! There are a couple of guys who have worked huge purely voluntary hours to keep the tracks as they are, and a larger number that have only worked there every single weekend.

I even rode about myself on Saturday, and found maybe 1 or two puddles, no boggy bits and no slime, one day after a decent storm. Pretty good huh.

Its gonna be mint in the summer!
BTW do you know of any shuttle services running this holidays?

Shuttles, nothing these hols I would think. They need a massive volunteer effort, and all that two way vehicle traffic on that road with bikes dangling out the back is quite a risk to the vehicles.

We may be restricted to just three days a year, I am not sure...and best done in summer for more riders?

Yeh fair enough

Here is a copy from the North Face Blog
at www.makarapeak.org :

Today the aim was to plant HEAPS of Rata into the ground adjacent to North Face.

Don had transported hundreds of the things to the summit, and it was even sunny.
For a while.

Things started well with everybody merrily picking spots, digging holes, and placing each baby Rata in it’s new home- hoping one day that a magnificent tree may grow as a result!

We had a sprinkle of misty rain, but as it was quite warm that was not a problem. Riders rode past. More Rata found homes beside the tracks, and at some point it started to rain. Quite a bit actually. And the fog arrived, making the entire atmosphere a wet grey thing.

I think it began to rain harder, and more plants were.. planted. After a (short) while the day turned into some bizarre kind of wet t-shirt contest (further keeping the riders away in droves) . Visibility is tricky with water pouring off ones eyebrows, making blinking a strange process as well.

We finally bailed out after two whole hours, although I think well over a hundred Rata were planted on both sides of the track. May they grow impressively!!

Cheers,

Rob

MAKARA PEAK TRACKS

Good stuff! Thanks to all who braved the conditions...

North Face needs BIG TREES

Rata day number two !!!

Last weekend, in spite of getting drowned in a storm, over a hundred Rata were planted in the top third of North Face in only an hour or two.

This weekend we will be starting from the lower end, and working our way upwards. Hoipefully we will be no deluge so we can get a lot more done...

This is fun, relatively low stress day where you get to pick where many a Rata may one day be a huge tree bordering a track @ Makara Peak. A nice problem to have, and quite easily solved!

Come along and we wil provide instructions, lunch and lots of baby Rata :-)

cheers,
Rob

MAKARA PEAK TRACKS

Perfect Storm

Here is a copy of the News on our own website:
http://makarapeak.org/northface?mode=Po ... bmi=420463

We set off this morning with the aim to plant as many of the remaining Rata as we could- before The Storm arrived.

Last week we bailed at lunchtime totally drenched (for the first time in at least 110 work parties which is as far as I can recall. )

However today started windy and then settled down to a sunny day with high cloud, and a light breeze. If you stayed away, you missed out !!

Shortly after lunch all the wee Rata had new homes with around 350 baby trees planted along about 90% of North face’s 1620m length in the last two weeks.
Earlier tree plantings looked to be going well and there are at least 450 natives of various types growing now. May they not get eaten by pests and grow magnificently. !!

We then had a nice easy afternoon tinkering with the trail, armouring here, smoothing there.
Eventually we did a bit of work on switchback number 6: the one with a lot of fresh air over the side. It was smoothed, the outer edge hardened, and the grade reversal ( dip) just before it armoured with rock to stop it getting mucky.

It was so nice to be out in the bush, high above Wellington on a warm sunny day

Big thanks to Euan, Don, Hugh, Rob, Owen and Michael

Next SATURDAY we will be back on North Face, working in the Valley of Switchbacks, see you there..

Cheers

Rob

Makara Peak Tracks

Robbie wrote:Perfect Storm

Here is a copy of the News on our own website:
http://makarapeak.org/northface?mode=Po ... bmi=420463

We set off this morning with the aim to plant as many of the remaining Rata as we could- before The Storm arrived.

Last week we bailed at lunchtime totally drenched (for the first time in at least 110 work parties which is as far as I can recall. )

However today started windy and then settled down to a sunny day with high cloud, and a light breeze. If you stayed away, you missed out !!

Shortly after lunch all the wee Rata had new homes with around 350 baby trees planted along about 90% of North face’s 1620m length in the last two weeks.
Earlier tree plantings looked to be going well and there are at least 450 natives of various types growing now. May they not get eaten by pests and grow magnificently. !!

We then had a nice easy afternoon tinkering with the trail, armouring here, smoothing there.
Eventually we did a bit of work on switchback number 6: the one with a lot of fresh air over the side. It was smoothed, the outer edge hardened, and the grade reversal ( dip) just before it armoured with rock to stop it getting mucky.

It was so nice to be out in the bush, high above Wellington on a warm sunny day

Big thanks to Euan, Don, Hugh, Rob, Owen and Michael

Next SATURDAY we will be back on North Face, working in the Valley of Switchbacks, see you there..

Cheers

Rob

Makara Peak Tracks

Sounds like a great day...wish I'd manned up and gone instead of "relaxing" before my race

mtb obsessed wrote:

Robbie wrote:Perfect Storm

Here is a copy of the News on our own website:
http://makarapeak.org/northface?mode=Po ... bmi=420463

We set off this morning with the aim to plant as many of the remaining Rata as we could- before The Storm arrived.

Last week we bailed at lunchtime totally drenched (for the first time in at least 110 work parties which is as far as I can recall. )

However today started windy and then settled down to a sunny day with high cloud, and a light breeze. If you stayed away, you missed out !!

Shortly after lunch all the wee Rata had new homes with around 350 baby trees planted along about 90% of North face’s 1620m length in the last two weeks.
Earlier tree plantings looked to be going well and there are at least 450 natives of various types growing now. May they not get eaten by pests and grow magnificently. !!

We then had a nice easy afternoon tinkering with the trail, armouring here, smoothing there.
Eventually we did a bit of work on switchback number 6: the one with a lot of fresh air over the side. It was smoothed, the outer edge hardened, and the grade reversal ( dip) just before it armoured with rock to stop it getting mucky.

It was so nice to be out in the bush, high above Wellington on a warm sunny day

Big thanks to Euan, Don, Hugh, Rob, Owen and Michael

Next SATURDAY we will be back on North Face, working in the Valley of Switchbacks, see you there..

Cheers

Rob

Makara Peak Tracks

Sounds like a great day...wish I'd manned up and gone instead of "relaxing" before my race

The racing sounded great! good to see the sun out
I was busy organising a new bike all weekend... Watch this space

It was such a nice day, and with the main job done early there was a fair bit of leaning on the embankement in the sun, gazing over Wellington.

And talking to passing riders. Which personally is where I excell

The track is coming along nicely in general, so we will be focussing on the Valley of Switchbacks. Working up from the lower end we will be doing fun and useful stuff.

Such as:
making a berm for a corner here and there (in-sloping the track so it rides in a more forgiving & fun way and has a pretty solid and longer lasting edge)

Ensuring the track drains nicely by tinkering with rollers and the side slope.

Other equally important stuff will be the telling of stories including wild exaggerations, and cheering on those who ride by!

See you at the St Albans Rd garage at 9:45 if you want to start early, and uphill from the lower end of North Face from 10am.

We have the tools, the food and the track all waiting for you.
Even stopping by for a few minutes would be great, or just a smile or a chat as you ride by, AND buying a bike sticker off us :-)

Cheers

Rob

MAKARA PEAK TRACKS