Stumpy Ryder wrote:

mtb obsessed wrote:

Stumpy Ryder wrote:

Robbie wrote:This Sunday takes us back to Smokin' which is a great sprint through the trees with 4 banked switchbacks.

Today's mission is to Perfect the track now that it has packed down and survived it's first winter.

- ensure no ruts are forming
- armour the softer parts with the local rocks
- make all the rolly bits "just right"
- refine the swings and flows for extra goodness
- tinkering with the last switchback to keep it nice and dry (without harming the berm)

And bring your bike!!

cheers

Rob

Makara Peak Tracks

Should make the bermed switchbacks bigger haha

The first three switchbacks on Smokin', and now I assume, after Sunday's efforts, the last one too, are all ridable without brakes. You've just got to pick the right line

ok then. I was just saying that we should make em bigger for the looks you know haha.

I dunno about that, is there a spot prize in it for me!?

Over the last two Tuesday evenings the digging work has progressed up the hill from the Ridge to the Grassy Knoll.
The two big corners have been left for later, as they will be needing a lot of rock, and the plan is to mine this from further up the hill where it is very rocky, and in the valley ahead.

This Valley looks a lot like the forest where Smokin’ was built, except the trees are taller and there are more King Ferns. Plenty of rocks too

This coming Tuesday we will be working our way down from THE TOP . This is right by the end of North Face, and 75m has already been 100% built as a wide solid track so hopefully this will continue !

Digging will continue to a wide sweeping ridge, then traverse a side slope into that very cool valley.
Here is a map of where things are now. The lower 300m is I guess only 80% done:



And a side view to see how it fits on the hill:



Cheers,

Rob,
Makara Peak Tracks !!

we have those massive big sweepers we are going to build on the grassy knoll. . those switchbacks further up look small compared to them. Is it possible to make them big too, then the track will have the same feel right the way down. swoopy and just awesome

Hi
the first sweeper is about 12m across: three or four times the size of a typical Makara Peak switchback.

The switchie in the valley can be made quite large. it just means people will have to dig a bigger hole! It is in an open Smokin style valley so if people are keen, a big sweeper can be made for sure. Rocks are plentiful.

The switchback half way down the face of the hill on JFK will need to be a more normal size, simply because of the 1 in 2 side slope there. I am hoping we build a keyhole into the hill and so stop the silly steeep track mid corner..

cheers

SUNDAY November 28

North Face is a truly epic track, however there are two or three spots that need a bit of Perfection.

The weather will be awesome, so bring a hat and a litre or two of water.
We will bring along sunscreen, lunch and some drinks.. and the tools, gloves etc as usual.

If you have not had a shot at a work party but love this track, please drop by anytime from about 10am onwards, and we can show you what is happenning.

We will be starting at the top from about 10am, then be working our way down the trackl be looking at the first two switchbacks, then the unloved rollers after the second one.. making sure that there are no evil spikes too close to the track etc.

Bring your bike!!



Superb views, great times.

Plenty to do!

cheers,

Rob

Makara Peak Tracks!!

Sunday will be a tad warmer than today, so please bring 1.5litres of water if you are staying all day, or somewhat less if you are not !

I shall have a chilly bin with ice and drinks, but you will need your own water. Dehydration is not pretty!

I suggest a hat too, and we will bring along a vat of sun screen.

Cheers to the 8 people who suffered a mild baking today working on North Face

More news will be posted here and on the blog later, however a summary goes like this:

Built up the berm on the 1st switchback using the almost magical sticky gravel.

Switchback 2, ditto. The rocky entry into corner this will need to wait for a cooler day to be fixed !

Smoothed out the unloved rollers..

Smoothed out the narrow part of the track shortly after that, where people have been skidding their back wheels over a crest and cutting up the track.
This is now smoother and far less likely to get those back brake fingers twitching.

A long day with the lads riding off down the hill after 5:30

That was a mint as day

Got a good okay shot to

Road works FTW!

its that guy wrote:That was a mint as day

Got a good okay shot to

2010-11-28 16.09.26.jpg

Road works FTW!

Hey it's that guy haha
that was such an exhausting day, that wheelbarrowing farrr..k haha

Here is a copy of today's exploits on the Makara Peak website:

http://www.makarapeak.org/northface?mod ... bmi=470297

Go have a look, and keep up to date on Facebook if you do that stuff too...

Today dawned bright and sunny and quite hot by Wellington standards. Apparently 22 in the shade however the sun had an impressive bite.

North Face has been ridable for about 6 months now, and we only started building it 13 months back. Plenty of work was done during the winter where fresh water was washing over the track near the top making a bog, and many of corners were tinkered with and wet bits dried out.

The track is still packing down, so some bits improve while others start to get cut up or fall away.. especially where people have been riding off the edge. Bad for the track, and not healthy for the riders.

We had the remains of a large pile of special sticky gravel waiting: the legendary Wellington City Council Parks and Gardens’ “cake mix”. Apart from it partly blocking the road, we were keen to use it before it set into one huge lump.

So we started off by smoothing out the rollers after the second corner, which had become too harsh after armouring and gravelling. The box drains were removed in the hope that the new surface will be solid enough to not erode between these rollers when winter hits and it rains massively. An awful lot of water washes across the track there.



Plenty of test rides at slow, medium and high speeds with suspension turned off and on etc and the verdict was job done!

Next up we built up the outer edge of turn 2, a bermed switchback, as that edge had slumped over winter. Nothing a huge amount of sticky rocky gravel and packing down would not fix! More riding confirmed the improvement.

The exit:



The vital testing phase:



All this corner now needs is for the solid rock entry to be hacked down, however that is a job for cooler weather.
Then we went up to the first turn- a switchback with a sweeping exit, and did the same.

Here is how the exit now looks:



And it seems to ride well too!



Plenty more test rides that corner too is now much better.

It was hot, damn hot, so lurking in the shade was a popular and sensible thing to do.



Please stay off the new edges. including the top of the berms
The next effort was on a narrow part of the track perhaps 50m past the second switchback, where cutting a rising then falling corner had made the track even more narrow, and the apparent scariness had people dragging their rear brake on the down-slope, ripping up the surface and making it a little more gnarly for the next rider.

I could show photos here but they were truly awful.

By next winter this part of the track would have been pretty ugly, so we cleaned it up. The corner itself was widened, and the falling away edge repaired on the down-slope. A better camber for the front wheel after the rise was devised and two Manukas which had been terminally smashed by rider impacts were removed.

Cheers to the eight intrepid people who toiled around in the hot sun today!

Next up we will be at the top of JFK on Tuesday night from 5 until 8:30 ish (more sunny summer evenings in the forest) and next weekend, the MAKARA PEAK FESTIVAL!!

Cheers,

Rob

MAKARA PEAK TRACKS!

Here is a copy of the latest blog on our own website:

http://makarapeak.org/northface?mode=Po ... bmi=471492

This evening ten people worked away on extending the top end of JFK.

Some track was benched, and a lot of gorse and barberry was cleared towards and beyond the switchback in the valley. This is right next to an impressive rock face, lurking unseen below North Face.

Where the gang worked this evening is a mix of soft dirt and solid rock, and it was pretty easy to step back and disappear over the side!

Here is a map, where the red track is complete, and the track in orange is about 80% complete:



The whole thing will be over 650m long, and will be the usual fun single-track with some entertaining features thrown in, plus the natural wonders of huge King ferns, a nearby rock face, a cool valley with a large switchback under the trees, the Grassy Knoll with its huge corner, a run to a turn on a ridge, and other stuff. Not too shabby at all!

Here are some pictures taken from just around the first ridge this evening:

Towards the valley: people working while I am not. The joys of digital communication.

The whole thing will be over 650m long, and will be the usual fun single-track with some entertaining features thrown in, plus the natural wonders of huge King ferns, a nearby rock face, a cool valley with a large switchback under the trees, the Grassy Knoll with its huge corner, a run to a turn on a ridge, and other stuff. Not too shabby at all!

Here are some pictures taken from just around the first ridge this evening:

Towards the valley: people working while I am not. The joys of digital communication.



And then we have evil solid rock. Not for long!!



And then the track will go along here:



In the darkness past the pink tape on the small tree is where the switchback awaits...



If you have a bit of time to spare on a Tuesday evening drop by and say hello, and swing a pick or grubber for a while if you feel the urge to help create a track..

Finishing this track on Tuesday nights will keep us busy until late January, when a new track will be born!

More digging is of course scheduled for next Tuesday, any time after 5..

however before then, the Makara Peak Festival is happening this coming Sunday. Be there !

Cheers,

Rob

MAKARA PEAK TRACKS!

Hello all. Here is a copy of the info posted last night on the blog:
http://www.makarapeak.org/northface



It is going to be mint.

Looking up the track from where it rounds a sweeping bend. JFK starts where the two ridge lines meet.



A small step down, which will be further armored:



More track and a bucket:



The side slope increases..bikes fall off.



Into the valley with plenty of armouring:



Wider, smoother and faster!



Around the ponga. This is now much wider :-)



The benching got to here:



The run into the corner. With scene setting speed blur:



The green moss covered rock wall, just to the left of the corner entry. One day.



Mid way around a very wide u-turn..all it takes is imagination.



And right about here is the large corner exit.



The entire group of North Face tracks are now roughly at this point:



The track in white is finished and/or ridable: the grey not yet started, and the dotted parts are in progress.

It is amazing to watch this all happen, huge respect to all those who have worked on these tracks so far.

Thanks tonight go to Bryan, Ian, Don, Jono, Martin, Sam, Michael and Matt !!


Cheers,

Rob

MAKARA PEAK TRACKS !!

What a great way to escape the pre Christmas lunacy and burn off some calories, so you can eat and drink even more with a clear conscience.

This track is still packing down and as it does so a few bits need work.
Meet us at the garage on St Albans Ave before9:45, or from the top of North face from 10am.
Drop in for a short while or a long while, or say hello on the way by ;-)

As usual tools, glove, lunch etc all provided by the Makara Peak Supporters, along with advice and hilarious times.

See you there!

Rob

MAKARA PEAK TRACKS

I shall bring the chilly bin

Here is a copy of our blog, see it first on http://www.makarapeak.org/northface
The photos are much larger there too.

Hot stuff on North Face. 12-Dec-10 21:09

It may have only been 23 in the shade, however a lot of hard work today was done in the sun today on North Face.

Keen people were working mostly near the top and in the Valley of Switchbacks.

The sharp ridge, see number 1, (which is a right hand U turn cut into solid rock), had some work on the outer edge following some impressive damage. Whoever crashed there knocking all that rock over the side would have a story to tell! We pinched some dirt to pack the rocks here from the preceeding corner making it just that little bit nicer.

Next up lot of widening and smoothing was done on the run down into the right hander above the Roller Coaster, and to the corner itself. Observez point 2. This is now far less intimidating for the less skilled, and hopefully fun for the heroes too. We added a swoopy turn for those wanting to wander up the bank, thoughtfully shown by the red arrow in the lower photo.



Here you can see the much wider, smoother, rolly pumpy bit. Complete with bank to spring off if you like to do that :-)



nto the right hander above the roller coaster. The edge is very soft so please stay in the centre of the track here. The high edge does show people where the corner goes before they arrive, so hopefully this will lessen the damage from excessive braking before the turn itself.

The run out of the corner is now much wider and further from a tree after a lot of the rock on the inside was removed with picks.



Looking down into the roller coaster:



And, looking upwards!




Hot stuff on North Face.
12-Dec-10 21:09 | Robert Lawrence (Administrator)
It may have only been 23 in the shade, however a lot of hard work today was done in the sun today on North Face.

Keen people were working most;y near the top and in the Valley of Switchbacks.

The sharp ridge, see number 1, (which is a right hand U turn cut into solid rock), had some work on the outer edge following some impressive damage. Whoever crashed there knocking all that rock over the side would have a story to tell! We pinched some dirt to pack the rocks here from the preceeding corner making it just that little bit nicer.

Next up lot of widening and smoothing was done on the run down into the right hander above the Roller Coaster, and to the corner itself. Observez point 2. This is now far less intimidating for the less skilled, and hopefully fun for the heroes too. We added a swoopy turn for those wanting to wander up the bank, thoughtfully shown by the red arrow in the lower photo.

.

Here you can see the much wider, smoother, rolly pumpy bit. Complete with bank to spring off if you like to do that :-)


Into the right hander above the roller coaster. The edge is very soft so please stay in the centre of the track here. The high edge does show people where the corner goes before they arrive, so hopefully this will lessen the damage from excessive braking before the turn itself.

The run out of the corner is now much wider and further from a tree after a lot of the rock on the inside was removed with picks.


Looking down into the roller coaster:


And, looking upwards!



Further down a lot of areas have been tidied up- apologies for the lack of photos of this good work.

The most significant was the first switchback in the valley, ( that would be number 3) where a fair amount of rock has been chipped away and placed on the exit to form the foundation of a berm.

It still needs further work, but it is progressing nicely so it is now reasonably easy to ride (unlike the subsequent left-hand switchback, which ahem needs work).

Cheers to the eight guys who helped today, when it would have been far easier to relax in the sun, or even ride a bike!.

And I did not mention snot bubbles once.

Cheers,

Rob

MAKARA PEAK TRACKS !!


p.s. Luke we have your top, email me robscave@gmail.com and I can sort out a delivery.