The ride meet outside of the Princess Margaret Hospital on a fine Easter Sunday, with a couple of new riders along for the ride we talked for a wee bit and then set off to Little River to meet up with Clark.

Easter Weekend Riders

The Bridle Path was constructed  in 1850 to provide a route between Lyttelton Harbour and Christchurch. Many Settlers lugged their possessions over this steep track to start a new life in Christchurch.

 From an email passed on to the club:

 Plantation Forest Survey – Pssssssssssst … pass it on

Did you know that the Plantation Forest, where most of Wanaka's fabulous mountain biking takes place, is privately owned?

For the past 10 years, the Office of Treaty Settlements has managed the land while the rightful owners were sought. In the coming year, these new owners will acquire the land outright.

In the past, the OTS has kindly allowed us to continue to ride in the Plantation. Obviously, continued recreational use of the forest will no longer be assured once the land passes into private hands.

Worselys Track is the unmaintained section of Worselys Road which branches of of  Cashmere Rd and rises to the Summit Road.

Worselys Track is a 4WD road for specially modified 4WD vechicles. It is deeply rutted, clay, with a few stoney sections and can be extremely hard to bike in the wet.

The most notable section of the track is the extremely steep peice at the top of the track: The Body Bag.

The body bag section starts just after the last gate and goes right to the top. You'll recognise it when you see it, its pretty steep. Full marks for any one that rides all the way to the top.  ( ED: Have a wee breather before you attempt to ride it  )

Kennedys Bush is a grassy 4WD track. It is steep and can be rutted in some places.

The Bownvale Valley track was given a refresher in 2007: New sections of single track were constructed to replace the Spray Track and some of the steeper sections. As a result this track is now much more rideable for the average mountain biker.

However, it is still a challenging ride.