June 2021 Newsletter

15 Jun

Kia ora and welcome to our latest newsletter!

It has been awhile since we have sent an newsletter to our members and we have certainly been busy over this time! Biking is a huge growth activity in NZ and its wonderful to see all the bikes around town and on the back of cars now. Bike Taupo is constantly working on improving the conditions and offerings available in Taupo for all cyclists and we are passionate about getting people on bikes. We would therefore appreciate if you could take the time to complete the survey as below to provide us feedback on how we are doing. We value our Members and Partners and your opinion is important to us for future growth.

Our good looking committee: (from left to right)

Cath (Kids BT), Melissa (Administration) Lynette (Chair) Karyn (Treasurer), Rowan (Advocacy Guru) Clyff (IT & Graph Expert) Ian (The Jewel in the Crown!) Pete (Trails and Management) Mark (Secretary)

Enjoy the reading and keep the rubber side down! Cheers, Melissa.

Bike Taupo Survey

Completion of the survey gives us valuable feedback into what our members expectations are of Bike Taupo together with insight into our members understanding of Bike Taupo and our trail network.

Every person who completes the survey will go in the draw to win one of four great prizes:

2 x $50 Ground Effect vouchers

2 x $50 Torpedo 7 vouchers

Words of Wisdom from our Chair

Tena koutou katoa

My name is Lynette Braithwaite, and I was elected as the Chair of Bike Taupo at the AGM held in March. For those who do not know me, here is a bit of history on how I find myself on Bike Taupo.

I have been on many committees and event organisations over the years and joined the Taupo Mountain Bike Club in January 2011. I enjoyed the comradery of both the club and riders, so soon took on the role of Secretary and eventually President as well as a multitude of other jobs along the way. Little did the club know, when I first started with them, I had never actually ridden a Mountain Bike. This proved to be quite interesting at the first few committee meetings when talking about tracks in Craters! I had absolutely no idea where they were talking about - it was like a totally foreign language! Within the first few months I was encouraged (Ok – pushed) by my “keen as beans MTBing husband” John (JB), and I headed off into Craters for my first MTB ride and so my love of MTBing began.

I originally joined Bike Taupo as the Liaison between the two organisations in 2016. I eventually stood down from the Taupo MTB Club in 2018, and then joined Bike Taupo, so I could be more involved with Bike Advocacy in the region. I enjoy the “can do” attitude that seems to be the ethos at the heart of this organisation.

I am proud of what has been built around the region from my predecessors, and know that this was largely due to huge numbers of community volunteers and thousands of volunteer hours hand building tracks. It is a privilege to be part of this group that bring so much riding pleasure to so many people and help shape the future of mountain biking in the Taupo region.

I believe that I am approachable and open to new ideas. With this in mind, Bike Taupo have recently held a strategic planning meeting, and will be sending out a survey with this panui. Please take the time to fill out the survey, as this will give us ideas and show us what is important to you for cycling in the region and MTBing over the next 5 years.

Help us to create urban tracks that will have meaning for you and your whanau, and off road track systems that will keep you riding for years to come.

Kai kaha and happy riding! 😊

Lynette

Track Crew Report

Things have been rocking along with the track network in the last few months. The weather has been kind and we have seen lots of riders out and about.

We have tidied up parts of the Huka Trails around the poo plant in town and also the horrible little hill out by the bore field bridge near the Wairakei Resort. We are also about to realign the uphill section on the Rotary Ride opposite the Huka Lodge to make it more user friendly. We also plan to repair the Spa Park end of the Rotary Ride which keeps getting washed out in the last gully.

In Craters MTB Park, we are still to finish off building Dier Straights which will be the link from the top of Zee Zee Top across to Waipuwerawera. The other new track under construction is a link track leading to the Connection which will mean you will not have to bike up and then down Tank Stand to access the tracks further out. These hopefully will be all finished in the next three months. We have also been updating and putting in new signs around the park as well as doing some regrading of tracks so visitors don’t access tracks they don't want to.

Within the next 4 to 6 weeks logging is to start on the last section of trees over in the Steam Field area. This includes the trees around the Golf Course which will mean access from the Wairakei Resort will be closed as well as the bottom section of Sugar Daddy. There will be a short period where Outback needs to closed as well. We will keep you informed and tracks will be taped and signage in place.

The Great Lake Trail is generally in good condition We have just finished a tidy up on Orakau down to the tunnel and getting this winter's planting areas prepared. We are also planning on running a digger up the Whakaipo side of W2K this winter/ spring to re bench the track and give it a general tidy up. This may include running it around the headland.

Finally, a massive thank you to the "track fairies" who chip away building tracks and trimming vegetation in their own time and to everybody that sends tree reports into us. You are legends. This saves us so much time and therefore money and improves the tracks for everyone.

Craters Classic 2021

Bike Taupo recently hosted the Craters Classic MTB event from the Wairakei Resort. We had an awesome day with 650 competitors from all over NZ coming to participate in our event. Craters Classic is a great opportunity for Bike Taupo to showcase our awesome trail network in a fun and safe environment. Riders choose to race competitively for podium places or just enjoy the scenery and camaraderie.

Check out the video from Waero Tomlin from Palmerston North who joined us for the weekend...

Kids Bike Taupo

We are noticing a continuing interest in children and families getting into their bikes. I guess we are always going to have new ‘customers’, unless people stop having babies! It is very useful to follow up the early childhood sessions with visits into primary schools with their junior classes. Not everyone has seen Kids Bike Taupo before they get to school, so these visits are very valuable.

A real highlight this year has been BMX for the Special Needs Unit at Tauhara College. I’ll admit that I was a little nervous the first time, but the students loved the challenge. Just like everyone else, once they learned how to control their speed the risk is reduced and they had a blast.

The Secondhand Bike Sale is always fun. We were at the Sunday Market this year, which is a great fit for everyone. The rain scared away those made of sugar, but we made a little bit of money and the networking is always worth it. Thanks to Bike Sale for the use of their racks and to Fiona and Rowan for
being there all day. It has been suggested that we do another one closer to spring/summer. Nothing decided as yet.

Funding continues to be a thorn in our side. We do not charge for sessions, because we want no barriers. Unfortunately, this seems to have created the feeling that we must have plenty of money. Melissa continues to submit those applications and somehow we find money.

The Community Bike Shed in Spa Venture Park, at the top of Spa Road where the Taupo Cadets and Nuki’s Gym are, still operates on a Wednesday afternoon from 3.30pm to 5pm. A big shout out to Preston for taking over when Jonny went sailing around the Pacific with his family. We can use any reasonable bikes that are a good brand and able to be recycled. We have been getting more discerning and would rather not have to take care of other people’s rubbish. How do we stop people from buying bikes from shops that sell 20,000 other things? If you know families looking for an affordable entry into biking, please send them to Kids Bike Taupo.

It is great for our district to have a pathway for children and adults to get more confident riding as a transport option. The Taupo District Council offers free Cycle Road Safety training to schools and groups and adults through the Road Safety Teams ‘Pedal Safe’ programme. Check out -
https://www.taupodc.govt.nz/transport-and-water/road-safety/cycling-course

There continues to be not enough of KBT to go around, especially in the summer terms. A good place to catch Ricky Biker is at the after school sessions. Please tell your friends to come along, particularly if they are not terribly confident about this whole biking thing. All sessions 3.30pm to 5pm.
Mondays – BMX Track
Tuesdays – SPARK Trails in Spa Park
Thursdays – Craters MTB Park

Nga Mihi
Cath

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