Freeridenz Blog

1/10/08

BLACK BIRCH TRAIL
KAWEKA RANGES

HAWKES BAY

NEW ZEALAND

The beauty of living in New Zealand is that if you wish to ride mountain bike trails they are usually no more than an hours drive away from you... sometimes there are trails that nobody even knows about, like the Black birch trail that we re-discovered.

Thanks to Hilton with his advanced knowledge of the surrounding ranges to Hawkes bay, He scoped out the maps, turned the cogs in his head & located an “old tramping trail” that he was certain it is rideable. At 1000mtr elevation the trail was definitely going to have some great views over the bay, a 300mtr decent over 1km at the end of the trail was telling me there’s going to be some steep technical riding! Yeeeesssssss!
Hilton soon gave word to the boys, and Sunday was the day to go!

Paul,Brent,Eddy,Hilton & I loaded up BIG RED & headed for the hills, with full anticipation of shredding through NZ native bush. Within an hour BIG RED got us to the start of the trail. Obvious signs of pruning indicated that DOC had been in an cleared the trail early for summer, straight into an undulating uphill along a ridge line for approx 8km saw fantastic views of the Kaweka mountain range, rolling green hills, and the hawkes bay coastline in the distance.

The trail consisted of shale type rocks, lush native bush with openings to dry windy smooth rutted paths with plenty of optional airtime off the humps along the trail,
Suddenly the ridgeline drops away very steeply and you can make out way down below, BIG RED waiting for our arrival. For the next 15 minutes , full concentration was required to negotiate a very steep & technical downhill. To accomplish this section without crashing was challenging. Arm pump, the smell of hot brakes & huge grins was what the trail finished with!
All in all with a few thrills n spills it was an epic adventure that will not be forgotten.
I love Sunday adventures!

Glenn Richards
FREERIDENZ