People having fun on T3

Between all the hard work, Jeff and Hugh had the chance to ride some of the good work they had done. Harvey Blakely and a few mates came through T3 around lunchtime and after some encouragement he gave “old skinky” a crack, good on ya Harvey!

Working Men

While all the noise of the kango was going there was some good old benching and gravelling going on in between so that we can ride to each obstacle, makes sense really. Rob and Will showing how it's done.

"Crash Test Dummy"

We decided to give people a choice at the first rock out-crop of going high or low, as the high line has quite a drop and takes full commitment to clean. As Hugh demonstrates in these photos, a tumble from the low line is not life threatening but still a good challenge.

Ratchet Canyon

This tricky little number required the most amount of Kango time, as you can see from the before shots. The obstacle is a trench in the shape of an S, is around 900mm deep in places and is very very tight. Some of you old school retro riders will remember a technique not often used in modern Mtb parks known as “ratcheting” this trick requires you to back pedal or ratchet your pedals backwards to clear the narrow gap. Not recommended for new pedals or shoes they will get scuffed. Good luck!!

The Twister

We finished the boardwalk part of the twister a couple of weeks ago on a beautiful autumn afternoon, which turned into evening by the time we were done. We knew this corner was going to be tight, but after 1 hour of kango action and a couple of test rides we came to the conclusion that this corner is very very tight, so after another hour on the kango we were just able to sneak around. Up hill needs a steady hand and smooth pedal control and down hill requires a very minor readjust of the rear wheel to get the exit just right.

Before anyone complains about The Twister or Ratchet Canyon been a bit tough remember this is an expert level track, up and down, meant to test your skills and improve them, all the obstacles have been ridden both ways more than once, so they are possible.

The Boardwalk to Nowhere

This is the next piece to the T3 puzzle. We cemented the poles in for this structure at the same time we did the poles for the Skink as it is just down the track from it, but then after several months of the “big lizard” taking all our time and thought we came back to the poles on this corner and scratched our heads, “ what was the plan here again?”

So yesterday Jonathan enlisted the help of the CC’s to carry the necessary timber down to the corner and we spent 3 hours nutting out this design while they did some hard yards digging stumps.

The corner is going to be very tight and riding up to it will hopefully feel like you are riding back onto the track you have just come off. There will be a nice step-up just before you get to the boardwalk then two thirds of the way around, the wood will turn into rock to make for an interesting and challenging ride.

Still have yet to come up with a good name for this obstacle or what we will be covering it with for traction, we wait for more inspiration from the track design Gods.

Big Skink finished today.

The skink is basking in the sun with its new treads fitting well. The legs were attached at the beginning of the week with some of the body covered with tyres. The critter was given feet, eyes and the last of it’s skin today to make it the first of the T3 man-made obstacles to be finished.

We are very proud of our Big Skink and he has got us thinking outside the square for the other obstacles on the track. T3 is coming along well, and with at least 3 more large obstacles and several smaller ones to be built we have plenty of room to get creative.

Thanks again to everyone that helped out at the work parties and to all that donated their old tyres (see if you can find your old favourite on the Skink). We were thinking of using bicycle chains somehow on our next structure, so stop throwing them out and give them to us and we’ll find a new use for them.

It's Alive.......ALIVE!!!!!

At last the weather was perfect for a work party up on T3 and a dozen keen volunteers made plenty of progress on and around the Skinks Back. The day in fact was a scorcher there was plenty of sweat but thankfully no blood and certainly no tears.

We left off from the last bit of work done in October 2006, after 4 months too set the posts we put in were not going anywhere. A few saw cuts here, the odd nail there and before we knew it the lizard like creature was taking shape.

By the end of the day a few people test rode the 10 metre long Skink, but we ran out of time to cut off the excess and staple down the tyres, which will finish it off. It is quite easy to ride down, and slightly challenging to ride up, so the plan is to cut the decking boards down a little so that it is a bit harder. We also built about 20 metres of track down from the Skink and 30 metres of track above the Skink.

Thanks to Murray, Andrew, Dr Matt, Matt Amos, Rowan, Ewan, Owen, Adam, James, Don, Brian, Sasha, Jonathan, Ebony the dog and the one person we have bound to have forgotten.

Digging holes for poles.

A quick session on T3 to cement the posts in ready for the work party on The Skinks Back in the middle of October 2006. Hard work getting all the timber down to the site but thanks to Stu from the Council not as hard as it could have been. That work party was canceled due to weather and it was not until Feburary 2007 that we got back to make a start on the critter.

S3=Skink Site Survey

Giant Skinks require careful consideration. You can't just dump them anywhere. So Murray and Jonathan headed up the peak early this morning and scouted out the perfect location in amongst a forest of gorse and barberry! All the action attracted a giant spider, but that was all. Now the planning is done, we are ready to charge full steam ahead at the work party this Sunday (15th Oct, 10am). Lunch is provided, but you could bring a hammer. We will also be working on the section of track before and after The Skink. Oh, and there will be a few cool prizes drawn on the day.

Diggers in the mist

This is the lastest section of T3 to be built. Murray and Jonathan went up for a bash on Saturday morning. It was easy digging, and there is plenty of good rock around to use for just about anything you can imagine on the track. That's the great thing about this track, there is lots of opportunity to be creative and try things out, cos' almost anything goes.

The next work party on T3 is on Sunday the 15th October. The mission is to build the Skinks Back (see below) and if enough people turn up you could end up hammering away at the super tight switchback as well. Check out www.makarapeak.org.nz for details closer to the time. It should be a cracker. Hope to see you there.

Rocky out crops

These pictures are of 2 rocky out crops on the track, they have been ridden both ways so are deemed to be finished. As you can see by the before and after photos a lot of earth and rock has been moved to make them just right. These two sections were like big jigsaws puzzle to design, trying to fit in the nice natural rock features and make it tricky at the same time.

Skinks Back

This is the next feature to be built on T3, The Skinks Back. Instead of having a normal raised boardwalk the design team thought it would be cool to have something a bit more creative going on, and don’t just think it is going to look pretty either, the skink has been designed to only just be rideable with front and rear wheel placement critical. The finished Structure will be covered with old MTB tyres so if you have any lying around bring them to the next work party on the Sunday the 15th of October when we will be building the Skinks Back!

Design Map and info

The track has already been started and about 100mtrs is rideable from the Vertigo end up, but as you will be able to see by the design map it is by no means finished, there are several features to be put along this part of the track, and a whole heap more along the rest of it. The track will be a very interesting design unlike anything else in the park. If you like been creative (with large amounts of rock and earth) then contact the design team to find out when they will be working up there next.