It's a classic and one of the originals. The Dipper was the first trail we rode when we first came to Rotorua for the weekend to mountain bike.Acouple of laps of this seemed like a big day out back then.
It was only later when we moved here and hooked up with some of the locals, like Mike Lee and Rick Todd, that we began to explore other trails. Gaz Sullivan from NZO (Nzone, then) was also newly arrived, but another Whaka regular who'd made the weekly trip to Rotorua, with his wife, Glen.
As Gaz used to say after making the big move down here: "The only thing I miss about Auckland is going to Rotovegas for the weekend." He took us out on Rock Drop, which had a fearsome reputation. His advice was simple - "stay on my back wheel, follow my lines and try not to think too much''.
It worked most of the time. But there were a couple of over the handlebar incidents. No mercy, though. Gaz wheeled the offender back up the hill for another run at some section of technical misery and made him or her ride it again, while talking them through it. Result: success and very real satisfaction.
I did case myself badly on a section with two consecutive log rollovers a couple of years later while doing a check of the course for the 2003 Oceanias and munted a rib or two. However, Rock Drop has never scared me since Gaz's tutorial. Obi-Wan Sullivan.
Dipper was never scary. It was quick if you wanted it to be or a cruisy ride for a beginner. Over the years, it took a hammering with some big drainage issues, among other things. Parts of it became technical by default as thousands of bikes took their inevitable toll.
It was no longer the beginner and family-friendly trail that all MTB networks need. Enter Timberlands and a substantial thinning of the tree in the Dipper block. And then enter the good folk of the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club to not just restore the trail but revamp it, highline some of the more troublesome sections and iron out a few of the kinks.
The original trail was always a keeper and a tribute to those who blazed it back in the mid-90s. The trail adopters and Red McHale and the Department of Corrections crews made valiant efforts to stay on top of the maintenance. They even gave the Big Berm a rev-up a few years ago.
However, a not quite complete clean slate in the last year has allowed the club to really sort the trail out. Helmets off to Mark Upshall from Spadewerx and Casey King for making the changes needed while not losing the heart and soul of the Dipper. The berms are better and the tabletops are good to jump or safe to roll. The Dipper is family-friendly again and still a blast if you are keen to haul it. An old favourite just got better.
? Join the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club and support all this superb work on our trails: rotorua.mtbclub.org.nz