Pedal long & prosper

Tracy Snow is happy to ride her bicycle while trailering her four-month-old daughter Ella behind her. Photo/John Borren

It's a chilly morning as I manoeuvre my borrowed mountainbike along a winding dirt trail. I follow more experienced MTB friends Donna and Paula, who traverse grass, gravel, and a boardwalk before ascending a short, steep hill. We emerge from the dirt path to a street, where the climb continues. The grade steepens. I jump off the bike, quadriceps pinging. My friends stand to pedal. "Keep going," I say. "I'll meet you at the top."

Minutes later after a downhill cruise followed by up, down, up, down and flat, flat, flat, our ride grinds to a halt. This time, it's not terrain. It's cows. Black and white bovines block the bike path. We dismount to snap a photo and tell the cows we're friends, not foes. "Just passing through."

This MTB adventure happened this winter not in farm country, but just a few kilometres from Tauranga's CBD, on Kopurererua Valley trail, which is part of Tauranga's urban cycle network. The network includes 10 commuter routes totalling 150km, plus a wider array of recreational links.

Mount Maunganui's Tracy Snow says she got to know her now-husband while riding a mountainbike. The couple's first date happened in the Redwoods. Today, the Snows have a nearly 4-year-old son and 4-month-old daughter. Snow leads a women's mountainbike group called Cycle Obsessed Ladies (named after her husband's bike shop, Cycle Obsession). She says she's encouraged by the region's opportunities.

"I think it's definitely improving with all the trails they're building and connecting up - Tauranga to Omokoroa - through to Waihi. Those sorts are user-friendly for kids and older people."

Snow says some new riders may be put off by the Tauranga area's tough tracks. "The trails are a bit difficult for beginners. We've had women who wanted to join the group who see the trails and they don't come back."

While cycling is important for locals, who turn out by the hundreds to support projects like the $7.7 million Omokoroa to Tauranga trail and bike the Tauranga Eastern Link before it opened to cars and trucks, tourism operators and government officials say it draws dollars from around the country and across the globe.

Tourism Bay of Plenty marketing director Kristin Dunne says cycle tourism represents up to 12per cent of activity in international markets but, in New Zealand, it represents only 4per cent of all tourism activity, providing room for growth.

And while the Queenstown, Auckland and Canterbury regions are top spots for international cycling visitors, Dunne says a group of Central North Island tourism marketers are working to put our region on the map. "The good news is that Tauranga has much to offer from an urban riding perspective, as well as Summerhill, Oropi and TECT All Terrain mountainbiking options."

In Rotorua, the Redwoods, Whakarewarewa Forest has already gained global acclaim. The International Mountain Biking Association this year awarded Rotorua gold-level ride centre status, making it one of six such centres in the world. Spoke magazine in August reported: "Adding to the international exposure received from the inaugural Crankworx Rotorua festival [billed as the world's largest mountainbiking festival] held in March 2015, Rotorua is quickly cementing itself as the world's premier all-year-round mountainbiking destination."

Deputy Mayor Dave Donaldson (who called Bay of Plenty Times Weekend from the Redwoods, leaving a voicemail just before entering a steep trail) says: "It was magic in the forest this morning." Donaldson, who chaired Crankworx, says past surveys have shown mountainbiking (in the Whakarewarewa Forest alone) adds $12.5 million annually to the local economy, and the community is working to triple that number - to pump up to $45 million into the region each year within two decades.

"We believe that is possible the way mountainbiking is growing around the globe and the way our reputation is growing."

When I first started operating [in 2006] we had one 20-seater. Now, we run three buses each day on weekends and school holidays, and have two 45-seaters and a 30-seater.

Jeff Carter

Management of the Redwoods is changing hands to accommodate that growth.

Rotorua's 4-month-old Trail Trust on October 19 will take over trail maintenance and building from the Rotorua Mountain Biking Club.

Gregg Brown, who presided over the MTB club for years, has assumed the trust's chairman role. Brown says the 200km trail network has meant a major culture shift.

"I think this can change the personality of the city for the better."

Brown says studies show visits to the Redwoods have increased up to 19per cent each year. He says that poses challenges, such as parking issues, as well as maintaining and expanding the trails.

"Historically, we've been able to build and maintain the trails with about $40,000 a year, and there's private support. We put $250,000 into the trail network in the last three years."

Brown says the trail-adoptee programme has been so successful, it has a waiting list. Thousands of volunteer hours go into trail building and upkeep each year.

The Rotorua Lakes Council next week will consider a new strategic plan around cycling which leverages Government funding as part of the Urban Cycleway Programme.

Rotorua will get $5.5million to develop nearly 24km of cycling and walking paths connecting the central city and forest mountainbike trails. Construction is expected to start as early as this year, with costs shared by the council and NZ Transport Agency. The council aims to increase the numbers of people cycling to work and school as well as cycling recreationally.

I love the urban trails around Tauranga. I go from my place in the Avenues through to Yatton Park in Greerton, and over to Fergusson Park. It's lovely.

Katie Bain-Calvert

NZTA Waikato Bay of Plenty regional director Harry Wilson says making cycling a safer and more attractive transport option is an agency priority. "There has been a surge of interest in cycling and cycling safety in New Zealand and we want to support and encourage this."

Donaldson says: "Those of us who have been involved in it for 20-plus years have seen the transformation of not only the trail system but the city to gear itself towards catering for the mountainbike visitor."

He points to the year-old Skyline Gravity Park as one more drawcard, touted as the country's first year-round gondola-assisted bike lift, giving riders easy access to more than 10km of trails.

Brown says the area's marketing arm, Destination Rotorua, sees cycling as a key tourism component, along with geothermal spa and wellness activities, plus Maori culture. "It's part of the development strategy and well up there among Rotorua's plans for the future."

Jeff Carter owns Southstar Shuttle Service, which brings mountainbikers to the top of Whakarewarewa Forest. He says the region's popularity as a mountainbike centre has boosted business.

"When I first started operating [in 2006] we had one 20-seater. Now, we run three buses each day on weekends and school holidays, and have two 45-seaters and a 30-seater."

Carter says Rotorua is one of the top-10 mountainbiking destinations in the world. "I love riding. That's why I live here; it's such an amazing place to ride a bike, all year round on a variety of trails."

Katie Bain-Calvert, who lives in Tauranga and rides with Cycle Obsessed Ladies, says her first pick for mountainbiking is the Redwoods, but she also enjoys neighbourhood routes.

"I love the urban trails around Tauranga. I go from my place in the Avenues through to Yatton Park in Greerton, and over to Fergusson Park. It's lovely. There are also trails through Johnson Reserve by Waipuna Park. Oropi - they've just done amazing work on it recently and Summerhill gets easier every time you ride it."

The Tauranga region has more than 60km of inner-city rides (according to Tourism BOP), plus three main mountainbike parks - Oropi, Summerhill (in the Papamoa Hills) and the TECT All Terrain Park (off State Highway 36 between Tauranga and Rotorua).

CHAIN GANG: Members of Cycle Obsessed Ladies pause at the top of one of Tauranga's mountainbike parks, Summerhill, in the Papamoa Hills. Photo/supplied

Snow says: "The mountainbike parks here in Tauranga are not that big. You can't be doing trails for hours and hours. You can do a few loops of the same trail in one ride, and you can do more loops in one ride.

It's not quite the same as the Redwoods where you can go for four hours and do different trails the whole time."

Kristin Dunne says Tauranga must connect with other communities for cycling to thrive. "The completion of the Coastal Link Trail across the Wairoa would be a significant link to the Waihi and Coromandel regions."

Dunne says the trail would ensure Tauranga is "on the map" for cycle tourism. She says Tourism Bay of Plenty is partnering with communities throughout the Central North Island to promote cycle tourism via a new website, www.RIDENZ.co (not yet live as of writing).

Statistics show cyclists spend an average of between $131 and $176 a day.

The NZ Transport Agency says improving cycling safety is a key priority, after five cyclists died within five days five years ago. The Cycle BOP website says: "Unfortunately, from a cyclist's perspective, Tauranga is not easy and safe to arrive into or depart out of." Dunne agrees that Tauranga as a region does not offer safe low-traffic, or off-road trails".

"However, this has been recognised by community cycle groups and by elected members and our offering will change in the next two to five years."

Rotorua's Deputy Mayor says promoting cycling is about more than recreation, economics or tourism - it's also about improving air quality, especially in winter. "The more people cycling, the less we have in cars in urban areas, the better the health benefits," Donaldson says.

Mathew Hunt says his reason for mountainbiking the Redwoods is simple. "It's just fun. Awesome fun and a bit of a challenge, up there trying to improve yourself and do things you might not have done before."

Urban Cycleways Programme & Omokoroa to Tauranga Cycle Trail

The goal of the government's Urban Cycleways Programme is enabling high-value urban cycle projects around the country over the next three years, while improving cycle safety and network connections.

The Urban Cycleways Fund will also speed development of the $7.7million Omokoroa to Tauranga cycle trail, with construction set to start late next year. NZTA estimates 130 to 200 commuter cyclists will use the 16km route daily, with a higher estimate for recreational users. NZTA says cycle projects in the Bay of Plenty over the next three years will total about $15million, with costs shared between national funds and local councils.

NZTA expects total investment in cycling in New Zealand over three years will be up to $400million, delivering more than 250km of new urban cycleways.

More info: www.nzta.govt.nz/UCP