Graeme Simpson: Working bees make happy trails

Trail action in the Whakarewarewa Forest. Photo/Jason Beacham, 208 Media

Okay, so you bought that new bike. I know how exciting and joyful that feels - my new one arrived just after Christmas. You may have treated yourself to a new helmet, shoes, gloves, shorts and jersey. What next? Get out on those trails.

But hang on. Imagine an alternative universe. What if there were no trails? All that weight on your credit card would be wasted if there'd been no visionaries back in the late 1980s and early 1990s who saw what a difference a mountain bike park could make.

If they'd known how hard that work would be they might have reconsidered. It is the same with all the people who followed, most of them volunteers, building and maintaining trails. Overseen by a small mountain bike club that also found time to bring the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships to Rotorua in 2006.

This put the trail network and the economic benefits of it firmly in the spotlight and impossible to ignore.

Which brings me to the Rotorua Trails Trust. They have assumed overall responsibility for trails in the Rotorua district - for all recreational users of the forest, not just mountain bikers. They are another group of enthusiasts working in their own time to make the trails better and to extend the network.

To join the trust is a tiny, infinitesimal, microscopic percentage of the cost of your flash adventure equipment. Support the trails you love: rotoruatrailstrust.co.nz
Five dollars - it's the equivalent of a latte, tubes or new laces for your trainers. Most give more.

The trust's first working bee of the year is this morning. If you read this in time, get along to the Nursery Hill Gate at the end of Long Mile Rd by 9am. There is transport in (to Rollercoaster), snacks and drinks (thanks to Holiday Inn) and tools are provided or you can bring your own favourite.

The trust has ramped up working bees in 2017 with one every weekend. The second Saturday is at the Dodzy Skills Park at 9am. Weekend three is another trails maintenance session on Sunday at 10am. And the one on the fourth Sunday of every month is at Dodzy Skills again, starting at 11am. The meeting place for all of these is the end of Long Mile Rd.

'Like' Rotorua Trails Trust on Facebook for regular updates.
Revolve Rotorua's Dipper Working bee is every second Sunday meeting at Waipa car park at 12.45pm: revolverotorua.com.

One of the biggest and longest off-road running races in New Zealand is on next Saturday, February 11. The Tarawera Ultramarathon has become one of Rotorua's cornerstone events. This year well over 1100 runners will take the challenge from The Redwoods Information Centre on Long Mile Rd to Kawerau. More than half of the runners are from outside New Zealand.

The race directors, Paul Charteris and Tim Day, organise regular trail maintenance crews to tidy up the course. The most recent one focused on the end of Western Okataina Walkway, Eastern Okataina Walkway and Northern Tarawera Tracks clearing about 25 kilometres. Most of these volunteers were from out of town.
Giving back - it's good for the soul.