MTB: Opportunity to own part of bike trail

The Rotorua Mountain Bike Club is raising funds for another trail to be built in the Whakarewarewa Forest. FILE

And then, as if by magic, mountain bike trails appeared in Whakarewarewa Forest.

Ah, if only that was true.

Next year is the 25th anniversary of the construction of the first trail in the forest designed specifically for mountain bikes. That was Genesis (the trail originally known as Circuit) with the construction team led by Fred Christensen.

Over the past quarter century a very large number of people have built around 130km more.

A mix of different trail designers, volunteers working in their own time, Red McHale and the Department of Corrections community service crews and professional trail building companies have all been involved.

With different builders come different styles and that is a big part of the unique character of our bike park.

From trails chipped out and hand-crafted with spades and rakes (the original, old-school singletrack) to the beautifully benched and proportioned stylings of Murray Avery to the wider, rolling berms built by mechanical diggers, they are all there.

They all require time and effort. Not just bending the back during construction - that's really the fun part. The hard work begins well before that with planning, recess and marking out.

These days there is also a substantial amount of paper work before the forest owners and managers will sign off on new trails.

Enter the good folk from the Rotorua Mountain Bike Club who wrangle this paperwork.

Trail construction is now mainly paid for, rather than built by volunteers, so funds have to be raised. Again, something the club oversees and manages - and they are all volunteers, still.

When I was on the club committee I often found myself paraphrasing (in my head) John F Kennedy's 1961 presidential inauguration speech: "Ask not what your club can do for you; ask what you can do for your club."

Well, first you can join. There's no obligation to do anything except pay your subs (at rotorua.mtbclub.org.nz). That's enough to help the club continue the good work of the past 20 years.

The club has also come up with another very contemporary way of making a simple, painless, financial contribution to a very specific project.

This is a new trail from Tawa Rd that will weave and roll all the way down to Windy and Hill roads.

Southstar Trails have designed the trail and will build it. Jeff Carter from Southstar will part fund the construction.

For the first time the club will harness internet-driven crowd-funding to raise the balance of $15,000.

The crowd-funding page was launched a week ago and, already, 25 per cent of the total has been raised.

Take the opportunity to own a section of the new trail and be part of the future of the forest. Donate now: www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/newtrail.

- Two of the very best events on the Rotorua mountain bike calendar are coming up.
The three-race Galaxy Travel Nduro Winter MTB Series starts this Sunday, July 6. You can enter at www.n-duro.co.nz.
On Saturday, July 19, Descend Rotorua is running the Dawn2Dusk 10-hour gravity endurance race and that is always a good one.