Come and join us for some winter mountain biking fun on gravel and sealed roads around our beautiful mountain Karioi on Sunday 18th July. Take the opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous scenery and back drop that keeps the drivers of Rally NZ coming back.
The ride starts and finishes at the boat ramp at Te Kopua Domain on Marine Parade from 0900. We have staggered the start times allowing the slower riders, those who anticipate their ride to take more than 3 hours, an hour head start at 0900. The faster riders, all of whom will come in under 3 hours, will commence at 1000.
Riders will head out and up Te Hutewai Road – a nice sealed surface for the first climb of the day, after 3km you will have your first taste of the gravel. From this point on it is a steady climb for approximately 10km, be well prepared, the gravel can be thick and a little slow going if you are not used to this type of riding.
Once you hit Ruapuke Road riders will have some respite from the gravel – albeit briefly, before a short gravel climb and onto the last section of seal before Whale Bay. This is where the west coastline opens up and the beautiful Tasman Sea, Aotea and Kawhia Harbours become the focal points.
Take this opportunity to take in the views and rest your legs on a nice downhill descent to Ruapuke Beach Access Road (don’t turn off here – keep going), because once past this point, riders will be climbing steadily following the coast around to Whale Bay. Don’t be put off by the climbing, for after each climb there are the rewarding downhills. From Whale Bay riders will be once again on the seal which will take them past the famous surf of Manu Bay and back to the Te Kopua Domain.
All riders will have the opportunity to win some awesome spot prizes. These include a Norco Bushpilot mountain generously donated by our local bike man Dirk from Bike2Bay, café vouchers, sports clothing, shoe vouchers and lots more. We will also be crowning the first female and male to finish with the title of Queen or King of the mountain and names will go onto recycled trophies from local artist Chris Meek. For more information check out www.karioiclassic.org.nz or phone Lisa 07 825 7115 or Dirk 07 825 0309.