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VIDEO: Wrapping up the Redwoods with a Whak-en Outrageous Ride

 1/1/2015

In this post I would like to tie up a few loose ends around my November 2014 and even January 2014 trips to the Rotorua Redwoods but before I do here is a video of my last day in the Redwoods.

The Whak-en Outrageous concept came to me a few days before I departed. On my last day I wanted to ride as many trails as I could in 1 day, in fact cover every trail I’d ridden on the days before. 

Of course 8 days into my 9 day holiday in the Whaka Forest I knew that this wasn’t possible but I was going to leave the Redwoods with nothing left in the tank. The only thing that would hold me back was having to clean and pack my bike and still be capable of driving safely back to Auckland that night.

I started on the trail at 9:20am and pulled the pin 5.5 hours later. I rode from one side of the forest to the other and from front to back, covering plenty of trails in between and hitting a personal record of 39.5km in one day. 

In this video are shots of every trail I rode on my Whak-en Outrageous last day in the Redwoods.

The three Stava rides (I stopped Strava each time I shuttled).
Part 1 – Challenge / Katore Rd area then to the Shuttle
Part II – Underbilly to Split Enz and back to the Shuttle
Part III – Eagle vs Shark and back to Waipa via Red Tank Rd, Be Rude and Mad if you don’t


RETURN TO THE REDWOODS - FULL FEATURE VIDEO


For more info on this video read the break down of each episode

Part I - We're Going to the Redwoods
Part II - Heavily Rooted
Part III - XC Lower Mountain Pedally Days
Part IV - Eagle vs Shark

Stuff about Rotorua and the Redwoods

On both occasions I’ve flown in and out of Auckland due to deals I get as a Qantas Club Member (42kg of check-in means I can take 2 bikes). Air New Zealand flies direct from Sydney which might save you a bit of money, however I’m informed that the direct route is likely to end soon.

Driving from Auckland to Rotorua is easy. On this occasion I rented a cheap station wagon and that made fitting the bikes in so much easier. Do your homework on small car rental companies as they can be less than half the price of the major companies and they can include insurance in the price.

On both occasions I’ve stayed at the Alpin Motel, it’s reasonably priced, has a bike wash, is one of the closest hotel/motels to the Redwoods and most importantly has plenty of room inside. The staff at the Alpin are very friendly and were only too happy to store my bike boxes and luggage after checking out. On both occasions they’ve invited me to use the bike wash and showers after my last day on the trails, on this trip it was greatly appreciated!

I used the South Star Shuttles a great deal on this trip; however there were some changes from my last trip. They no longer do a weekend 1:00pm pickup from Waipa, however the ride from the 8 Mile Carpark to the Shuttle Pickup is almost flat and only took 5 mins or so to ride.  

On this trip I did a number of the afternoon shuttle sessions. There’s no mucking around on the afternoon sessions as most of the riders are locals getting in an after work ride. I’m told they only tend to get 4 shuttle runs in the evening so you don’t want to miss one. Make sure you get to the Waipa Carpark half an hour before the shuttle is due to depart as the trailer can fill up. The locals turn up at Waipa load up their bikes then drive to the 8 Mile Gate before getting on the shuttle, that way the bikes definitely get on the trailer and when they’re done on the mountain they don’t have to ride all the way back to Waipa. Not that the ride back to Waipa is bad, I found it was a great post ride recovery.

The new Rotorua Trailmapps App from the Apple App Store or Google Play App store is outstanding and a must have. Unfortunately other printed maps are out of date as of November 2014 including the ones found on the trails.

There is a new toilet block, showers and bike wash at the Waipa Carpark. The bike wash is not at the bike hire it is down toward the Pohaturoa Rd gate. Oh .. there were a number of ex-hire bikes for sale at ridiculously cheap prices at Mountain Bike Rotorua.

In the town centre there are a truck load of really friendly bike shops all within a couple of blocks of each other. It's definitely worth a walk around on any rest days.

Need to know more?

Please don’t hesitate to contact me about riding in the Redwoods, I would be only too happy to send through some really great loops based on your skill level and the types of trails you ride not to mention any tips on travelling to or staying in Rotorua.

Favourite Trails (in no particular order)

Descending trails - Corners, Te Tihi-O-Tawa & Billy T, Split Enz, Underbilly & Billy T, Eagle vs Shark, Tokorangi,Be Rude Not To 2

XC Trails – Old Chevy, Yellow Brick Road, Pondy New, Dragons Tail, Mad If You Don't, Creek, Dipper

Outstanding Beginner Flow Trail – Dipper

Need to change my underwear trail – Hot X Buns

Must do experiences

MTB-TV'S ROTORUA REDWOODS FEATURE VIDEOS

Return to the Redwoods Full Feature
Return to the Redwoods
Full Feature (Parts I, II, III & IV)

 

Whak-en Outrageous My Last Day in the Redwoods
Whak-en Outrageous
My Last day in the Redwoods
Return to the Redwoods 1 - We're going to the Redwoods
Return to the Redwoods - Part I
WE'RE GOING TO THE REDWOODS

 

Return to the Redwoods 2 - Heavily Rooted
Return to the Redwoods - Part II
HEAVILY ROOTED
Return to the Redwoods 3 - XC Lower Mountain 	Pedally Days
Return to the Redwoods - Part III
XC LOWER MOUNTAIN PEDALLY DAYS

 

Return to the Redwoods 4 - Eagle vs Shark
Return to the Redwoods - Part IV
EAGLE VS SHARK
 

Trail Centres and Trails featured in this blog

 

Comments:

This website is brought to you by MTB weekend warrior Aaron Markie.
There are plenty of great websites out there with a wealth of information about Mountain Bike Trails,
however in my experience its hard to get a good mix of info, maps, photos and videos of trails I've never ridden.
The idea of this website is to tie those 4 elements together and give you a more detailed look at the MTB Trails I ride.
If you have anything to add then let me know.