Roller Coaster   (2.13km)

Notes:

The Roller Coaster trail is a well ridden  trail used as the way back to the shuttle from either a Split Enz/Pondy adventure or G Rock/Chestnut descent.

The Roller Coaster trail starts at the end of  the Chestnut Link as it follows an  old slip road out to a clearing before doubling back on itself down to the end  of Pondy New.  This section is reasonably straight and wide  but has some steep and sometimes technical sections.  There are a number of jumps and shoots to  enjoy if that’s what floats your boat.

The opening  section lends itself to a fast ride and despite traveling 1.2km will account  for only 20% of the total time on this trail.

Roller Coaster makes a sharp right hand turn where it meets  the end of Pondy New.  As seen in the video I like most riders  deliberately over shoot the corner and run up the hill on the other side so  they can enjoy the final rooted descent at top speed.

The second  half of Roller Coaster is not a  descent it is very much a XC trail with plenty of short pinch climbs followed  by flowy descents.  It’s very evident how  the trail got its name.  In that regard  the key here is to keep momentum and hit each of the climbs with plenty of  power, after a few runs minutes dropped off my time.

It was one  of my most ridden trails on this trip because regardless of whether I came via G Rock or Split Enz my descent from Billy T ended with a ride along the final section of Roller Coaster.

The XC  section of Roller Coaster seems more  like an extension of Pondy New than  a continuation of the first section of Roller Coaster, which may explain why on some older maps they list Chestnut Link as running all the way  from G Rock to the intersection at the end of Pondy New.  (All on-trail  signage and trail app clearly mark the  trail names as I have named)

Blog articles that mention this trail

• 27/2/2016 - VIDEO: Top XC Rides of 2014/2015
• 22/11/2015 - VIDEO: Nine Days in the Rotorua Redwoods
• 1/1/2015 - VIDEO: Wrapping up the Redwoods with a Whak-en Outrageous Ride
• 15/12/2014 - VIDEO: Return to the Redwoods Part III - XC Lower Mountain Pedally Days
• 22/2/2014 - VIDEO: Rotorua Redwoods - Create Breathing Space

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