RIDING THE TRACK:

About using the track, and a word on etiquette (good manners)

• Pukete Mountain Bike Track is known as  "Single Track" and is nearly 11km from start to finish. The track offers a variety of surfaces with gravel, sand, clay, grass and mud. It is ride-able all year round but may get a bit messy in the winter months. Please consider not riding there if it's really wet

• Our track has several natural hazards, with some small hills and gullies that pose a fall risk, and there are areas of swamp and stream water close to the track. We have also built several jumps and obstacles that require a bit of confidence. If you are a beginner, or have not ridden this type of trail before, take your time and assess what is ahead of you. Please keep younger riders supervised at all times!

• Your bike should be suitable for off-road use, with working brakes and tyres that offer at least reasonable grip. You will encounter knocks, bumps, lumps, jumps, rough surfaces, tree roots etc, so please make sure your bike is structurally sound and able to handle

• ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET!

  • Injury is always a risk when riding Mountain Bike trails, so do your best to reduce the possibility of harm, helmet and closed shoes.

• There is a water fountain at Maui St entrance.

• One of the most important notes is that the track is strictly ONE WAY. For your safety we have placed numerous markers and arrows around the circuit indicating the correct direction. Some areas have old tracks crossing the path which can cause a little confusion. Please take your time and try to follow the most used path. We are working on better quality, permanent signage and markers.

• The track is used by a wide variety of riders from First Timers to Olympians. We ask that all riders be aware of others and be patient. If you encounter slower riders, please call out politely that you would like to get past. This however, does not give you the right to push past.

• Please remember  We were all slow, nervous first-timers once. Give slower riders a bit courtesy, and encouragement! It's all about having FUN!

Maui St Park : The main entrance

This is where most riders enter the park. There's plenty of street parking, and we ask park users to please NOT park in our neighbors properties. There is a public toilet located just inside the park entrance which is open during daylight hours. At Maui St, we have a flat, grassed park area which serves as our race night car-park and start area. There is also a couple of dirt mounds which are great for the kids to use for fun and confidence building

During weekends, family groups often use this area for picknicks and parties while the kids go out and ride.

 

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The Gurney Trail

You'll head along the gravel entrance road and then left into the single track through a fairly well-established section of trail. This is some of the parks longest established trail. The selection of tighter radius corners here will provide a nice bike handling test along with short sprints between corners. At the northern end we have a recently added section Blood Sweat and Gears this is quite a challenging section that should only be ridden by more confident riders as it involves a steep, blind downhill 180 degree corner. Once you are on it there is no easy out.

Cookies Cutting offers an easy/hard split.   The hard way involves a steep drop-in and a handful of stair sections followed by a quick climb back out up over a couple of ledges.  Whereas the easy way is a little bit longer and doesn't involve any obstacles, some riders argue that it can be done faster.

Watch out for The Plank, a good test of line holding (it's only 1m long)  Don't worry, more cautious riders can take the side way around it.

You'll then drop into The Swamp Track, which winds it way along past the swamp through a nice section of bush and up out into the Sandpit through the tunnel.

 

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The Sandpit

Originally a sand quarry, The Sandpit provides a wonderful fast, twisty and challenging section with a hard-packed, grippy sand surface. This area is undergoing a program of on-going rehabilitation with mass planting of native trees and bark over carpet to help keep invasive weeds under control.

We've built a couple of fun features in this area, with Three Times Tables which is proving to be a popular skills section for kids with three modest table-top jumps and high banked berms.

 

Leaving the Sandpit you will climb up the Sand Chute and out into the Outer Park At the top you can take a rest on Craig's Seat and look out over the whole sandpit. The track opens out and provides a bit of climbing up and down The Banks before sending you out towards Pukete Road around the perimeter of the City Waste Treatment Plant (please excuse the delicate bouquet)

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The Banks:

Following the full trail, you'll visit this section a couple of times, descending and climbing your way along the open grass bank and crossing the stream at the bottom.  It's not a big climb, but we've managed to pack a bit of distance in here, so you won't get too much of a rest. At the southern end we have Carpet Gully which involves a fast, steep drop down into the gully with a berm and technical little root section. You cross the stream one more time and climb up out to the Outer Park 

 

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The Outer Park:

Our well-packed trail weaves out through the outer park through thickets of trees and open grass all the way over to Pukete Road and back. You can really stretch the legs and get some wind in the face out here. There's still a couple of fun bits to stop you getting bored.

After another visit to The Banks, you'll head across the stream and north into Kay's Glade“ named in memory of a past club member, and back across the stream again into Dolce (the sweet bit after spaghetti)

 

 

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 Dolce (the sweet bit after spagetti)

This is 800m of challenging track involving a gradually steepening climb up the park fence-line and back down a technical descent back across the stream for the last time.