Rameka mountain bike trails: “Golden Bay has the potential to become a biking mecca”
The Rameka Track, which begins up at Canaan and has long been popular for walking and biking, is on the AA’s list of “101 Must-Dos for Kiwis'.
Joint celebrations, including a barbeque, will be held on Sunday 11 December to mark both the opening of the newly constructed “Pack Track” mountain bike trail and the extension of the Project Rameka Great Expectations track down to Rameka Creek.
The day will also be a chance to acknowledge the work of the 100-plus volunteers in various capacities, and the many stakeholders, including private landowners, who have helped make it all happen since track work began in 2008.
The Rameka Track, which begins up at Canaan and has long been popular for walking and biking, is on the AA’s list of “101 Must-Dos for Kiwis”, and is now, with its latest improvements, quite possibly the longest continuous-gradient mountain bike ride in the country. From the lower (Golden Bay) end, where it meets Rameka Creek Road, it is now possible to avoid the steep and gravelly vehicle track all the way down to the Totara Reserve (and car park) at the entrance to the Rameka Creek gorge.
Rob Dawson, president of the Golden Bay Mountain Bike Club (GBMTB), acknowledged the work done.
“Luckily we have a core of dedicated bikers who have put a lot of work into various track projects like the Rameka, not only physically but with real long-term vision. By opening up the Pack Track and linking into Project Rameka we have over doubled the length of the existing Rameka Track from around 7km to over 16km.”
Members of the club chose the name Pack Track for the link track to Project Rameka, not only because the Rameka Track was called the Pack Track back in its heyday, but because the redone section more faithfully follows the original line of the route. That realigned section was developed by the GBMTB and crosses private land, namely that of landowners Steve Zelko and Dave Lewis, both of whom granted continued public access. TDC development engineer Dugald Ley helped with obtaining permissions and clarifying issues with the paper road and the crossing of a small piece of council reserve.
Core bike club members on this new section who put in large amounts of work included Brent Hartshorne, Rob Dawson, Joe Hambrook and professional track-builder Karl Thompson, who freely donated his digger and operating time to the cause. Brian Sowman paid for digger hire when Karl’s digger was required elsewhere for work. Rob Dawson said that Steve Zelko also did some digger work at the top for the club. “It was getting his permission that set the wheels in motion that allowed me and Brent to start marking out a route through the bush.”
The lowest section of the Pack Track enters the Project Rameka property, 48 hectares of land owned since 2008 by Wellington couple and mountainbike advocates Jonathan Kennett and Bronwen Wall. Marie Langley is secretary of the Project Rameka Incorporated Society, which has been responsible for developing the trails on the property.
Says Marie: “Taking riders off the road and onto the tracks makes the ride down much safer and more enjoyable. The opening on 11 December recognises that something big has come together, with the whole route now being connected. Many people have been involved in this – members of Golden Bay Mountain Bike Club and Project Rameka, as well as other people keen to see such a good thing happen here.”
Last summer holiday season, John Etherington and Mandy Richards of Escape Adventures bike shop in Takaka, who routinely run bike tours to places like Laos, China, Tibet and South America, took one van load of bikers up to Canaan every day to bike down the Rameka and back out to Takaka.
“This holiday season I expect it to be busier,” John says. “The word is out that the track has had a big upgrade and is a top riding experience.”
Rob Dawson concurs. “Golden Bay has the potential to become a biking mecca, especially in terms of technical tracks, and if we can supplement them with a cross section of easier tracks, before we know it we will have a great resource at our disposal that will help the economics of Golden Bay by bringing tourism as well as the New Zealand biking fraternity into the area.”
On Sunday 11 December, a track working bee will start at 10am, preceding the official opening at 12.30pm, which will be followed by a BBQ and the opportunity to ride any or all of the tracks, which are all well signposted.
Gerard Hindmarsh
