Long Live The Queen! - Marlborough MTB Excursions

Yo!

Hope you are all having a nice Christmas break and getting in the odd ride. I am spending the Christmas break in Blenheim staying with my father outlaw, Geoff Palatchie. Geoff and his brothers used to be gun trackies in the 70's and had NZ Titles. He has vintage Francesco Coppi bikes in the rafters of his garage. Pity they are too small for me.

I have only been out on the bike three times, which is still a lot for a part-timer like me. I did a couple of rides in the local Wither Hills, and did the Queen Charlotte Track from Anikiwa to Punga Cove (in peak season you cannot ride to Ship Cove). Here are my brief ramblings...


I really enjoyed the QC Track. There were plenty of steep hard climbs and I had to get off a few times which I wasn't expecting. There were some good long downhills too - but you do have to watch for walkers. Highly recommended. Check out this website, which is the official track website, if you fancy planning a trip.

Check out my amateurish presentation of my day. You can right click 'watch in youtube' or click our youtube link on the top link bar as well.



I Googled for what to do for a spin whilst in Blenheim and found the website of the Marlborough MTB Club. It is not often updated, but did have a page with some route info. I also picked up a trail map at a local bike shop, a friendly Avanti Plus, who also lent me some headset spanners for my vintage steed.

There is a mountain bike park here. Unfortunately it was a bit disappointing. I think the driver behind the park was to create somewhere riders would have right of way. It must be difficult around here as there would be a small pool of willing trail pixies. There is no bush or tree cover, so there is no moisture (hence 'Wither' hills!). The trails are baked hard, featureless paths. I thought I would do the trails marked as 'Extreme', including one called 'Twister'. It was far less interesting and challenging than some easy tracks at trail parks like Makara. I was lucky enough to get something in my eye, so did the descent with one eye closed, upping the interest.





There is a route called the 'Mount Vernon Traverse' which looked like a good outing with rolling climbs over mostly gravel 4WD and farm tracks. A clockwise loop of the Withers, topping out at 422m on Mount Vernon.





It was a good outing for getting great views across Blenhiem, the vineyards, and across to the Kaikoura Range to the South East, and the Richmond Forest Park to the West. The views kept the interest up, but there is no technical riding of any kind on this 19km loop. But I would do it if stuck in Blenheim for a bit. The GPS of it is here.

I only brought my vintage 1990 Nishiki Ariel down with me. It has been excellent. An awesome cruising bike. I should do a write up on it soon.

Off to a vineyard for lunch.

Thanks for reading my ramblings. Happy trails!

Davo