Ben Lomond Bike Park opens, what a day it was. So many huge grins, bikes are so much fun! Thanks to all who have supported the evolution to date, Queenstown enters the world stage of biking with gondola assisted biking – the first in New Zealand. Ride, support and respect.
This week we are meeting at the bottom gate on Coal Pit Rd (Gibbston) at 6:30pm and riding up to the beginning of the flowy water race single track and then back down rutted and rough road to the cars. It’s a great ride with some awesome scenery – well worth the big uphill to start!
Dunno where Coal Pit Rd is? Find it on google maps by clicking here
Just drive up Coal Pit Rd until you get to the first gate.
See you there!
In a fantastic day for the Queenstown downhill community yesterday the Skyline gondola was opened to mountain bikes for season pass holders and is open to everyone else today. The beautiful gondola ride takes riders and their bikes up to the top of Bob’s Peak to access the many downhill trails in the Ben Lommond forest. This is going to go a long way towards making Queenstown New Zealands premium downhill mountain bike destination.
The numerous more advanced trails built over the years by various members of the community including the Queenstown mountainbike club and Vertigo bikes (not to mention the odd stealth crew!) have been joined by a new trail purpose built by Skyline Enterprises. The new trail is named Hammy’s Track in honor of Ian Hamilton who build the original access road in the sixties.
Hammy’s Track runs around the perimiter of the biking area and is accesible to all levels of rider with plenty of jumps berms and log rides to keep more advanced riders happy too. It allows multiple lines to keep things fresh and provides some fantastic views over lake Wakatipu that suddenly appear when you clear the trees.
The new trail compliments the existing tracks like Vertgo, Rock Garden, Original and ‘Singletrack’ Sandwich (previously known by another name…) among others. These trails tend to be steeper, narrower and rougher and suited to more advanced riders. Trail maps are available at the bike shops in town.
Passes and Prices (Remember club members get a discount too!)
Single up hill Gondola ride (incl bike) $30.00 $30.00
Half Day Pass (10am – 3pm or 3pm -8pm) $40.00 $40.00
Day Pass $70.00 $60.00
3 Day Pass (used in a week) $165.00 $135.00
5 Day Pass (used over 2 months) $250.00 $200.00
Season Pass $475.00 $375.00
Opening day at Skyline is rapidly approaching with less than a month to go! The track builders have now completed the perimeter track (still yet to be named) and now they are working through the existing trails by hand to get them up to standard. This work includes pruning trees, spraying for weeds, taking away and clearing hazards, linking new sections more effectively, creating safe and visible intersections and ensuring all structures are up to safety codes. Once completed this is going to make for a great start to the season.
OPENING DAY EXCLUSIVE – We are having an opening day especially for Skyline MTB Season Pass members! So lock in Sunday 23rd January 2011 for gondola accessed mountain biking in the Ben Lomond Forest! We also want to extend an invite for you to bring a friend to ride for the day, so if you know someone who is unsure whether to get a pass get them to come up with ya and by the end of the day they will be sold! We will not be selling tickets on this date so the only people who can ride are season pass holders and their friends.
The day goes from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM so bring your bike, hit the tracks, meet some new friends, win some stuff and partake in the first day of New Zealand’s only gondola accessed bike lift! There will be a BBQ on the day, Powerade are hooking up free drinks to keep you hydrated and more! Details to come…
REGISTRATIONS – We still have passes available within the 500 that are available so if anyone asks they can still get them by emailing mtb@skyline.co.nz. Payment needs to be made to secure your pass however you will still be able to make payment up until and after opening day to get passes.. Incase you’ve lost track of the form I have attached it here again.
Cheers and look forward to seeing you up here on the hill very soon!
The course and conditions will be challenging, but fun.
The entry form and full details for the AJ Hackett Bungy NZ Cyclocross Championship & Mountain Bike Race are available for you to download and print here: 2011 Cyclocross Entry Form Print, complete and post your form to arrive by Friday 24th June 2011 at the latest. NB No entries will be accepted on the day.
Entry fee is $35 per rider payable to the Queenstown Mountain Bike Club Inc (QMBC).
How to pay:
All proceeds go towards the club maintenance of the Gorge Road Jump Park.
For those of you who don’t know what cyclocross is – it first began in Europe during the 1940’s and was a means by which road cyclists could maintain their fitness through the autumn and winter seasons. The race course is commonly marked with tape, has a length of 1 to 3 km and usually comprises: grass fields, dirt roads, sand, mud / stream crossings, forced dismounts and running sections. Races generally involve the rider completing a number of laps over the same short course which typically has a number of obstacles such as barriers which require the rider to dismount their bike in order to cross. Specific cyclocross bikes are available on the market and are similar to road bikes, however, there are major differences in that cyclocross bikes have wider tyres with knobs, lower gears, cantilever brakes and frames with wider clearances. The uptake of Cyclocross in New Zealand has happened relatively recently and many participants begin their introduction to the sport on mountain bikes (with drop bars and narrow tyres).
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