The Wairoa Gorge Mountain Bike Park is found near Brightwater in the Nelson Tasman region.  This mountain bike park is privately owned.  Permission was granted for the Nelson Mountain Bike Club to trial managed access to the park in late 2016.  This managed access means that you must book & pay to ride.  You CAN NOT simply turn up and you must have a Nelson Mountain Bike Club Membership (special temporary memberships are available for out of town riders).

The Wairoa Gorge has a huge number of tracks for mountain bike riding.  Access to the top of the park is via a four wheel drive road which is closed to the public.  Shuttles take riders and their bikes to the top of the hill – there are no climbing trails.  

The mountain offers a couple of huts for rest/lunch stops and their are several accomodation options to stay the night after your day of riding.

Check out all the relevant info here…  www.nelsonmtb.club/ride/wairoa for bookings, maps and detailed information. We purchased a day shuttle pass with overnight accomodation.

As mentioned above, the riding is shuttle riding.  Meaning you are driven to the top of the hill to ride downhill only.  Shuttles will leave the meeting area at the bottom of the hill and return you to the top. Nelson Mountain Bike Club operates a variety of options for different level riding groups and these are constantly changing and developing.  There are often special days as well – womens only, riding with your teenager…

Biking Distance? The length of this ride is entirely at your discretion you have an extensive network of diverse tracks spread out over a large area.  The tracks are clearly signposted and graded.

Track choice is totally up to you and you need to be planning your runs before you are doing them.  (The Gorge now offers route suggestions something they did not have when we did this ride).

You must ride in a group of 3 or more with two radios (given to you on the day) between the riders.  Your tail end rider should have one of these radios.  Safety is a huge priority so riders must be contactable.

Can you ride with Kids? Only skilled mountain bike riders will enjoy a Gorge experience.  There are regular riding days for under 18year olds who must be accompanied by an adult rider.

A big part of your day is spent in one riding position absorbing energy as you blast your way down hill.  This means that your suspension will play a big role in how your day goes and how you feel at the end.  Get your suspension tuned before you go, check your tire pressure and get yourself some good, well padded mountain bike specific riding gloves.

Your brakes will be well used and your hands will get so tired.  Make sure your brake pads are ready for this kind of riding.

Distribute tools between your riding group and every rider should have at least one spare tube if they are not riding tubeless tyres.  Several riders in our group had to replace their tube…it is more likely to happen with technical down hill riding as the tube gets pinched.

Eat regularly and drink as much as you can.  It’s just one of those days when your riding pack will be on the large side – food, water, jacket, spare layers, first aid kit…

Safety is a big priority at Wairoa.  You must ride with knee pads and elbow pads are recommended.  Most riders taking on the grade 4 & 5 tracks wear full faced helmets (chin guards).  The nature of the set up promotes fast riding and this can lead to crashes at speed.  It’s absolutely essential that your helmet fits and is adjusted correctly.  Ride within your limits, on tracks that you can handle and you will have a great day.  Half runs are an option – use this when you begin to feel tired.  I did 2 half runs straight after lunch then finished the afternoon with a great last run.

Listen at the safety briefing, ask questions if you are unsure.  Keep off the road!

Take a first aid kit and have a serious one in the car.  If you have more than one helmet take it with you.  We had one cracked helmet from a fall in our riding group.