We were spending some time and Rotorua and I had been told it was awesome for mountain biking, so took my bike up hoping to get a few rides in. I couldn’t spend hours out there, but we were staying really close by to the Redwoods forest and I managed to get a nice run and some rides through the forest.
1. Redwoods Run (2019-01-05)
2. Family Ride through Redwoods to Coffee (2019-01-06)
3. Redwoods ride #2 – as you do + box of birds (2019-01-06)
4. Evening Ride (2019-01-07)
5. Family ride bike track loops (2019-01-08)
6. Running out of daylight (2019-01-08)
We got caught short on the last night, committing to a big ride that we did not have enough daylight to finish. Whilst we were still really close to civilisation, there were patches of no cell phone reception, no one knew what our plans were and we were not prepared with any gear (jackets, torches, water, food).
We made it home safely but it could have been a different story if one of us had come off our bike and seriously hurt ourselves. It was a really good lesson in the importance of always taking a minimum kit of essentials and communicating your plans to others. From now on I will be taking a kit like this on all my rides to make sure if I do get caught out I am prepared.
Don’t make that mistake again.
Overall, I was very impressed by the extent of the trails, the signage, the track maintenance and had so much fun in the forest. I feel like I have only just got a taste for the area, you could spend hours there exploring, and I look forward to taking the family back there for more adventures in the future.
