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soundbeltfarm
9th June 2008, 17:38
Me and 3 others started out from taranaki on saturday after lunch and was good till we got to taupo and i knew the place we were staying at was on highway 5 so i was like yep i know boys , bad part was i took us over towards napier.
half hour out of taupo and we were thinkin ok there alot of pines but no lodge.
i rang them and found out we were goin the wrong way,
so that hit my wallet with a couple doz beers and doz bourbys .
finally got to our lodging which was golden springs holiday park,
what a dive , i am telling you all never stay at this place . when i rang to book i was told yep the spa is going and the restaurant/bar is open.
we get there and bar closed and next morning find the spa growing plants in it.
we shot into taupo for breakfast and made our way to the ride,
i've never seen so many bikes and was well pumped,
I've never ridden up that way before so didn't know what to expect and it rained all night sat and with me being in hospital the weekend prior i was wondering if this was a good idea,
well we hit the first trail and made our way to the middle trail first.
this didn't seem right, here at home rain equals mud and slippery conditions .
not here it was awesome conditions the pumice soils were the most grippy stuff i,ve ridden on and a good pace was set.
there was plenty of room to pass and be passed, had a grin from ear to ear , we polished off the middle track and straight into the long track, this ride was getting better every minute, it had most things i love fast parts and some wicked bermed up corners,
all was well till we were on the expert trail and a guy slipped on a root in front of me and to miss him i swerved and hit a stump and got flung into a tree, no bother i thought and picked bike up , helped other guy get going and we were off, at the end of the days riding i had a wicked bruise from me hitting the bars and cracked helmet from hitting the tree,
it was pretty dark in them trees and when we got out to light parts it was a challenge till the ol eyes adjusted.
got back to the ute for one of the boys to top up the fuel and for me to slow my rebound a bit this helped with turning i felt, whether im right i dont know but it felt good.
out again to hit the middle loop again and this time is was even better as it was starting to get some good ruts in it and make me think even harder for line selection , done this loop then straight into the main loop again this time doing the other expert part and i thought this was easier than the first one( this one was the uphill then just down the other side)
man i was pumped, this was awesome.
we charging at a good clip and making the most of this traction , i felt this was the best i'd ridden.
got back to the ute and i decided to call it a day as i was feeling weak from the prior week sickness and didn't want a relapse.
two of the biys went back out and me and malcolm loaded the bikes and rested, the others got back and we loaded them up and left,
pne of the best parts i enjoyed was the amount of young uns on the ride. this is great to see,
big ups to nick for a great event.
roll on next months 2 day berm buster.

barty5
9th June 2008, 18:14
Sounds like it was a good ride you going to make the trip up on the 21 22nd of this month for the 2 day at the southern end of the lake its the kuratau school ride highly recommend

theblacksmith
9th June 2008, 18:48
Yep gonna try and get down there as well.(Kuratau) Never done that one before. Couple of guys told me its very fast and open. Cant wait. Bet ya it'll be cold though.
And I'll agree with soundbeltfarm - nice one Nick Reader for a bloody wicked trail ride again mate!

Rupe
10th June 2008, 19:15
our lodging which was golden springs holiday park,
what a dive , i am telling you all never stay at this place . when i rang to book i was told yep the spa is going and the restaurant/bar is open.
we get there and bar closed and next morning find the spa growing plants in it.


Hey Cheese, wasn't this the place you were trying to get us to stay at for tarawera?

How much tight and windy stuff is there at these trialblazer rides? Or is it all quad style tracks?

B0000M
10th June 2008, 19:40
Hey Cheese, wasn't this the place you were trying to get us to stay at for tarawera?

How much tight and windy stuff is there at these trialblazer rides? Or is it all quad style tracks?

cheese wouldve been referring to awakeri hot springs,

always open, big hot pool, consistant service / amenities every time ive been over the years, im fairly sure theres no bar tho, but byo is ok

theblacksmith
10th June 2008, 21:57
Trailblazer is fairly tight and windy in some sections and a few gravel roads - most of it is bulldozed so quads can go - except for the old style track at the end which wasnt bulldozed and about 400mm wide in some places! Berms get pretty high and the pumice gives excellent traction.Not many places when wet you can pull wheelies out of bermed corners.

soundbeltfarm
11th June 2008, 08:48
didn't see many quads.
im not sure what the tracks are like up your way but the trailblazer was easy compared to what we have in taranaki.
that sounds wrong really , there was no times at the trailblazer that i thought "this part will be hard"but i think thats just because it is full on traction everywhere.
i still loved it though,
and the harder you push the harder the track will be i guess.

daddycool651
12th June 2008, 21:53
[QUOTE=soundbeltfarm;1599261] golden springs holiday park,
what a dive , i am telling you all never stay at this place . when i rang to book i was told yep the spa is going and the restaurant/bar is open.
we get there and bar closed and next morning find the spa growing plants in it.
Mate if you want a bloody awesome place to stay try the SPA HOTEL , Spa rd opposite the AC baths, Taupo .Myself ,my wife and our 5 kids in a cabin that sleeps 7,Spas in all rooms. A Bar and Restaurant (try the Scotch fillet steak with mushroom sauce) reasonably priced and a lock up to store our trailer and bikes , what more could you ask for , there were 4 familys that made the trek from Tuakau and all trailers were secure with room for another 20 odd or more .As for the ride you were on the money SBF , fast open loops, nicely formed berms,expert loops were a good challenge, I couldnt fault it , the Mrs and the kids loved the novice loop and also tried the 6 and 15 km loop , keep it up Nick and crew , converted TrailBlazers for life.