Waiau Trail ride yesterday 28/10/2012

[Trials Rider]

Hi All

Did the Grenville Greta Valley School Trailride yesterday, was a good ride, not much dust, good weather, good hill climbs, one enduro deviation to add to fun, one long step hill climb caught a few out, several creek sections and a good stint up the river (wet boots again - Bugger)

Lots of little technical areas to make sure you a paying attention. Rode up to an elevation of 474 metres, good photos. Terrain varied from flat grass, creek crossings, farm tracks, some more farm than tracks, P gravel so you can practice your slalom without trying, hill climbs and good descents.

The endure loop had a gnarly bog in the creek and judging by the number of wheel ruts there was some good efforts put in to get across it.

The total distance according to Mr Garmin was 36.50kms including the enduro deviation

I had a CLAKE (clutch and rear brake) set up on a table and on my bike which created a lot of interest, good to have people looking at new concepts and products, I will have the same setup at Grenvilles Amberley ride on the 11th of November.

Thanks to Grenville for another good ride, once again well catered for everyone, Kids pee wee track, Novice ride track, main track and enduro deviations.

I have attached a picture above of where we went yesterday and Grenville’s ride, I must admit the Amberley ride is one of my favourites

[Blagger]

Struth! Is $50 for a ride normal down in shakytown?

[Transalper]

All the Suzuki sponsored Trail Rides organised by Grenville cost $50 to enter.
A few organised by others are $40 like the Amuri Area School Fundraiser this Sunday 4th Nov. I prefer to do the $40 ones, IMO they are usually a bit more family and novice friendly with often easier terrain and less roosting ass holes.

Just looking at the NI rides on myrides site makes $50 look more like a rip off compared to the NI $30 to $35 rides. Probably do a few more at that price.

[Stylo]

All the Suzuki sponsored Trail Rides organised by Grenville cost $50 to enter.
A few organised by others are $40 like the Amuri Area School Fundraiser this Sunday 4th Nov. I prefer to do the $40 ones, IMO they are usually a bit more family and novice friendly with often easier terrain and less roosting ass holes.

Just looking at the NI rides on myrides site makes $50 look more like a rip off compared to the NI $30 to $35 rides. Probably do a few more at that price.

And the $50 down here is the reason I'm about 400 better off in the bank by not doing the rides lately and , won't do them at that price, I always feel ripped off. $50 for a ride ?

35 - 40 and I'll be there , decent course thrown in and I'll let my mates know too, might come back for a ride, been a while....

[Kickaha]

Last time I did the Amuri one I ended up having a knee operation, hopefully the mighty IT will be back up and running shortly and I'll be able to get back into this

$50 for riding new trails and having access to areas you wouldn't get on normally is cheap, if you think you can provide the same thing cheaper you could always organise your own events and see how it works out

[Trials Rider]

And the $50 down here is the reason I'm about 400 better off in the bank by not doing the rides lately and , won't do them at that price, I always feel ripped off. $50 for a ride ?

35 - 40 and I'll be there , decent course thrown in and I'll let my mates know too, might come back for a ride, been a while....

That just tells me you have missed 8 good rides and lots of fun. Most guys that drink beer blow $50.00 at the pub and all you get is a headache, thats not a great investment.

If you knew how many hours it takes to set up a trail ride catering fors kids, novice, main and enduro, its not a get rich quick scheme. if you see how much work goes into clearing some of the creeks and forestry for the enduro deviations - it is a lot of work.

Then when we have finished for the day and gone home the flags and pegs have to come out.

Most places we get to are just bloody awesome, great photos and views.

Personally I think they are well worth $50.00, turn up, pay your money and fill your boots as much riding as you can get in 6 hours and then but your bike on the trailer and go home - dead easy.

[Transalper]

Whether you guys think it's worth it or not, to me $50 is not cheap for anything.
I think I have a fairly good idea of how much work is involved but that doesn't explain why they let us in for $30 to $35 up north while it's mostly $50 here.
And I'm not one of those that spend money at the pub or burn it on smokes, I'd never get to go anywhere if I did those things.
$40 is my limit for feeling I can afford the ride. Still got to gas up the bike, van and myself before heading out to pay that.

[Trials Rider]

Whether you guys think it's worth it or not, to me $50 is not cheap for anything.
I think I have a fairly good idea of how much work is involved but that doesn't explain why they let us in for $30 to $35 up north while it's mostly $50 here.
And I'm not one of those that spend money at the pub or burn it on smokes, I'd never get to go anywhere if I did those things.
$40 is my limit for feeling I can afford the ride. Still got to gas up the bike, van and myself before heading out to pay that.

Yip totally agree, I would like to pay less, glad I dont drink or smoke either, trouble I also have is I am half Dutch so half of me wants to ride and other half doesn't want to pay , so step two I listen to the voices in my head but the bike always wins

[Blagger]

To be fair, the $50 price tag wouldn't put me off but it would make me a bit more selective if I lived down that way.

Just surprised, is all.

I'm cautious when I see barriers to entry popping up - the trailriding fraternity needs a fresh crop of pimply-faced 14 year-olds on shitty old XR's every once in a while. The kids won't be shelling out $50 a pop for much of anything so there's more illegal riding which brings us all into disrepute.

The fact that some kid who's been riding 3 months on a crappy bike can zip past me is a fact I've learned to deal with, overpriced rides creating a two-tier trailbike society is not going to end well.

Is all that dairying raising the land values leading to NIMBYism?

[Jay GTI]

that doesn't explain why they let us in for $30 to $35 up north while it's mostly $50 here.

Out of interest, how many riders do you get at an average ride down south? Don't know the numbers for trail rides up my way, but it could be an economics of scale deal, as rides within driving distance of Auckland tend to get a good turn out, simply because there's a bigger population and more riders up this way.

[Trials Rider]

Out of interest, how many riders do you get at an average ride down south? Don't know the numbers for trail rides up my way, but it could be an economics of scale deal, as rides within driving distance of Auckland tend to get a good turn out, simply because there's a bigger population and more riders up this way.

On average 150 - 200 riders, some have seen up to 400 and 500 riders, further out maybe down to 60 - 80 ish, the main rides here are Grenvilles rides, he uses a lot of different properties and then runs them in reverse

[Dent]

I think you are fairly right on the numbers estimates.

I've been on plenty of Grenville rides, and also others. It varies a great deal how many attend.
The March Waiau School ride has a limit of 500 riders each day. I've done it a few times, and its very noticeable how busy the ride is compared to many of the other rides.

I cant say I particularly like it being that busy. Too many big queues at bottlenecks.

As far as costs go, gassing up the transport vehicle and the bike (for 80-120km riding) probably costs more than the entry fee, even when splitting the fuel on the transport vehicle.