I brought my friend Alan, who “A” knows how to mountain bike and “B” knows the Woodhill Forest, along to join me for this little cycle adventure. And I want to call this blog “Alan showed me the world of mountain biking with all its ups and downs” – in the truest sense of the word!!
I love cycling! On an even road, comfortable, at times a little bit faster at times slower, for hours or even for days in a row, with a trekking bike or with my speed bike, always nice and easy. Today though, I got pushed out of my comfy zone and it was awesome! My first time mountain biking and for sure not my last!
Woodhill Forest is located to the North-West of Auckland, approximately 40 kilometres away from the city centre. More than 12.000 hectares offer roughly 100 kilometres of Auckland’s best cycle trails for every difficulty level – a paradise for mountain bike lovers and a great activity for those that want to get a good workout and have a fun time while traveling.
There are short, medium and long trails, so that everyone can find the right track for his ability and condition.
You can do as little as you want or push yourself to the limits. Jump off the highest drops or take it easy and choose the detours to simply pass the obstacles.
The staff members will help you to find the right bicycle and explain how to control the breaks as well as how to use the shifter. Don’t hesitate to ask them any questions - safety is important! You’ll be well equipped with a helmet, a trail map and you will have to carry a mobile at all times in case of an emergency. Find the right position for your seat and off you go!
You have never done mountain biking before? Perfect! You’ll learn it!
Mountain biking is what you do on a daily base at home? Perfect! You will find the track that will give you the ultimate adrenalin kick!
You can take the 6 kilometres beginner trail or cycle for the whole day overcoming challenges from easy to extreme marked X (easy) to XXXXX (difficult) or you just cycle around them if you feel uncomfortable taking one of the narrow wooden paths away from the ground. Believe me, I always found a way to get around everything that seemed to be in my way and I still challenged myself by taking one or another fast sharp turn almost sliding away in the sand. And not only once I could almost see myself wrapped around a tree, pulling my handlebar away in the last second but after a couple of hard breaks and some nerve-wracking downhill action I started enjoying the thrill. Once I got used to the bicycle and understood better how I have to shift my weight while speeding down the hills I became more and more confident and had such a blast!
Back at the car park I couldn’t stop but thinking that I am so going to do that again soon and I will be so much better!!!
The best of all: my sore muscles will leave a bitter-sweet reminder so that I won’t forget this awesome experience in a while. Cause after all, you first have to get up the hill in order to race down! What a great workout!
And if you still can’t get enough and you have some energy left you can visit the “playground” in the car park area to continue fooling around and to improve some skills on your bike – enjoy!!!
