Whaki: feature trail + teammate crash

We're bringing you our favourite trails from the Whaka 100, starting with Whāki out on the Te Putake o Tawa side of the Whakarewarewa forest. Unfortunately, course manager Tom took a pretty hard fall when we switched into Tūkonohi. Read on for more.

It's great to get out the office and ride the trails to refresh our memories of the courses at Whaka 100. Grade 3 Whāki (pronunciation) is a gem of a flow trail, with undulating sections seeing you see how close you can get to trees, testing you pumping and cornering skills. For those starting out, it's a great trail to recover on. For more advanced riders, it's a test to see how fast you can take it!

On our second run, we decided to deviate into grade 4 Tūkonohi at the crossing point of the two trails. The 'advanced' trail features options to jump and drop, plus some focus-inducing corners and chutes. A pesky root caught out our course manager, Tom, taking out his back wheel, sending his front off the embankment with an impressive OTB. Our first aid course training kicked in, and thankfully he was OK after some initial gasps for air. with only reassurance from the rest of the team on trail. 

Keep your eyes ahead of you on the trails, and be sure to pre-ride your event course before the Whaka 100 weekend. If you're at the point in your training to do the whole course in a single sitting, break it up over two days, or focus on the trails you're unfamiliar with. Make the time to go back and look at features, and session them until you're happy with them.

See you out on the trails!

​Whaka 100 Team