Makara and Blogs
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When the media advocate racism to hide the real culprits behind bad driving
- Jack Yan
- This op–ed in the Fairfax Press smacks of typical yellow peril journalism that has come to typify what passes for some media coverage of late.
- Accepted from Jack Yan posts
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- roseneath
- titahi-bay
- berhampore
- cuba-street
- wainuiomata
- civic-square
- wairarapa
- karori
- kelburn
- khandallah
- tawa
- stokes-valley
- paraparaumu
- makara
- brooklyn
- hutt-valley
- worser-bay
- hataitai
- ngaio
- lyall-bay
- wadestown
- waterfront
- mount-cook
- paremata
- wilton
- begonia-house
- mount-victoria
- newtown
- aro-valley
- newlands
- kilbirnie
- seatoun
- northland
- thorndon
- island-bay
- miramar
- oriental-bay
- johnsonville
- porirua
- eastbourne
Berhampore, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, 6242, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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Found a Facebook bot? Facebook wants you to leave it as reporting option vanishes
- Jack Yan
- Facebook appears to be giving up on the bot fight.
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- seatoun
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- newtown
- hutt-valley
- northland
- kelburn
- begonia-house
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- berhampore
- hataitai
- makara
- paraparaumu
- mount-victoria
- oriental-bay
- newlands
- johnsonville
- mount-cook
- wairarapa
- aro-valley
- tawa
- roseneath
- lyall-bay
- porirua
- cuba-street
- worser-bay
- thorndon
- khandallah
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- ngaio
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- paremata
- civic-square
- wainuiomata
- wadestown
- brooklyn
- stokes-valley
- kilbirnie
- karori
- miramar
Ngaio, Wellington, Wellington City, Wellington, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)
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WMTBC December Newsletter
- Wellington Mountain Bike Club
- In this newsletter: Race report: WDHS Rd 2 - Karori Juvie & Duel Slalom Track Opening South Coast Kids Track Update Draft Suburban Reserves Management Plan WDHS Round 3 - Maidstone WORD Bike-a-Polooza Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro Klunkers, Chainless & Kids Bike Dual Slalom Trail Building Updates Wellington Downhill Series Round 2 - Karori The second race in the Wellington Downhill Series went down last month on the revitalised 98DH aka K-Hole. Historically, racing at this venue has been in the wet, and under these conditions simply getting a bike down the track becomes a game of survival. But on this occasion, Karori turned it on for riders. At the end of racing - Daniel Meilink took out the Open Men category ahead of Michael Mells and Bryn Dickerson. In Masters 1 & 2 - Nathan Timoko and Ali Quinn claimed the top spots respectively. And the juniors were dominated by the Macdonalds - with Finlay taking out under 17 and brother Lachie, under 15. Current National Champ Sarah Atkin recorded a very respectable time that would have put her just outside top 10 in Open Men, and Finn van Leuven also put down a solid time in Hardtail. We’ll catch everyone at the final WDHS round this Saturday, 6th December at Maidstone. Race Results & Series Points Juvie & Duel Slalom Grand Opening Crews and contractors have been hard at work at Miramar of the past months and we’ve recently seen the completion of two new tracks - Juvenile Delinquent, and the Kids Duel Slalom. The sum of these, combined with the pump track and dirt jumps is a great zone for kids and beginners to hone their skills, only minutes from the City. The grand opening of Juvie and the Kids Duel Slalom last weekend was a huge success. About 150 people turned up to mark the occasion on Sunday, including City Councillors and Mayor, Celia Wade Brown. Once the tape was cut, Mayor Celia spoke positively of the Club’s recent work at Miramar and Island Bay. South Coast Kids Track Wins Another Award You may recall that earlier this year, the Club received a Wellington Airport Community Award for its work on the South Coast Kids Track. Well last week the Kids Track did it again - this time at the 2014 NZ Recreation Association Awards. The annual awards recognise excellence in the recreation and leisure industry, and the South Coast Kids Track was named Most Outstanding Project. Thanks once again to Wellington City Council, Trail Fund NZ, Bike Wellington, Revolve Cycling and Southstar Trails. Draft Suburban Reserves Management Plan Submissions close this Friday 5th on the WCC Draft Suburban Reserves Management Plan. This is the last opportunity members of the public will have to share their views on the future management of Wellington’s suburban reserves - between Khandallah and Miramar (including Makara). This plan will have a significant impact on the future of mountain biking in our city, and the planning process only comes around once every 10 years. So, if you have a few spare minutes and a desire to see the WCC supporting mountain biking in our suburban reserves, get in there. Upcoming Events WDHS Round 3 - Maidstone - THIS SATURDAY The final round of the 2014 Wellington Downhill Series will take place THIS SATURDAY, 6th December at Maidstone, Upper Hutt. Check the WMTBC website for details and online registration. Online registration closes Friday, 5pm. Enter online >> The Club would also like to welcome Adrenaline MTB as the event’s major sponsor. **VOLUNTEERS** Race marshals and drivers are urgently needed for this event. We greatly appreciate any help offered. If interested - please contact events@wmtbc.org.nz. WORD Bike-a-Polooza - Sunday Dec 7th This Sunday at the Wainuiomata Trails - WORD invites you to join them for the first Bike-a-Polooza - New Zealand's best, super fun, and raddest kids mountain bike event ever! There will be four great courses to choose from on the day - so something for all the 3-17 year olds. Cost: $15 individual, $40 family of 3 kids. For more info and online registration check out WORD Bike-a-Polooza Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro - Jan 19th, 2015 The third annual Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro is upcoming - Wellington Anniversary weekend, January 19th. We’ve run the annual fundraiser for the Miramar Track Project for the past couple of years, and 2015 will undoubtedly be the biggest yet. As per last year, we’ll be running two classes - Misdemeanor and Felony, plus the Sufferfest hill climb, and we’re throwing in a Kids Mini D for the little rippers. Also, in breaking news - Yeastie Boys have just come on board as a sponsor. This is great news if you like beer. Online entries opening later this month Event Details >> Klunkers, Chainless & Kids Bike Dual Slalom - Jan 24th, 2015 After a successful event earlier this year, Klunkers is back! The aim of the race is simple: dig out your old kit and 90s race weapon, do as many timed runs of Jailbrake as your body (or bike) will permit within 2 ½ hours, and heckle like you’ve never heckled. There will be four categories: Klunkers, Chainless, proKlunkers and Klunkers (under 12), and an additional Kids Bike Dual Slalom race. Entry is by donation of old (useful) bike parts, cash, or your bike. All proceeds go to Biketech and the Mechanical Tempest. Event Details >> Trail Building Updates Clinical (Polhill Reserve) As you may recall from the last Polhill update, The Brooklyn Trail Builders reported significant progress on Clinical. When it’s complete, the track will round off a grand loop of the Reserve. Most of the track is now rideable, and it’s set for completion sometime during early 2015. Currently, contractors are finishing construction of bridges on the trail, and volunteers are working on approximately 200m at the bottom. Although this section is incomplete, there’s a steep track that can be used to bypass it. The next dig is this coming Sunday, 7th December at 3pm. Details over at Brooklyn Trail Builders. There will be an event to commemorate the official opening of Clinical, tentatively around April 2015. We’ll keep you posted. We would also like to congratulate BTB whose work was this week recognised at the Roll on Wellington Cycle Awards. Mt Victoria Thanks to all those who contributed recently to the Mt Victoria trail user survey. We’re currently compiling the results, but feedback was largely positive. In case you missed it - here’s the full rundown. But in short, the WCC has requested that changes be made to the lower part of the Super D line. The Club, in consultation with trail leaders and the Council, has come up with a plan that involves essentially realigning the trail, from the SPCA south. In addition, the plan includes work around busy junctions to reduce the risk of conflict with other trail users. No major work will take place on Mt Victoria until the new year. We’ll keep you updated. Want to keep in touch? For up-to-date Club news, updates and media - follow WMTBC on Facebook or check the Club page at WMTBC.org.nz
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Makara, Wellington
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WMTBC December Newsletter
- Wellington Mountain Bike Club
- In this newsletter: Race report: WDHS Rd 2 - Karori Juvie & Duel Slalom Track Opening South Coast Kids Track Update Draft Suburban Reserves Management Plan WDHS Round 3 - Maidstone WORD Bike-a-Polooza Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro Klunkers, Chainless & Kids Bike Dual Slalom Trail Building Updates Wellington Downhill Series Round 2 - Karori The second race in the Wellington Downhill Series went down last month on the revitalised 98DH aka K-Hole. Historically, racing at this venue has been in the wet, and under these conditions simply getting a bike down the track becomes a game of survival. But on this occasion, Karori turned it on for riders. At the end of racing - Daniel Meilink took out the Open Men category ahead of Michael Mells and Bryn Dickerson. In Masters 1 & 2 - Nathan Timoko and Ali Quinn claimed the top spots respectively. And the juniors were dominated by the Macdonalds - with Finlay taking out under 17 and brother Lachie, under 15. Current National Champ Sarah Atkin recorded a very respectable time that would have put her just outside top 10 in Open Men, and Finn van Leuven also put down a solid time in Hardtail. We’ll catch everyone at the final WDHS round this Saturday, 6th December at Maidstone. Race Results & Series Points Juvie & Duel Slalom Grand Opening Crews and contractors have been hard at work at Miramar of the past months and we’ve recently seen the completion of two new tracks - Juvenile Delinquent, and the Kids Duel Slalom. The sum of these, combined with the pump track and dirt jumps is a great zone for kids and beginners to hone their skills, only minutes from the City. The grand opening of Juvie and the Kids Duel Slalom last weekend was a huge success. About 150 people turned up to mark the occasion on Sunday, including City Councillors and Mayor, Celia Wade Brown. Once the tape was cut, Mayor Celia spoke positively of the Club’s recent work at Miramar and Island Bay. South Coast Kids Track Wins Another Award You may recall that earlier this year, the Club received a Wellington Airport Community Award for its work on the South Coast Kids Track. Well last week the Kids Track did it again - this time at the 2014 NZ Recreation Association Awards. The annual awards recognise excellence in the recreation and leisure industry, and the South Coast Kids Track was named Most Outstanding Project. Thanks once again to Wellington City Council, Trail Fund NZ, Bike Wellington, Revolve Cycling and Southstar Trails. Draft Suburban Reserves Management Plan Submissions close this Friday 5th on the WCC Draft Suburban Reserves Management Plan. This is the last opportunity members of the public will have to share their views on the future management of Wellington’s suburban reserves - between Khandallah and Miramar (including Makara). This plan will have a significant impact on the future of mountain biking in our city, and the planning process only comes around once every 10 years. So, if you have a few spare minutes and a desire to see the WCC supporting mountain biking in our suburban reserves, get in there. Upcoming Events WDHS Round 3 - Maidstone - THIS SATURDAY The final round of the 2014 Wellington Downhill Series will take place THIS SATURDAY, 6th December at Maidstone, Upper Hutt. Check the WMTBC website for details and online registration. Online registration closes Friday, 5pm. Enter online >> The Club would also like to welcome Adrenaline MTB as the event’s major sponsor. **VOLUNTEERS** Race marshals and drivers are urgently needed for this event. We greatly appreciate any help offered. If interested - please contact events@wmtbc.org.nz. WORD Bike-a-Polooza - Sunday Dec 7th This Sunday at the Wainuiomata Trails - WORD invites you to join them for the first Bike-a-Polooza - New Zealand's best, super fun, and raddest kids mountain bike event ever! There will be four great courses to choose from on the day - so something for all the 3-17 year olds. Cost: $15 individual, $40 family of 3 kids. For more info and online registration check out WORD Bike-a-Polooza Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro - Jan 19th, 2015 The third annual Escape from Mt Crawford Mini Enduro is upcoming - Wellington Anniversary weekend, January 19th. We’ve run the annual fundraiser for the Miramar Track Project for the past couple of years, and 2015 will undoubtedly be the biggest yet. As per last year, we’ll be running two classes - Misdemeanor and Felony, plus the Sufferfest hill climb, and we’re throwing in a Kids Mini D for the little rippers. Also, in breaking news - Yeastie Boys have just come on board as a sponsor. This is great news if you like beer. Online entries opening later this month Event Details >> Klunkers, Chainless & Kids Bike Dual Slalom - Jan 24th, 2015 After a successful event earlier this year, Klunkers is back! The aim of the race is simple: dig out your old kit and 90s race weapon, do as many timed runs of Jailbrake as your body (or bike) will permit within 2 ½ hours, and heckle like you’ve never heckled. There will be four categories: Klunkers, Chainless, proKlunkers and Klunkers (under 12), and an additional Kids Bike Dual Slalom race. Entry is by donation of old (useful) bike parts, cash, or your bike. All proceeds go to Biketech and the Mechanical Tempest. Event Details >> Trail Building Updates Clinical (Polhill Reserve) As you may recall from the last Polhill update, The Brooklyn Trail Builders reported significant progress on Clinical. When it’s complete, the track will round off a grand loop of the Reserve. Most of the track is now rideable, and it’s set for completion sometime during early 2015. Currently, contractors are finishing construction of bridges on the trail, and volunteers are working on approximately 200m at the bottom. Although this section is incomplete, there’s a steep track that can be used to bypass it. The next dig is this coming Sunday, 7th December at 3pm. Details over at Brooklyn Trail Builders. There will be an event to commemorate the official opening of Clinical, tentatively around April 2015. We’ll keep you posted. We would also like to congratulate BTB whose work was this week recognised at the Roll on Wellington Cycle Awards. Mt Victoria Thanks to all those who contributed recently to the Mt Victoria trail user survey. We’re currently compiling the results, but feedback was largely positive. In case you missed it - here’s the full rundown. But in short, the WCC has requested that changes be made to the lower part of the Super D line. The Club, in consultation with trail leaders and the Council, has come up with a plan that involves essentially realigning the trail, from the SPCA south. In addition, the plan includes work around busy junctions to reduce the risk of conflict with other trail users. No major work will take place on Mt Victoria until the new year. We’ll keep you updated. Want to keep in touch? For up-to-date Club news, updates and media - follow WMTBC on Facebook or check the Club page at WMTBC.org.nz
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- miramar
- wainuiomata
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- media
- bypass
- events
- beer
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- rowing
- cycling
- planning
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Makara, Wellington
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Blow me away
- Eye of the Fish
- Newsflash: Mill Creek Wind Farm approved, almost all intact - just 2 turbines short of the full picnic. We blogged about it before, back in June last year when it was announced and publicly notified - and we thought that the residents of Ohariu Valley might put up a bigger stink than the residents of nearby Makara did when they were confronted with Project West Wind.
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Makara, Wellington
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A tricky structure to navigate. ..
- T3 Track Blog
- A small but dedicated crew got stuck into what will be a tricky structure to navigate. Building it wasn’t that easy either, digging post holes in bedrock is never fun, thanks Stu and Carl, how are the hands today?
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A new structure on T3
- T3 Track Blog
- We are at it again!!This is the beginning of a new structure on T3, thanks to the great guys from the GVN we were able to get the platform in for what will be a very interesting obstacle.For more information you will have to come along on Sunday February the 1st to find out.Meeting at the bottom of Varleys at 10am, lunch and tools provided.
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Makara, Wellington
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A new structure on T3
- T3 Track Blog
- We are at it again! This is the beginning of a new structure on T3, thanks to the great guys from the GVN we were able to get the platform in for what will be a very interesting obstacle.For more information you will have to come along on Sunday February the 1st to find out.Meeting at the bottom of Varleys at 10am, lunch and tools provided.
- Tagged as:
- cycling
- makara
Makara, Wellington
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The Swing Bridge of Doom
- T3 Track Blog
- Sunday saw us tackle another one of the T3 big wooden projects, The Swing Bridge of Doom, or as it turned out the Fun Wibbly Wobbly Swing Bridge.
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- makara
Makara, Wellington
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T3 can now be ridden either up or down
- T3 Track Blog
- Thanks to Maxxis and the weather gods, myself, Jonathan, Carl, Andrew, Hugh, Brenda, Josh, Simon, Don, Rob, Graham, Lyle and Mana were able to finish the track right through to Trickle Falls.T3 can now be ridden either up or down depending on how you are feeling, it is still a bit rough in places but the more people we get having a go at it the better it will bed down.
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Ground Effect Grubber Fest
- T3 Track Blog
- 3 has been neglected for way too long, but now it's all go again. Go, go go! Motivation was supplied by Ground Effect, in the form of a stylie cycling top as a spot prize. Lucky Carl was the winner of the top (see photo). But everyone was just stoked to be making such good progress. That's the thing about difficult tracks, they don't take muck digging (not like Lazy Fern, the easy highway that seemed to take an eternity to build). Yep, T3 is ripping along. Another few sessions and it should be rideable all the way to the top of Trickle Falls.
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The last ten metres
- The Lazy Fern Track Blog
- In late December 2005 strange thrashing and grunting noises were heard from the bush above South Kaori Stream. Wild pigs? Blind mountain bikers? Exploring botanists? Nope, it was the first of many exploration trips to find a suitable route for the proposed easy downhill track. Two years later, and the last ten metres of the track has just been built!
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Midweek Work Parties
- The Lazy Fern Track Blog
- What more could you want from an after work track building session, good company, good progress, good pizza and good beer. If this sounds like your kind of thing then keep a look out on the Website for more info. We will be trying to do one of these midweek work parties every week from now until December.
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Another busy day on Lazy Fern
- The Lazy Fern Track Blog
- Another busy day on Lazy Fern was had on Tuesday. The Conservation Corps led by Jonathan widened another 50 mtrs of track in the morning and then got a lesson in the afternoon on using the power barrow.
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Into the 'Switchback Zone'
- The Lazy Fern Track Blog
- On a windy, grey old day a small but effective team finished off about 200 metres of track, so we are now well into the 'Switchback Zone'. Many thanks to Murray, Alex, Zac, Don, Ben and his kids, Rob, Steven, Ian, Grant and Alex, Malcolm, Craig, Jonathan, and the person whose name we have missed out.
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Sunday Working Bee
- The Lazy Fern Track Blog
- A working bee last Sunday saw the first 90mtrs of Lazy Fern widened to its proper finished width of 1.2mtrs, this meant we could lay gravel down for the contractor to come in and start building the bridges and retaining wall needed to get around that nasty gully at the bottom of the track.
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People having fun on T3
- T3 Track Blog
- Between all the hard work, Jeff and Hugh had the chance to ride some of the good work they had done. Harvey Blakely and a few mates came through T3 around lunchtime and after some encouragement he gave “old skinky” a crack, good on ya Harvey!
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Working Men
- T3 Track Blog
- While all the noise of the kango was going there was some good old benching and gravelling going on in between so that we can ride to each obstacle, makes sense really. Rob and Will showing how it's done.
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"Crash Test Dummy"
- T3 Track Blog
- We decided to give people a choice at the first rock out-crop of going high or low, as the high line has quite a drop and takes full commitment to clean. As Hugh demonstrates in these photos, a tumble from the low line is not life threatening but still a good challenge.
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Ratchet Canyon
- T3 Track Blog
- This tricky little number required the most amount of Kango time, as you can see from the before shots.
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The Twister
- T3 Track Blog
- We finished the boardwalk part of the twister a couple of weeks ago on a beautiful autumn afternoon, which turned into evening by the time we were done. We knew this corner was going to be tight, but after 1 hour of kango action and a couple of test rides we came to the conclusion that this corner is very very tight, so after another hour on the kango we were just able to sneak around.
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Incredible progress has been made since our ...
- The Lazy Fern Track Blog
- Incredible progress has been made since our last entry on this blog. That's partly because the last entry was four months ago (shame), but mostly because a huge number of people have been digging away - an indication of how popular this track will be.
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The Boardwalk to Nowhere
- T3 Track Blog
- This is the next piece to the T3 puzzle.
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Big Skink finished today.
- T3 Track Blog
- The skink is basking in the sun with its new treads fitting well.
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It's Alive.......ALIVE!!!!!
- T3 Track Blog
- At last the weather was perfect for a work party up on T3 and a dozen keen volunteers made plenty of progress on and around the Skinks Back.
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Digging holes for poles.
- T3 Track Blog
- A quick session on T3 to cement the posts in ready for the work party on The Skinks Back in the middle of October 2006. Hard work getting all the timber down to the site but thanks to Stu from the Council not as hard as it could have been. That work party was canceled due to weather and it was not until Feburary 2007 that we got back to make a start on the critter.
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Slow but steady. Slow but steady. Until Sunday...
- The Lazy Fern Track Blog
- Slow but steady. Slow but steady. Until Sunday! Thanks to Matt, Hamish, Chris, Dave, Murray, Zac, Rob, Shane, Sacha,Don, Hugh, Simon, Grant, Dean and Jonathan the Lazy Fern track jumpeda big step closer towards being rideable.It was excellent to be working with a group that got so much achieved.
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S3=Skink Site Survey
- T3 Track Blog
- Giant Skinks require careful consideration.
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Diggers in the mist
- T3 Track Blog
- This is the lastest section of T3 to be built.
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Rocky out crops
- T3 Track Blog
- These pictures are of 2 rocky out crops on the track, they have been ridden both ways so are deemed to be finished. As you can see by the before and after photos a lot of earth and rock has been moved to make them just right. These two sections were like big jigsaws puzzle to design, trying to fit in the nice natural rock features and make it tricky at the same time.
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- design
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