Ride Day 4 at Rotorua

After a rest day yesterday where we just pootled around town, we caught the shuttle up to ride Corners back down the mountain again.

The second time around it seemed like it flowed much better and I was picking the lines more cleanly, but I was just as buggered by the time I got to the bottom. The quads and glutes were not burning so much but the hands were starting to let me know they being worked hard keeping me connected to the bars.

We both felt a little off our game. Josh was happy to be at the bottom and was complaining about making too many mistakes. Still, it is a seriously hootworthy trail. We just need to be fitter for this kind of riding.

After climbing back up Red Tank Rd we elected to use our last shuttle trip to go hunting for the legendary Split Enz trail.

Billy T sounded like techy fun but after Josh had a couple of offs due to awkward tree roots a couple of days ago, he wasn't keen so we elected to take the less technically challenging new trail Underbelly feom thw shuttle dropoff over to join up with a moderate 1km climb up Moerengi Rd and down Loop Rd to Split Enz.

My old bike that Josh had been riding had been exhibiting squealing rear brakes so we swapped the rotors around before tackling Split Enz, but it looks like it was the new pads I'd put in just before the trip. After a few minutes of blessed relief, the racket started up again. Oh, well.

Split Enz was a lot of fun. Terrific views over the town out into the bay made it hard at times to focus on the trail ahead. (photos to follow)

Pondy DH was reminiscent of Corners but with a bit more pump and flow and less wicked berms and hard braking. Pondy New threaded us between trees and down and up gullies to hook up with the aptly named Roller Coaster. Instead of taking Old Chevy we linked up with Spring Roll and Chop Suey to pump and spin our way up Sweet and Sour's switchback climb and follow the black line flowing down Dragons Tail.

At the top of Dragon Tail we bumped into an older local gent who had just started riding MTB three weeks ago on his brand new Spesh 29er dually. He was loving every minute of it. The stoke was infectious.

After descending Dragons Tail a quick spin down Mad If You Don't dropped us onto the Waipa Mill Bypass Rd and back to the carpark. Combined with the commute from our motel, almost 40km for the day.

Highlight of the day was confidently negotiating a 5m vertical roll down chute at the end of Underbelly with an appreciative audience

Hopefully this newly acquired confidence won't evaporate on the return flight Tuesday!