The Vulcaniser Course

The 2006 Vulcaniser course begins in a small holding yard and heads through a break in the fence

  and straight up to a short steep climb.

  It then goes along the Traverse Track which has been recently widened and is reasonably flat.

At the end the track swings south and riders get their first passing opportunity (along with some magnficent coastal views). 

The course sidles across a tussocky slope and up to some limestone outcrops.

The track then goes down to the top of the Dollimore Track (which now has a new approach and has recently been rebenched and widened),

 which continues down,

and down,

 until it emerges through a few trees

by the Saddle.

Riders then head through the gate and travel across and down a short grassy off camber slope

  before entering the Bypass Track.  The exit of this track has now been benched and bermed and leads riders

straight into the S-Bend.

Leaving there you drop down to the 4WD track which provides a long section of passing.

It initially has a slight downhill gradient until it reaches the corner

from where it gradually climbs through broadleaf forest.

The 4WD track continues until the top of the Slimline.  

 The entrance to the singletrack Slimline drops away abruptly and riders soon find themselves at the log drop.  The log itself is only about 30cm high but the ground slopes away giving the impression of a much bigger drop as you approach it. There is a nana line off to the right for those who want it.

The course veers left straight afterwards and continues its' twisty manuka descent until it reaches where the steep S-bend used to be. 

The track here has been compltely re-routed and now continues on down at a more gentle gradient past a magnificent rock gully.  There is a fairly tight switchback at the end and a short flat section before the track rejoins the old course.  The next section to navigate is over some rocks 

before heading down the side of the gully where the windbreak is.   

Across the creek bed and it's back to climbing.

Through the two switchbacks (which were widened before the Nationals earlier this year) 

and up on to Lovers Lane. 

Lovers Lane travels through Manuka with little undergrowth.   There are a couple of passing areas and a couple of sections that are flat or even downhill.  

Eventually riders emerge and ride through the bush archway  

to begin the nice climb up through the 

broadleaf forest section to The Spur.

The Spur is mostly open with low scrub and manuka on either side and initially climbs quite gently and gives good passing opportunites. 

At the end there is a short steep singletrack climb back up to the 4WD track you left earlier.  

You follow the 4WD track, climbing reasonably gently all the while,  

till suddenly there is a really steep hill in front of you!   You can zig-zag your way up if you wish but most riders just grind their way straight up back to the Saddle 50 m away.

Then it is back in to an awesome downhill through the Boars Nest.  

   A  little way down the track has been significantly
rerouted to avoid a steep chewed up section so the overall gradient is kinder now. 

It joins back in to the old track below the padded trees and 

continues on down 

and down.

Previously the very bottom section of this track went straight down and then up under a lovely big broadleaf tree - now it gently sidles around the edge of the gully and joins in with the climb up to another 4WD track.

More passing can be had until the track veers off to the right into the start of the Trimble Track.  

   The Trimble Track climbs steadily 

through Manuka and scrub 

until you pop back out on to the 4WD track.  

The course then follows the 4WD track back up to The Yards.   

 Riders head through The Yards, down through the holding paddock and a lap is completed.

Oh yeah!