John Fridd

When Bella Bathurst wanted a new bike, she took a course and built her own frame.

Dunedin is blessed with some excellent mountain bike tracks, built by Mountain Bike Otago. Today, in the final part of a two-part series, John Fridd explores the new Wakari bike park and revisits an old favourite trail at the top of North East Valley.

Dunedin is well endowed with mountain-bike tracks, thanks to the efforts of Mountain Bike Otago. Led by president Hamish Seaton, the club negotiates access to suitable land and builds between 5km and 10km of tracks each year, funding the projects by running events and seeking grants and sponsorship. John Fridd gets on his bike to take a look.

We're back in the Wanaka district for the final of our Summer Times bike rides. This is because Wanaka has so many new tracks I couldn't fit them into one article.

Today we're off to the Cromwell area to ride from the mushrooming Pisa Moorings settlement to Bannockburn, almost all off road.

Some mountain bikers don't like scary single tracks and exhausting hill climbs, so I thought I'd throw a cruisy ride into this series.

Many people strolling along the track that hugs the Wanaka lakefront probably don't appreciate they are on the 3000km Te Araroa trail, which winds through New Zealand from Cape Reinga to Bluff.

This is an excellent walk on a well-maintained track only a short drive from the city.

The Otago Central Rail Trail is now well known around the world, so I thought I'd better include a ride on the most spectacular part of the trail in this summer's bike rides series. 

Department of Conservation campsites are usually in beautiful places beside lakes or rivers or with great mountain views.