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🌟🚵‍♂️ WHAKA WEEKLY 🚵‍♂️🌟 26th June 2025




🌤️ Weather: Some times sunny, sometimes raining, always appreciated.


🌱 Dirt: Soft, avoid dragging your breaks to preserve the trail surface. Be tree-aware and report any finds with wide angle picture (so we can see the scope) and GPS Location (trailforks screen shot). 🌳


📣 Here is this week's vibe: By the community, for the community. 🙌

We would not have this amazing trail network if it wasn't for all the volunteer crews who pitch in BIG TIME to make it amazing. 💪


🔦 Here is a spotlight on just a few of the amazing volly groups.


🧓👟 The Rotorua Rinkley Riders

An incredible bunch of people who meet up every week for rides in the forest, hang out, have some banter and live a good life. Then they give back, big time.


Te Poaka is the trail they adopt, and boy oh boy do they give it lots of love! This past Wednesday, 18 of them met up at 8:30am to head up and give the trail a top to bottom tickle up with new berms built, drains dug, surface raked and braking bumps bashed.


🍖 After 4 hours of hard mahi, they headed back for a BBQ and chin wag at the incredible picnic area, at the Planet Bike carpark, that they designed, funded and built themselves. Not for themselves, but for the whole community to enjoy. 🙏


Absolute legends. 👏 The oldest dude out there is 88 years young 🎉, so no excuses folks, the forest is massive and if you love the forest, it’s time to give back. 🌳


🧠⚒️ The Brains Trust

You should have heard of these legends before, they are always out on No Brains making it the best trail in the entire forest. 🏆 When they are not digging trails they are the “Legends of the Forest” 🌲 keeping an eye on Trail Forks reports of trees down.With chainsaws 🪚 and permits in hand, they are always on the ready to clear trees throughout the forest.


None of this “trail fairy” nonsense, they are real people out there, doing real hard work, putting their blood sweat and spare time into this forest that gives us all so much joy.


From digging out tree stumps to moving big rocks ridiculous distances by hand to make awesome rock garden features on No Brains.


These are the Legends of the Forest that make it happen!


👊 Do you have a group of mates who could spare an hour or two maybe once a month to look after a trail?

💌 Get in touch, we would LOVE to hear from you!


💪💃 The Mud Maidens

Mud Maidens—Rotorua’s all-female MTB collective —are something rare: a group of riders who don't complain about the quality of the trails they ride, they instead chose to build the trail they needed: Maiden Voyage. 🚴‍♀️


They do working bees, organise group rides and do soooo much for the community, including doing fundraising events for Rotorua Trails Trust, give us donations that we desperately need to look after the entire forest.

Legends. 🏅


If you want to hear from them directly, be sure the check out the recent interview we did with them:


🚵‍♂️ The Rotorua Mountain Bike Club

The Rotorua Trails Trust would not be here without them. Straight up. 🙌

When the forest network got too big for the club to maintain, they formed Rotorua Trails Trust. Every year they also make a much appreciated donation to RTT to help us to keep the maintenance of the forest where it needs to be.


If you are a MTB club member, thank you so very much! We really appreciate the support! ❤️

Something you might not know: Rotorua Trails Trust and Rotorua Mountain Bike Club memberships are not connected. You should def be a member of both! 🤝


🌟 Thank you so much to these and all the groups of riders who pitch in round the forest.

Even you and your mates 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️, who make the first few laps chill and clear a trail of debris instead of riding over or round a mamaku frond or branch on the trail 🌿.


You are all the legends who make this incredible place world class, twenty four seven, three sixty five, rain or shine. 🌧️☀️

Love ya all! ❤️


📍Trail Updates


🌹 Rosebank

This delicious trail is one of my favs (feels like you in cali or something?) and it just got a sweet tickle up from the trail adopter. Legend! 🙌

Give it a lap on your way back to the carpark folks, it's a real gem! 💎


🐰 Bunny Jugs 2

I always give their dogo 🐶 all the credit, but there are two proud parents of said dogo who actually do all the hard mahi to keep Bunny Jugs 2 running so sweet! 💖

Seriously, does anyone remember how it used to be compared to how it is now?

Such an amazing difference since this trail got adopted! 🔧 This is the power of people who love the forest and want to give back.


⛰️ Te Mounga

The entry to Te Mounga has moved down the road a bit, directly opposite the Tihi O Tawa, but it is still the same awesome trail! 😍

I gave it a good tickle up and cut back the over grown vegetation 🌾, so the entire trail is running mean as top to bottom. Enjoy! 🎉


↪️ Corners

Had some drains dug out and a tickle up to keep it running all good.

Needs more tires down it to keep it running mint —def go for a lap next sunny day! ☀️


🔄 Forest Loop

Big shout out to the Rotorua Trails Trust team who have somehow found the time to get (almost) the entire 30km+ Loop in amazing condition…in the middle of winter!!!

I LOVE the forest loop 💚, whether you do the whole loop, or mix it into other trails, it is big, it is beautiful, it is world class. 🌍


Love it!


🦤 Mike the Moa

He is back! Woohoo! 🎊 Rotorua Trails Trust have hired Mike and his tractor and mower to get the roads cleaned up.


Weeds are disappearing, everything is looking loved and beautiful around the forest roads again.


Love ya Mike, great to have you back! 🫶


I kind of feel bad writing such a glowing post about all these folks, cos none of these awesome people do it for the shout outs, they do it humbly, with no ego or sense of ownership, but simply because they want others to feel the same joy as they get out there in the forest.


Amazing community full of amazing people. 🌲💚


Whakarewarewa Forest.

By the Community, for the Community.


🙏 Get Involved, Donate in 3 clicks:


Already donated? You’re a legend. 🙌🌲

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