Adventure #231

CENTRAL
OTAGO
*
E-MOUNTAINBIKE ADVENTURES
USING TECHNOLOGY TO ACCESS HISTORY
Words and images by Duncan and Andy / Bike it Now!
In the 1800s gold miners experienced the adrenaline of
finding gold in the Central Otago hills and mountains.
With advances in E-Mountain Bike technology we are
able to travel their paths, access their history, and
experience adrenaline of our own through day mountain
bike adventures!
In the heart of Central Otago you can find the E-Bike
specialists of Bike it Now! Cromwell, and Bike it Now!
Clyde. These are the places for all your biking needs.
Bike it Now! have a huge array of E-bikes for every rider,
and their knowledgeable and qualified staff will find you
your next bike - because at Bike it Now! - it’s all about
you!
Our adventure starts from the door of Bike it Now!
Cromwell. The ride from Cromwell to Bannockburn is
a great warm up on the first six kilometres of the Lake
Dunstan Trail. This new 42km cycle way, starting in
Cromwell takes in the stunning scenery of the Cromwell
Gorge, and finishes in Clyde. In fact, you can ride from
Bike it Now! Cromwell to Bike it Now! Clyde on the trail.
E-bikes are the popular choice of bike for this day trip and
the teams at Bike it Now! at either end of the track can
sort you out with the best bike to power you on this ride.
We, however, are after more of an adventure, and keen
to head into the hills, so at the Bannockburn Bridge we
head south towards Bannockburn, the heart of the desert.
The hills of Bannockburn are littered with stories of the
past. The land has been changed by hand and water,
and what is left offers some exhilarating mountain biking
opportunities.
Our first stop is the Bannockburn Sluicings. The
Department of Conservation calls this area a “desert
made by water.” and not naturally. The terrain in which
we are playing has been shaped by the miners who toiled
in these hills. The Slucings of Bannockburn showcase
the mighty power of water that was harnessed to carve
out the hillside. It is the mighty power of the high torque
motors on our bikes that allow us to easily climb through
and over the left over tailings to access fun turns, great
views, and a landscape more reminiscent of the wild west
than what we would normally expect in Aotearoa.
The balance of the controlled
power and suspension on these
E-mountain bikes gives us a
smooth ride up and over the rocks
that would normally have stopped
us in our tracks, and speed up
the short and steep inclines that
offer the views into the man
made canyons. How the men of
history changed this landscape
with their limited technology is
mindblowing. Accessing it on the
E- bike technology that is changing
mountain biking is also mind
blowing.
"The balance of
the controlled
power and
suspension on
these E-mountain
bikes gives us
a smooth ride
up and over the
rocks that would
normally have
stopped us in our
tracks"
The E-mountain bikes the team at Bike it Now! have on
offer are all electric assist. Electric assist simply means
that the bikes amplify the power the rider puts in while
peddling. So for us, the motor doesn’t work unless we do!
We might be flying up these hills on our new 90 newtonmetre
of torque supercharged legs, but we are still puffing
at the top, and that keeps the adventure feeling like an
adventure.
The bikes are not only built to handle the ups, but on the
rocky drops, tight corners and flowy downs they handle
with the fun we would expect from any top of the range
full suspension mountain bike. Rolling the rocks isn’t a
problem up or down.
Further up and into the hills behind Bannockburn and
the ruins of Stewart Town lie the remains of Carricktown.
52//WHERE ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS/#231