Akatarawa Attack Start location announced!

Version Date: 18 Jan 2013
Status: Update

The 2013 Akatarawa Attack will start from the new location of the DOC administered WHAREROA FARM on the Kapiti Coast (where the sun always shines). HVMBC has managed to jump through all the hoops required by both Wellington Regional Council and The Department of Conservation to bring you an Ak-Attack with a difference (only to be discovered when you see the map). Encompassing some surrounding private land with one time access only, this promises to be an Ak-Attack to suit both the hardened and determined racer through to those choosing a more leisurely pace.

Start and Finish will be in Whareroa farm itself, just take the turn off of SH1 at MacKay's crossing for Whareroa Farm and follow the arrows.

The Akatarawa Attack is a Mountain Bike Rogaine set in the rugged wilds of the Akatarawa ranges north of Wellington. A full day's challenge for any keen mountain biker - its your chance to ride a variety of tracks from 4WD to single track at your own pace. Its a mountain bike race with a difference and where you get to choose your own course. A race where the fastest and fittest are more often out witted by sly and cunning. Are you up for the Adventure?

What is it?

It is a navigation adventure for teams of 2 to 5 riders. Points are scored by visiting locations marked on a map within your chosen time period of 4 or 8 hours. A team of volunteers have visited and plotted lots of new and some previously un-documented tracks in the area for you to seek out. The detailed map marked with the location of the points is provided on the day.

Who can participate?

The area is rugged and remote, this is a hard day therefore the minimum age is 16 and teams of two or more members are compulsory and must race and visit the control points together. You will need to be able to deal with simple bike repairs and if necessary be prepared to hike home! There is a list of compulsory gear items that must be carried by each team.

Race Day

The events start at 8:30 am and 12:00pm respectively. The maps will be available from about one hour before the start of each event. Finish time is 4:00pm for the 4 hour and 4:30pm for the 8 hour event. Results and barbeque will follow. Points are deducted from your score if you return late, and so it is worth getting back on time, if only for the BBQ! The start location is currently secret but will be within 1 hours drive of Wellington. Teams will be advised in an email 10 days prior to the event exactly where the start point is and how to get there. Turn up at least 1 hour prior to the start for registration, have your gear checked and receive your map and start planning your days adventure. Every rider will receive a detailed map of the area with the tracks marked. Points of different values will be scattered across the map. You choose what you can achieve, and ride your chosen route, but remember to leave a few points for the ride home. Each control point will have a simple question or a clipper to prove you were there. Hand in your score cards at the end, relax and enjoy a barbeque while the results are collated.

Entry Details?

The entry fee is $50 per person for the 8 hour event and $40 per person for the 4 hour event. There is a $10 discount for OHV or HVMBC members. Entries close on 14th January 2013 (Late entries will incur an additional $10 Fee per person). Late entries or additional team members are welcome subject to available maps Half Price entry to under 21 (as at December 31, 2013) The entry fee includes a great map of the area, land access, prizes and a free gourmet barbeque after the event. Bring your own drinks and other snacks. Around the 20th of January we will email further details including any additional requirements or equipment and the start and finish location for registration. Teams will be listed on the website once we receive your entry form and payment clears.

Compulsory Equipment

Each team must be self sufficient and you must have the tools and skills to perform basic repairs to your bike. A knowledge of first aid is essential. Each team must carry the following gear throughout the event.
Individual
o Rain jacket
o Hat or balaclava
o Thermal top
o Sufficient food & water for 4 or 8 hours
Team
o Survival blanket
o First aid kit
o Compass and [Map (provided)]
o Cycle repair kit, pump, spare tube, etc

2012's Ak-Attack (ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE)

Never short of good ideas, 2012 saw us joining with our old mates Orienteering Hutt Valley to celebrate the birth of rogaining in New Zealand. 22 years ago they ran the first one, and they had a whole weekend of rogaines. It was a long weekend at that - Waitangi Weekend 4-6 February. It was called "Waitangi21" and they put on five rogaines adding up to 21 hours!

Two of those were MTB-friendly (with a twist). There was a 6-hour rogaine at Battle Hill on Sunday 5th. You could also do a 4-hour option, as usual. And on Monday 6th there was a 4-hour rogaine where the first one was held 22 years ago - Belmont Regional Park. In theory you'd go faster than the footies, so were given 3 hours. You could do one of these rogaines or you could do both.

Now the twist (heh heh!) Some of the controls were off-track. The normal requirement to take your bike to each control was not there, and you had several options. You could choose controls that were on tracks. You could ALWAYS choose controls that suited your strengths! Or you could ride close, drop your bike, and walk. And thirdly you could ride to a strategic base and do a whole loop on foot. Or a mixture of all three. It was a whole different ball-game!

To find out more, visit the website http://waitangi21.ohv.org.nz

Plenty. Take the Hutt Valley. The valley that sits astride the Wellington fault. The start point (Dry Creek at Haywards) obviously indicated Belmont Regional Park, with Belmont Trig at 457m and Boulder Hill at 442. Drawing a circle round Dry Creek includes some other high points: Mt Cecil (417m) on the west; on the east Fitzherbert (377m) and Ken (390m); and an un-named 441 above Stokes Valley. Throw into the mix a river flowing at 9 cumecs. A fair bit of pine forest. Plenty of native regrowth. Logging and pylon roads. Farm tracks. Mountainbike tracks. Walking tracks. Mix thoroughly, and stir.

Right from the start there was plenty of choice for the 81 riders. There was the low-value control up the waterfall track. There were the two ends of the Dry Creek loop, leading to Boulder Hill or specially-arranged farmland on SH58. Or out of the gate and through a culvert under SH2 leading to the Hutt river (knee deep). Or down the riverbank towards Belmont. Or through the Manor Park pedestrian subway and into the bush behind the Haywards substation.

Top 8-hour scorers headed north over the farmland towards SH58 (”the Haywards road”) through a stock underpass and up a gruelling climb to Mt Cecil. This led into St Pats Forest west of Upper Hutt, pine forest above Pinehaven, and Lower Hutt’s Eastern Hills. Intentions included a selection of Belmont Regional Park. But even riders of the calibre of two-time winners Simon Kennett and John Randal can’t always achieve the plan, and they found themselves shortcutting through Kelson. They did pull off Boulder Hill to get all three 100-pointers, and the win by 150 from adventure racers Liam Drew and Rachel Ockelford. Ian Paintin (another previous winner) riding with Ant Bradshaw was next, to be the top vets.

The 4-hour riders had more choice. Top result was posted by father and son John and Tim Robertson, by concentrating on the farmland and bunkers of the regional park, where there were controls as far as Stratton St. They were an extraordinary 230 points ahead of Trevor Robinson and Tamsyn Rouse, and 240 ahead of Ramash and Jo Swamy on a tandem. That 10-point difference might have been down to the struggle getting the tandem through the formidable anti-tank gate at the Summit Rd firebreak!

Tussles and if-only’s continued right down through the field, to the ”Rockin Robbins” who lost half their points with a lateness penalty. The event’s biggest drama was caused not by the terrain but the weather. A brilliantly sunny day encouraged a Transpower maintenance crew to attempt a cable-stringing operation across part of the course, and riders had to be prepared for barriers to go up while the helicopter was operating. Rising wind speeds put paid to that, with bells on. Wind speeds on top of the hills were so strong that they tore off control cards and swept Simon Kennett’s map off his map-holder. The winning pair completed the course with a single map!  

Ya shoulda been here yesterday was the call in the Maungakotukutuku Valley on Sunday (31 Jan). Gusty winds and ongoing drizzle replaced the 30-degree scorcher for the fifth Akatarawa Attack, the MTB challenge in rugged bush between Upper Hutt and Kapiti.

 8 hours or 4 hours to visit as many control points as you can – or as you wish. Native bush. Pine plantation. 4WD “roads”. Some more like mudbaths. Quad bike trails. Single track. Even some off-track through passable forest.

 But the cooler temperatures may have been better, as Simon Kennett and John Randal powered up Campbells Mill Road and into the heart of the event, a complex of little-known tracks called “The Seven Brothers”. Down the slower ones, climb on the better ones was the philosophy, through Hydro Valley to the west, and east as far as the Karapoti River crossing at the bottom of the Rock Garden. Up the Devil’s Staircase, down the “Three Sisters”, and there was just time for some close controls in the picturesque valley near the finish. Narrowly beaten last year, the Makara Peak Mudslingers were over 300 points clear this time; in fact they left only 5 controls unvisited. 1740 points out of a possible 2010. Total time 7hrs59. Distance 67km. Average speed 8kmh.

In an incredible performance the first mixed team was Jackson and Rose Green from Palmerston North - on a tandem – in sixth. Vet mixed Barryn Westfield and Vicki Robertson were just behind. Rachel Ockelford and Irishwoman Jackie O’Hagan were the top women and eleventh overall.

Just over half the field chose the “sensible” 4-hour option, but this still put the Brothers and  Sisters within reach, as well as the off-track controls in “Havoc Forest”. Marty Dinniss, Dave Howard and Tristan Kramers did their climb on Perhams Road the main 4WD access to the western Aka’s. They put their own score at risk by helping another team with chain trouble; but the grateful recipients asked the organisers to recognise this and the resulting adjustment put them in the lead. Still, the next two teams were mixed vets and in fourth place two vet women! They were the Karori Klingons, Power Up (Tauranga), and the Flying Takahes Wgtn South). Age or feminine wiles, you decide.

Run by the Hutt Valley Mountainbike and Orienteering clubs, the Attack has consistently put new routes on the map, the best available. We predict riders will be “dining out” on these for many months to come. But a health and safety warning – this is tough country! Go in a group. Go prepared.