The Volcanic Epic is only four years old but has already carved out a niche: excellent singletrack, beautiful surroundings, and racing that’s tough enough to be satisfying without tipping into full Cape Epic–style life choice questioning.
I’ve competed in all four editions. The first was as a pair with Angus, as a prelude to riding with him in the Cape Epic the following year. The second was a fortnight after the Cape Epic, when I sensibly downgraded to the two-day solo race. Last year I did the full five-day event, again solo. Nothing especially dramatic happened, which means everything went according to plan.
This year felt different, which is why I decided to write this blog post. Partly because it included something I’d never done before, heli-biking. And partly because the New Zealand weather ensured it would be a memorable race. Kiwis love to say “four seasons in a day”. If only. For two days, we just had winter.
Stage 1: The Heli Stage
The weather forecast shifted this from Stage 2 to Stage 1. It actually worked really well because with each person, or pair, racing against the clock it felt like a prologue. At the loading zone everyone seemed as excited by the thought of jumping into a helicopter as the ride itself. This would follow an established trail, the Kaimanawa Descent. The operator, Kaimanawa Alpine Ascents, runs all year long, but on Wednesday 25th March (the day of Stage 1) they were going to be especially busy, running two choppers up to the drop off zone every 15 minutes.
I had only been in helicopter once before, when I was about 12 years old, so I felt like a child again.
The flight, which climbed 700 vertical metres, was quickly over and my three fellow passengers and I were deposited on the Patatu Tops.
We were soon left to enjoy the silence as the helicopter thwacked back down to the valley floor. I hung around to take a video and photo of the next incoming chopper.
There was a cold wind and before long I was keen to start riding and warming up on the trail, which started with an initial climb. Aside from overtaking someone, and then later being overtaken, I had the trail to myself. It was magical. Fantastic views of the surrounding rocky and tussocky mountains, with the much bigger peaks of Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe in the background.
(Mt Ruapehu in the background. This photo, and others of me on my bike, are from Photos4sale.)
The riding was absorbing but not particularly technical. Solid grade 3. It was loose and stony initially, then soft and almost loamy though the tussocks and then finally, as we entered beech forest, rooty and occasionally rocky. The 24km it felt longer than I expected, but that may have been due to the fact that there were three longish ascents. It took an hour and 21 minutes with a total of 400m of climbing and 1,100m of descending.
At the bottom it was strange watching people who were still waiting for their uplifts. I would have been tempted to do it again had that been offered, though I would have stopped and taken a few more photos second time round. All told it was one of the nicest trails I have ever ridden.
Stage 2: The Wet Stage
Stage 2 was in Craters of the Moon, the mountain-bike area by Taupō. It’s known for its dense network of single-track trails and in particular the Waipouwerawera Trail that winds its way along and across a creek running through a steep sided gully.
I woke to the pattering of rain on the roof, a sound that was to keep me company as I drove to the start. It did occur to me that I could just sit out the stage, but these were just the normal musings before a hard and possibly uncomfortable day on the bike.
We self-seeded into two main start groups. I was towards the back of the first group and felt it was about right, as I was riding at the pace of the riders around me on the twisting singletrack that made up the first third of the 50km stage. Thereafter, there were some larger climbs (the total ascent for the stage was 1,000m) followed by some bigger and trickier descents on slippery side-cut trails through pine forest.
The rain didn’t let up and I was glad I was wearing a gilet and rain jacket. I did not unzip the latter for the whole race.
The Waipouwerawera Trail made up the final technical section. It takes around 20 minutes to cover its 5km. For riders that were flagging and not enjoying the mud, it must have felt like they trapped in a never-ending slippery cyclocross circuit. Normally the gravel sections are the most sketchy, but on this day they felt grippy when compared to the slick and slidey sections in the trees in the creek bed. My legs felt pretty strong, and most of the people who were quick descenders in the mud had already got ahead of me, so I made up a few places in the final 10km. I finished in 3 hours and 6 minutes.
The stage was surprisingly fun, and in general Craters rode pretty well in the rain. However, after the race as I stood around chatting and then waiting for my complimentary meal (Korean fried chicken and rice) I rapidly chilled. By the time I had ridden back to my car I was shivering, so I sheltered under the roof that covers the maps at the entrance to the MTB park, towelled off the mud and water and changed into dry clothes. I was joined by several other riders and eventually it looked like we were in a changing room with no walls!
I was well located by The Hub cafe for a coffee and second lunch with Ben, who I’d met in the Coast to Coast and who had flown over from Sydney to do the race. He was one of many riders from Australia. It sounded that some of them enjoyed the mud even less than I did. Apparently in Australia you are not allowed to ride on MTB trails during or after rain in order to help preserve them.
Stage 3: The Muddy Stage
Today the race moved to the trails of Rotorua in the famous Whakarewarewa Forest. It wasn’t raining when I loaded my bike into the car in Taupō so I was hopeful that the forecast of another showery day was wrong. Alas as I pulled up at the start, heavy rain was being spattered against the window of my car door by a strong wind. I stayed in the car until 5 minutes before the start and joined Group 2 (out of 3). A glitch with the last minute change I made from a pairs to solo rider (my race partner Dave was still suffering from a concussion sustained a few weeks previously) meant that I didn’t have an official time for Stage 1 and therefore no GC time nor an assigned start group.
I managed to get ahead of most of the group on the initial climb which was just as well, as a couple of kilometres later we descended a very slippery and tree root laced grade 4. A women’s team flew by on the descent, but aside from them everyone else seemed to be struggling and I overtook a couple of people from the first start group.
The next part of the course climbed up past the Blue Lake and reversed the route of the Tarawera T50 Ultra-Trail run. I passed the spot where I had been immobilised by cramp in that race only a few weeks previously. It was nice to be on a bike this time, though there was so much water and mud being sprayed up as hurtled along the gravel track I could barely see.
We then joined the new sections of the Round the Forest Trail loop which, at grade 2 and without any tree roots, were enjoyable even in the wet. More muddy and sandy trails led up to the notorious climb of Pondy Elevator, which seems to feature in many of the longer MTB races in the forest. This ascends about 300 vertical metres to the start of a long and flowing series of downhill single track trails (Split Enz into Roller Coaster) that go on for more than 5km.
With all the grit in its chain my bike was making some hideous noises. Also my dropper post had stopped working, though luckily it was stuck in the up position. My legs were starting to complain and rather grind up the steeper section of the Elevator I ran my bike up. It was pretty effective and over the course of the climb I got ahead of a lot of riders. The descent was not too slippery, and I followed an e-biker who had caught me but was descending at a similar speed.
On the next and final big climb – straight up a fire road – he mentioned his battery was running low. This explained why he was riding uphill at around my pace! We then had a final nasty surprise. Another grade 4 descent down a steep, rooty forest trail. With my seat stuck up it wasn’t super-easy, but I reached the bottom slightly ahead of the e-biker. That was just as well because at the next junction I took a wrong turn – the signage was misleading – and after 30 seconds I heard a whistle from the e-biker to tell me I was off route. I didn’t see him after the race which was a pity as I definitely owed him a beer.
I finished the stage (54km, 1,500m of vertical) after 3 hours and 42 minutes, feeling pretty beaten up. I had put a foot down on the final grade 4 descent which had caused my right quad to cramp, and that was still hurting even at the finish.
My bike and I were plastered in mud.
Later that evening, even after a shower, I still had mud running out of my eyes. That being said though, it was actually my best stage result of the race, 58th overall.
Stage 4: The Sunny Stage
For Stage 4, we moved to Tokoroa which is about 50km from Rotorua. Social media posts from the race organiser said that it had been sunny there the previous day. However, as I woke to the sound of drizzle I wasn’t convinced. I had a headache, my legs were hurting and motivation was low. How wrong I was to doubt. When I arrived at the start, at Cougar MTB Park, the sun was indeed shining.
Being able to line up for the start in just a cycling jersey really helped transform my enthusiasm levels. I still didn’t have a GC position but based on where I placed against riders in Stage 3 I felt I’d earned a spot in Group 1. I started near the back and after some sifting on an initial gravel climb I found myself with a group that I rode with, by and large, over the whole stage. It’s nice when that works out. I really don’t like to be the person who slowing down people on the trails but didn’t happen, although I did let a couple of guys I was with go first on the descents as they were a bit quicker.
And today the descents were fun. Flowing and thankfully not technical as my dropper post was still not working. After trying to fix it the previous evening, I realised that it had seized up which could only be remedied with a full service.
The trail surfaces were grippy, aside from some really hard-packed earth in a fern filled forest that had turned green due to fine moss growing in the soil. It looked slippery and made me a bit nervous, and I heard that a few people did lose their front wheels and crash on it.
It was a fun day which reminded me why I enjoy mountain-biking. At only 2 hours riding time (for 35k with 700m of ascent) l felt relatively fresh afterwards and ready to enjoy my free beer in the sun.
I caught up with Ben, who had to abandon Stage 3 because he completely wore through his front brake pads. He couldn’t buy replacements so he was now on a rental bike. In the finish zone we bumped into some of YouTube legends, who I’ll mention as they have both posted good content about previous editions of the race. Jason of jaselikesbikes and Syd and Macky.
Stage 5: The Final Stage
This was back in Rotoroa. There had been some drizzle during the night and all the surrounding hills were in the cloud, but importantly it wasn’t raining. The final stage started in the Te Puia thermal area. It’s a pity that it’s not really possible to take any photos as you ride through it, as the steaming pools and bubbling mud that you pass are a uniquely Rotorua experience.
I started at the back of Group 1 again, and once we entered the winding singletrack in the forest I pretty much was at the very back. I am just not very quick as negotiating those twisting trails with all their tight bends. It meant that I had a somewhat solitary day. Occasionally someone would pass me, or I would pass someone whose legs had failed them. But the trails were riding well and I was happy just getting into the flow.
I thought I knew the forest well, but we rode a few trails for the first time. Most were ones I would go back to, though one, A-Line, was an experience I didn’t enjoy at all with my non-functional dropper. I actually lost my nerve a bit for the steep rooty drop-offs – that’s what the saddle whacking you in the groin does I guess – but thankfully that was the only really technical part of the day’s course.
Towards the end of the stage, I started to see some familiar faces from other days. I sustained my second minor injury of the race – the first was a cut shin from a rock that flicked up on Stage 1 – in letting one of them, Tom, pass me on a descent. I picked a bad spot to pull over and we had a minor collision. No damage to either of us other than a small cut on my thumb.
Tom was from the UK and was spending a year travelling. He’d been picking kiwi fruit in Rotorua, and bought a second hand mountain-bike only the day before the race started. Mid-way through Stage 1, a crank fell off! Luckily it remained clipped to his shoe rather than bouncing down the mountain.
The finish was a fast blast across the same Sulphur Flats that the Tarawera Ultra-Trail finishes through. It’s so much more fun on the bike! The 56k, 1,300m stage took 3 hours and 33 minutes. As with all these races, you keep thinking about how far it is to the finish and then, all of a sudden, it is over.
The race had been quite a journey, with the rain making it the toughest Volcanic Epic out of its four editions. I finished 51st in GC (based on my calculation as I was never given an official GC result), which was a good overall placing given that my positions in the individual stages ranged from 58th to 70th.
Even without the bad weather, the stages were more varied than in previous years. The race organisers seem to have found a format that works well, and the heli stage in particular attracted a lot of international riders. I talked to Russians, Canadians, Americans and Aussies, and I heard the announcer say that more then 50% of the riders were from overseas. Hopefully that is good for the event and shows it is gaining more recognition outside of New Zealand.
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