Down to Earth Health 2000 is very proud to sponser the "Village Trail" Mountain Biking track.

A copy of the article about the Mountain Biking track ran in the Gisborne Herald, March 6, 2004

ALL-WEATHER mountainbiking and walking/running trails on reserve land at the edge of the city have taken a major step forward with the assistance of nearby Ballance Street businesses.  The Fox Street mountainbike trails are on 22 hectares of wooded hillside known as Langford Fallen Reserve. They follow, link and enhance existing walking tracks.  Benching and widening work has been done over recent months by mountainbikers, improving visibility and creating new trails in partnership with district council reserves staff.  Latest development is the first sponsored trail.  The Village Trail from the main entrance to the second zig-zag has been widened and shaped by a digger, and re-grassed.  The cost has been shared by village businesses and the council.Widening of the main tracks enables tractor mower access and ongoing maintenance.  Co-ordinator of the volunteer group is long-time runner and cyclist Bernie Vette.  He is seeing a long-held vision for this area finally taking shape.

"The project started about 15 months ago. The idea had been fermenting in my head, having ridden and run around this area for years."We have worked in with council staff and followed their recommendations the whole way.  It is going to be unique to this area in that it is built on what we have already got, but cleared and widened for access and safety. "It will be an ongoing project of track Work, and clearing gorse and blackberry."By allowing mowers to get in we will be able to move on and not have to go back over old ground to keep it maintained.Mr Vette said the village's contribution towards improving alignment and stability was significant in that it created the first sponsored trail. A link route to Seddon Rise would be known as Walter's Track, in recognition of the work of nearby resident Walter Gorza who blazed the trail. Fellow veteran cyclists Norm Graham and Annette Robinson had also done a lot of the physical work on the zig-zags and higher tracks.  Mr Vette said reflective track markers would open up the trails to night use.
Impact on the environment and houses surrounding the reserve was intended to be minimal. Many nearby residents were regulars in the park and now it was being opened up to more users.

"In most cases we have followed old tracks and fencelines. We brought together all we knew about tracks that had been there for years."
The reserve now contains about 5.5km of trail, with potential for this to stretch out to about 7km in time.
The first stage is in regular use by mountainbikers of all ages, while runners and walkers now have more trails to explore and use of the park has increased noticeably. Cyclists, runners and walkers need to be aware of each other's presence and Mr Vette stresses that bike riders must stay to the tracks and not blaze trails of their own through the bush. Trimming of undergrowth is steadily improving visibility. Another working bee will be held on the afternoon of Sunday, March 14.

We encourage all mountain biking enthusiasts to take advantage off our great Sportzone specials found here

A map of the mountain biking track is available here by clicking the thumbnail image at the bottom of the page