MOONSHINE VINDURO - AKATARAWA
By Andrew Robertson, photos Chris Bayliss
There are certain locations in NZ that were hubs for enduros back in the 1970s and 1980s; they were renowned not only for their challenging terrain but also the groups of riders who became local legends or specialists in conquering those venues. Through the efforts of John Nicholson of Vinduro NZ not only have we been introduced to new venues such as in the Far North, but also returned to some of the legendary stomping grounds of years gone by such as Riverhead and Maramarua.
For the 2018/2019 season Vinduro NZ was keen to spread the net a little wider and add another notable venue to the event list. This time Round 1 of the series opened on 22 September with the Moonshine Madness Vinduro deep in the Akatawaras just north of Wellington. Back in the day the Akatawara Ranges were known for unrelenting hills, river crossings, rocks, ruts and clay. It was also the training grounds for ISDT/E riders Graham Harris, Chris Harris, Jock McLauchlan and Rob Snep along with other lower North Island enduro legends such as Brendon Keogh, , Darryl August, John Jamieson etc.
There are certain locations in NZ that were hubs for enduros back in the 1970s and 1980s; they were renowned not only for their challenging terrain but also the groups of riders who became local legends or specialists in conquering those venues. Through the efforts of John Nicholson of Vinduro NZ not only have we been introduced to new venues such as in the Far North, but also returned to some of the legendary stomping grounds of years gone by such as Riverhead and Maramarua.
For the 2018/2019 season Vinduro NZ was keen to spread the net a little wider and add another notable venue to the event list. This time Round 1 of the series opened on 22 September with the Moonshine Madness Vinduro deep in the Akatawaras just north of Wellington. Back in the day the Akatawara Ranges were known for unrelenting hills, river crossings, rocks, ruts and clay. It was also the training grounds for ISDT/E riders Graham Harris, Chris Harris, Jock McLauchlan and Rob Snep along with other lower North Island enduro legends such as Brendon Keogh, , Darryl August, John Jamieson etc.
Kapiti Mana Motorcycle Club under the leadership of Justin Stevenson and Murray Dick took the lead on organisation of the Moonshine Madness Vinduro and were given broad instructions to retain theme of the old Akatawara enduros while still keeping it rideable for older bikes and riders. To better utilise the logistics, it was also decided to run the Vinduro alongside modern bikes participating in the Central Enduro Series on the same day.
The day of the event dawned nice and clear with 26 brave Vinduro Riders signing up for the day. The course was made up of a 16km and 36km loop which commenced from a central checkpoint at the Moonshine MX track. The silver riders were required to undertake a short loop and a long loop giving a total distance of 52km and gold riders adding another long loop giving a total of 88kms.
The first loop with a 22kph average speed commenced with a blast down a gravel road for about 3km before entering into 4WD tracks that lead you into the depths of the rangess. Quickly the terrain changed from a dry hard surface to one which was made up of rock, shale, slippery clay and in places deep ruts and challenging hills. Despite the fine weather in the preceding week it quickly became obvious there were many places on the first loop where the sun did not shine! It was a case of carefully picking your lines and persevering through the tough bits, regathering your wits then carrying on. At about the 13km mark, after a relentless rocky uphill, the riders broke out of the forest back into the sunlight and back onto open track that took you back to the Moonshine MX track and to the central checkpoint. The first section was timed quite loose so most riders were able to clear the section with 5 -10 minutes up their sleeve.
The day of the event dawned nice and clear with 26 brave Vinduro Riders signing up for the day. The course was made up of a 16km and 36km loop which commenced from a central checkpoint at the Moonshine MX track. The silver riders were required to undertake a short loop and a long loop giving a total distance of 52km and gold riders adding another long loop giving a total of 88kms.
The first loop with a 22kph average speed commenced with a blast down a gravel road for about 3km before entering into 4WD tracks that lead you into the depths of the rangess. Quickly the terrain changed from a dry hard surface to one which was made up of rock, shale, slippery clay and in places deep ruts and challenging hills. Despite the fine weather in the preceding week it quickly became obvious there were many places on the first loop where the sun did not shine! It was a case of carefully picking your lines and persevering through the tough bits, regathering your wits then carrying on. At about the 13km mark, after a relentless rocky uphill, the riders broke out of the forest back into the sunlight and back onto open track that took you back to the Moonshine MX track and to the central checkpoint. The first section was timed quite loose so most riders were able to clear the section with 5 -10 minutes up their sleeve.
While section two was considerably longer, in some ways the terrain was easier going with more breaks between the tough stuff. However the average speed had been lifted from 22 kph to 28 kph so there was no time to muck around. The first part of the section took you up a gravel road for about 5km to the top of a ridge line before leaping off the side back into the real off road terrain.
This was different stuff to the earlier loop as we were now in cleared forestry space where the tracks were dry and rocky. It was also where the first terrain test commenced – this was a 7 km long test which weaved its way through young pine trees and rocky tracks which eventually made then its way back to the top of ridge line to the end.
Then it was on on with the remainder of the section which included hills descents, firebreaks, river crossings and then back into the native forest areas with its mud, clay, rocks and ruts. At the point where this loop intersected with the first loop, another TT was conducted which finished at the MX track and the central checkpoint. Again most riders were able to clean the section on time.
For the Silver riders their day had now finished but the Gold Riders were required to go out and repeat the long loop, including undertaking two further terrain tests. Just to put a bit more pressure on the average speed had been lifted from 28kph to 30 kph, which was not too bad as the track was a bit more clear the second time round.
This was different stuff to the earlier loop as we were now in cleared forestry space where the tracks were dry and rocky. It was also where the first terrain test commenced – this was a 7 km long test which weaved its way through young pine trees and rocky tracks which eventually made then its way back to the top of ridge line to the end.
Then it was on on with the remainder of the section which included hills descents, firebreaks, river crossings and then back into the native forest areas with its mud, clay, rocks and ruts. At the point where this loop intersected with the first loop, another TT was conducted which finished at the MX track and the central checkpoint. Again most riders were able to clean the section on time.
For the Silver riders their day had now finished but the Gold Riders were required to go out and repeat the long loop, including undertaking two further terrain tests. Just to put a bit more pressure on the average speed had been lifted from 28kph to 30 kph, which was not too bad as the track was a bit more clear the second time round.
At the end of the day and after the results had been calculated Peter Scherer his Yamaha IT 250 took out the overall win in the Gold Class, followed closely by son Ryan Scherer on a Yamaha WR 250. In third Mark Gray had brilliant result on a Honda XR 200. In the Silver class Chris Newman took first place on a classic Yamaha RT1 followed by Mike Nicholson on an Honda XR 250 and in third place was Stan Chesswas on an Yamaha XT 550. Stan also deserves special mention not only for peddling the big XT 550 around the course but that he also mistakenly took an experts section and successfully completed this while still making the final checkpoint on time. What a legend!
Another legend was Warren Summers who circulated the first loop of the event on a 1960s Triumph Trophy Desert Sled, the only entry in the Vintage four speed class. While Warren didn’t go on to do the second loop it was a remarkable effort to complete the first loop given the terrain encountered. Keep an eye out for his video on the Vinduro NZ FB page.
The hard luck awards for the event had go to Steve Groves, Zane Gracie and Ross Large. Steve seized his XL 350 after about only 3km into the first loop. This was a real shame as its was Steve’s return to vinduro after a bad injury last season after winning the Gold Class in 2016. Likewise Silver rider Zane Gracie suffered ignition problems on his XL 200 towards the end of the first loop and Ross Large on a TS 400 dropped out in the second loop after the completion of TT1 with painful knee injury.
At the end of the day most riders returned with smiles on their faces and shredded tyres having completed what was a challenging Vinduro. Yes - the Moonshine Madness Vinduro and the Akatarawa Ranges truly lived up to expectation.
Another legend was Warren Summers who circulated the first loop of the event on a 1960s Triumph Trophy Desert Sled, the only entry in the Vintage four speed class. While Warren didn’t go on to do the second loop it was a remarkable effort to complete the first loop given the terrain encountered. Keep an eye out for his video on the Vinduro NZ FB page.
The hard luck awards for the event had go to Steve Groves, Zane Gracie and Ross Large. Steve seized his XL 350 after about only 3km into the first loop. This was a real shame as its was Steve’s return to vinduro after a bad injury last season after winning the Gold Class in 2016. Likewise Silver rider Zane Gracie suffered ignition problems on his XL 200 towards the end of the first loop and Ross Large on a TS 400 dropped out in the second loop after the completion of TT1 with painful knee injury.
At the end of the day most riders returned with smiles on their faces and shredded tyres having completed what was a challenging Vinduro. Yes - the Moonshine Madness Vinduro and the Akatarawa Ranges truly lived up to expectation.