Wilderness Trail 2020
On Tuesday morning the Year 7 and 8’s in Room 8 went on a bike ride. First we had to load the bikes onto the trailer, horse trailer, and the bike poles that you use on the back of your car. Once that was done we then came inside and had a talk. Ms Kemp wanted us to show her our rain coats. Then we were on our way to Milltown.
On the way to the cycle track we had to go through Hokitika then through Lake Kaniere which was beautiful. Once we got to Milltown Ms Kemp wanted Xavier, Jack, and I to unload the bikes and put them over the fence at the start of the bike trail. The other car groups started showing up. Once we put our bikes over the fence she told us to head into the shelter, until everyone was ready. Hamish and Charlie's dad had used a tandem.
In the first section, which was the worst section, there were a lot of uphills that were challenging. A couple people including me had to walk their bikes up the hill instead of bike the hill. Alex and I were at the back but we enjoyed it, kind of. The parents at the back with Alex and I were encouraging us which kept us going. Once Alex and I reached the rest of the group at the first stop Ms Kemp had a little talk about not skidding on private property at Cowboys Paradise. A classmate had done a skid because someone stopped right in front of them, and this guy came out and started swearing at him.
After the first stop we carried on. There were still a lot of uphills but even steeper. When we got to the top there was a swing bridge. Ms Kemp was saying, “The girls go first and the boys last.” Jack and I hate swing bridges and someone overheard us and started bouncing on their bike. After the swing bridge there was a little down hill. A couple of minutes after the down hill we had another stop.
Ms Kemp said, “Jack, Ethan, Cooper, Wyatt, and Alex are at the front.” I was happy because the ride in front was not crampy at all, and it was flat for about 5 minutes, which was good to practice our gear changes. Then there was an uphill, not too steep though. After that uphill most of the track was downhill and around two uphills.
There was a little corner where Wyatt fell off his bike because his tyres didn’t have enough tread which made him slip and fall off. I tried to stop but I had too much speed. Luckily Jack had stopped and helped him up and told him to wait for an adult. Meanwhile the other Jack and I were struggling to go up the uphills. Then there were alot of down hills that Jack and I were enjoying from all that effort we put into going up the hills.
The third stop was the second section where Wyatt, Alex, Nevey, Olive, and I pulled out because it was too much. Nevey’s pedal fell off heading down the hill to the second section.
Ms Kemp had a little talk to the parents saying, “You guys have to be more angrier than me.” She also said, “The people that overtook the people in the front does not show leadership.” On the way, passing all the bikers, Alex’s dad Waren was telling us how easy the second section was which made me angry a little bit.
Once the people that pulled out got to Kapitea Reservoir Wyatt told us he had to go to the toilet and once he had finished he told us to go and have a look. He said, “It's a long drop” which made us very uncomfortable to go and have a look. Once we stopped looking at the toilets Cooper wanted me to go with him to the toilet for some reason, but I didn’t.
The group that pulled out went near the water and started throwing/ skipping stones into the water. Cooper pulled a flower out of the ground and named it Jerimey, and there he threw it into the water saying he passed away from dehydration, and we started throwing stones at Jerimey.
