This Riding Off the Map features a route that heads up into the Richmond Range . This route offers great riding and highaltitude views from the top of Mount Patriarch that ’ ll knock ya socks off .
LOCATION Staircase Road runs along the southern foot of Richmond Range , the range that prominently stands between Nelson and the Wairau Valley . This is one of the few publicly accessible vehicle routes which enters the Richmond Range and it ’ s also the longest .
TERRAIN AND GRADING The very start of the route is a well-maintained Grade 1 track which leads through forestry land . This section has a high number of corners and switchbacks , taking you from an altitude of 240 to 700 metres in less than 2 km , as the crow flies . The route then weaves through native bush and alternates between Grade 1 and Grade 2 for around 20km . You ’ ll then hit a distinctive sharp corner where there is a noticeable increase in loose rocks strewn across the track . The quantity of loose rocks increases over the next 4km to where the route ends . This typically makes this section of the route a Grade 3 .
GRADE 3 ADVENTURE RIDE
TIME TO RIDE At around 26km in length , the track can be comfortably ridden in under an hour . This time is often increased as it ’ s hard to resist at least a few stops along the way to take in the epic views .
KIWI RIDER 25