CARRICK RANGE The following morning dawned warm and sunny . We were headed for the old gold mining area south of Cromwell in the Carrick Range , roughly between Bannockburn and Nevis crossing . Leaving the carpark , we climbed on a mildly dusty 4WD track which was surprising given the previous day . And , it was festooned with rocks which wasn ’ t a surprise at all after yesterday . Today there was no real destination , more a play around day to see what the bikes could do , try the two different power maps etc and generally have a bit of fun . The main concern for me was trying to get a few cool photos of the Betas in this amazing and unique location . It ’ s a fascinating area with incredible views down over Cromwell and Lake Dunstan - a true 4WD and dirt bike paradise with miles of tracks and literally thousands of hectares of rideable country . It ’ s also a place with interesting history . There are 34 kilometres of water races that supplied water for sluicing and powering a giant waterwheel that drove a stamper pad which broke rock up prior to gold extraction . The planning and work involved hand digging these almost level water
races around the side of the rocky Ranges is simply incredible . It ’ s great fun to ride them as single track and some still have flowing water in them . And of course , there is enormous scope to just ride your own trails with difficulty ratings from easy to super extreme – you choose . A 4pm riding curfew had us back at our base , cleaned up and sorted for an early-ish flight home next morning , but most importantly allowing plenty of time for a relaxing evening talking about the bikes and riding . The trip was an eye opener and not just for its scenic beauty . While the terrain looks open and quick from a distance , it actually requires annoyingly high attention levels because of its rocky nature – it ’ s no place to relax . The Betas were every bit as awesome as I remembered from last year and the new red livery certainly gives them stronger visual impact – they surely are real deal enduro race machines at the highest level , which naturally makes them great trail bikes as well . They are a quality product that tick the boxes . Over the next few months KR will get up close and personal with the new bikes and will be testing them in full .
44 KIWI RIDER