Straight ahead I peer down into the Maitai Valley where I can see the bike trail descend, to my left I can see a faint line in the hillside that once led to the mined hillside and to my right is Dun Mountain (1,129m) cloaked in a veil of cloud. Upon reaching the high point I get off my own saddle to appreciate this north aspect viewing window. I enjoy the openness of the trail which winds along rocky faces towards the saddle. The landscape makes interesting riding, offering a low altitude sub-alpine experience as I ride towards Coppermine Saddle. The land up here is almost devoid of vegetation the iron and magnesium in the rock making the soils poisonous for most plant communities. The same mineral belt sequence is found in Fiordland 700 kilometres south – the land being displaced over geological time by the carving nature of the Alpine Fault shearing it apart. Ophilolite (‘Ophio’ is Greek for snake, while ‘lite’ means rock) is formed deep in the earth’s mantle and has slithered its way to the surface by powerful tectonic forces. Geology bares its pale orange face too as I have reached the Dun Mountain Ophiolite Belt. No longer protected by the forest my body sways in the gale as the wind forces it way though the bend at Windy Point. The elevated view stretches out west over Tasman Bay.
#An dun theine full
This is where the trail breaks out of the forest and I am exposed to the full power of the natural elements of both geology and meteorology.
Crikey! Make sure your helmet is strapped on tight here, folks. I pass a few historic points including the sites of former railway houses now reclaimed by the forest, before reaching an aptly named Windy Point. In some places my tyres bobble over a railway sleeper or two – the last remaining of the 20,000 timbers that once supported the now-disappeared iron tracks.
Horse-drawn empty wagons were once pulled up the mountain to the mineral belt above, which is where I am heading. I say ‘line’ because the trail formation is on NZ’s first railway line. My climb is made easier with heritage seemingly pulling me up the benched track much like the wagons drawn up by horses that once worked this line. While it is simple to pedal out of central Nelson, the 17 kilometre hill climb rising 900 vertical metres above Tasman Bay is a challenge that will keep me busy for the next few hours. Simplicity, though does not mean easy-peasy. So, after arriving in Nelson, I was really looking forward to the simplicity of riding the only Great Ride that is both a loop and day trip. Not only is it a day trip, the Coppermine Trail is a glorious loop! Few of the 22 NZ Great Rides are single day cycling trips and most of the trails are either lineal or network layouts. D un in a day? Well, this is a welcome change from the multi-day mountain bike rides I had undertaken to collect data for the Great Rides App.
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