18 July, 2024

Taking flight in Forrest Hill

Volunteer duo ramps up quality of Forrest Hill bike track

Lift-off… Twelve-year-old North Shore rider Cruz Fernandez gets some air on the Forrest Hill dirt-jump bike track, newly upgraded by volunteers.

Forrest Hill’s dirt-jump bike track in Greville Reserve is being upgraded by volunteers.
Dan Leo and Warren Gill have been working on the track behind the skatepark on Forrest Hill Rd for the past few weeks, adding more dirt where required and installing drainage and new take-off ramps.
The old planks on the take-offs had rotted and become a safety hazard, Leo said. “It was falling to pieces.”
The 24-year-old Englishman has been travelling around New Zealand in his van, upgrading tracks in various locations and posting clips of the projects online.
He and Gill, who co-owns a concreting company, have also worked together on the pump track in Woodall Park, Devonport.

Jump start… Volunteers Dan Leo (left) and Warren Gill

The pair have self-funded the Greville Reserve project, with Leo working during the week and Gill coming in on the weekends.
Leo said he hopes to finish off the work within a fortnight as he’s heading to Northland to work on another project.

• The North Shore’s first Auckland Transport (AT) bike hub will be sited east of the football pitch at the corner of East Coast Rd and Forrest Hill Rd, after Watercare rejected an initial plan to have it on top of the concrete reservoir, south of the pitch.
  The new site will require a resource consent, which AT believes will be granted in the next month, allowing the hub to open by the end of September. The hub will sell refurbished bikes and offer free repairs and services.

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