Sharland Rd - Central Rd

Fitness level required : Time to complete: Technical level : Moderate Anything from 1-2 hours depending on fitness Easy This is a very popular training and fitness ride easily accessed from Nelson entirely on forestry roads, requiring little technical skill. The loop can be done in either direction depending on personal preference, personally I prefer the clockwise route, but many others prefer it the other way round. To get to the start of the loop, ride out from Nelson up the Maitai Valley road until you get to the turn off to the Hira Forest which is the start of Central and Sharlands roads. Waypoint 1  (S41 16.552  E173 19.733)  Turn off from the Maitai Road From here travel up the road a short distance until you come top the turn off to Sharlands Road. Waypoint 2  (S41 16.408  E173 20.069) Start of Sharlands Road Turn left into Sharlands road and cross the concrete ford. From here it is a 8.5Km moderate uphill ride to the highest point of the loop at the intersection with Thomas Road. A nice little diversion is to take the ride along Thomas road to the trig and back along the ridge. Waypoint 3  (S41 15.130  E173 21.856)  Top of the climb. From here enjoy the ride down to the Ludd Saddle and then climb your way back up to the intersection with Central Road. Waypoint 4  (S41 16.449  E173 22.637)  Intersection with Central Road From here turn right and enjoy the blast back down Central Road back to your starting point. A popular extension of this ride is to turn left at the intersection with Central road and ride down a bit to the Teal Saddle, taking the road down to the Maitai Dam and then back down the Maitai Valley back to town.