When I have got time, like three hours or so, and I have enough gas in the tank, I like to do what I regard as a big lap of the local woods here in Rotorua. There are endless variations that can be added in, but the basic touchpoints are the same.
I start on the town side of the forest. I ride to the top, the highest road in the joint, and ride through the cathedral of native bush on the trail named for Tuhoto Ariki. After that, I get as close as I can to Rotokakahi, a lake steeped in history and a precious taonga to everybody who lives around here. Then I make my way back to the van.
Sometimes, as in the map shown here, I might do two laps of the top of the hill, adding in a run down Tihi-O-Tawa before grovelling back up to Tuhoto. There are so many ways to get around to the finish I still haven't done them all in the thirty-plus years I have been riding here, but to be fair most of the trails I ride now were not here until the last decade.
On some days the route will be almost completely different to the 'classic' version I offer here, but the theme will be the same.