10 of us from the Northern Suburbs did this ride yesterday and had a blast. We mostly middle aged men in our 40s although there are some young-uns amongst us - we all coped well with the track.
Being someone of more generous proportions whose built for comfort rather than speed - it was good to see very few uphills & the ones that were there were short and manageable.
Consensus was that it was the best track we've been on - beats Yarramundi (just) and the Woodford to Glenbrook.
Rollercoaster is lots of fun - a couple of minor spills - watch out after the magic carpet...
Thanks to CCOMTB for the trail condition it was excellent.
Note we don't think we got lost but there were more named sections than in the Trail description - Ewok Forrest etc... would love a minor review of the notes.
Will definitely be back soon!
Did this today - great fun. There are tracks criss-crossing every which way but we followed Grants directions and somehow managed to not get lost.
We are just getting started at mountain-biking but this trail was no problem. Few technical sections where we had to get off and have a walk but otherwise great. Most of the ascents are pretty gradual too so you don't have to be super-fit.
I totally enjoyed meeting and riding with the Grant(s) last weekend whilst showing them around the sweet XC course up at Ourimbah.
The course was almost totally devoid of people thanks to the Dirtworks 100 also being run on this weekend... Meant we could stop and film without annoying anyone.
And… the weather was perfect for a change!
We ran the normal XC course in the normal direction linking the following trails:
Jurassic Park
Burnt Forest
The unnamed fun loop between these two
Rollercoaster
The other unnamed loop between these two
The Valley
After we rode the single trail we did another run of the Rollercoaster with helmet-cam... me chasing Grant B leaving Grant S well and truly in our dust (he he)... hope to see the vid up here in the next little while, sure was fun being part of the making of it and helping the Trailflix team expand this great resource!
The loop that I followed is approximately 8km in length from the second car park. This was the first time I've ridden here and was lucky enough to have a great guide.
From the parking area there are two branches of firetrail to choose from, one going downhill slightly and the other going uphill. We went uphill for about 300m until we found the entrance to some singletrack on the left. This singletrack runs parallel to the firetrail before coming out on an open area.
From this open area head to the left along an old firetrail and then ducks off into the bush on the right about 50m in onto more singletrack. Follow this trail around for a while through some twisty stuff and a few ups and downs, eventually coming to a section of the course known as Jurassic Park. Continuing along this singletrack you'll hit the creek crossing. Just before entering the creek is a steep roll over approximately 3m high with an A line and B line. The B line is nice and simple to follow around to the left. The A line has 3 options with the two on the left of the line being fairly well worn and rutted and the one furthest to the right having a bit of a timber ladder to ride down before crossing the bridge over the creek.
From the creek we start heading uphill again until eventually you hit a firetrail (this is actually the other firetrail from the start). Turn right and head up the hill and then turn right again onto another firetrail heading slightly uphill. This flattens out very quickly and there is a nice little jump on the right side of the firetrail to do and then the track veers off to the left into the bush for more singletrack fun!
The climbing on this section of singletrack contains some switchbacks but they are nicely designed and don't become a tighter radius as you go around like on other courses. You'll come out onto a firetrail again but the singletrack continues directly across the firetrail and into the bush again.
After crossing the firetrail the singletrack becomes pretty twisty with a few small steps on the way down. Winding left and right and up and down, it feels like riding around a corkscrew! Continuing in a general uphill direction you'll ride over a log that is sort of a U-shaped with the way it's lying in the dirt. This signals that the Rollercoaster is coming up.
The Rollercoaster section is fast, fun, twisty, technical in parts and did I say fun? It's similar to the Bobsled section of Sparrow Hill in Queanbeyan but the trail surface isn't as smooth.
Get up as much speed as possible or you feel comfortable with and charge along. At the furthest most tip of the Rollercoaster is a fantastic left hand sweeping bend that is a little bit sandy and really lends itself to drifting.
After this bend the trail drops down a rocky section and then continues to wind it's way down (with some small ups) to a rock step down, with a line going left around the top of the rocks or to the right and straight off the rocks and into a stepped chute before railing around some corners and then smoothing out a bit. Before this rock the Rollercoaster section is very pedally with a few technical, rocky sections and a small bridge to cross. It is truly a great downhill.
Continuing past the rock step, the trail hits a low elevation area ending in a technical descent into a creek bed and then climbs gradually (although there are some tricky pinch climbs through here) through a rockier area before reaching an intersection branching left and right. The trail to the right runs through a section called The Graveyard.
The firetrail going left comes to the firetrail from the start (the one we didn't ride down) and crosses directly over into a singletrack opening on the other side. Once in this bit of singletrack the course climbs a little before flattening out and gradually descending back to the car park.
Overall it was a great ride. The DH courses, both the old and the new one are still to be explored at a later date but they should be fun. There are still plenty of other trail options to take that we didn't ride either so a good day of exploring can still be had.
