Old Great North Road is one of the oldest bikeable trails in Australia, and still one of the best rides around. With more than a few treacherous rocky sections, a fair bit of climbing and a couple of killer-fast downhill firetrail runs, it’s not for the faint-hearted, but should appeal to the adventurer who wants a long-haul and challenging day outside of the city, for several hours or all day along back roads …up to Hunter Valley if you’re up to it! The track also has potable water, an NPWS toilet and a huge camping area.

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Saturday 9th February - Trailflix was at Dural Avenue in Hornsby to cover the launch of Sydney’s newest mountain bike singletrack - the 3.5km Old Mans Valley. Around 100 enthusiastic bikers, supporters, politicians and kids were gathered to help celebrate the opening.

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350 Km is a heck of a long way to go to ride a MTB bike race, but everyone we spoke to at the Back Yamma Bigfoot Event said the weekend was great; the people, the weather, the race organisation and of course the riding: all stunning! Back Yamma Forest is located between Parkes & Forbes, north west of Sydney. Much of the first 25 Km of the track is flat, but it’s fast and interesting. The second 25km is hilly and you get some great flowing downhill. Thanks to Grant Byrne for the chest cam…

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Coba Point and Collingridge Point are two of the four trails you find in the superb Marramarra National Park, located just past Dural (see the Marramarra Tail Page for more info). With a return of less than 20 Km they’re quick to do in the morning before you tackle the more challenging Marramara and Smugglers DH trailsin the afternoon. The highlights: easy start, combination firetrail and single-track (…that gets more tricky as you go on), excellent signage, great views over Berowra Creek, oh, and a ton of wildlife…

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Dargle Farm is at Lower Portland, about 30K west of Wisemans Ferry. It’s a working farm, caravan and water-ski park with a motocross track and a MTB track that’s *occasionally* hired out for race events. Rocky Trail Entertainment moved their Jet Black 12-Hour there in August 2010 and Trailflix went along to check out the track.

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Mt Annan is the first Botanic Garden to open a XC MTB track in the world, integrating MTB recreation and conservation. Besides, it’s a superb track, designed & built by Dirtz Traxn Trailz & the Mt Annan Horticultural team, with more singletrack on the way. This video shows highlights of the official opening day, in September 2010. (Version II of the vodcast, to correct an error)

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AKA ‘The Kessel Run’, Camden South is a narrow, helmet-clipping thrill ride out in the badlands of the Wild Wild West of Sydney. Cowboys who try it rave, but if you go, avoid the wet - too slippery by half - and take clear lenses: it’s a jungle in there.

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Iconic Yellomundee; Home of the Western Sydney Mountain Biking Club and a heap of race events. Just this side of the Blue Mountains, its winding and always interesting single-track is in use constantly, and is well-maintained. We filmed a JetBlack 12-Hour race there to highlight the best of the track.

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From a Kiwi rock band - ‘Prolepsis’ -  their song ‘Inner Reflection’. The video was shot by producer Andrew Treeby from Act Up Promotions - in Woodhill Bike Park, Auckland last year.

More music @ http://www.prolepsis.co.nz. (By permission of the band)

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Mount Annan’s mountain bike trails have been in planning for the past 2 years. Primarily a conservation area, the Mt Annan Botanic Gardens has had great success in attracting families to experience it by bike and these new trails are the next step in appealing to a wider range of recreational visitors.

This is a taste of the trail prior to release in August 2010. (Singletrack by Dirtz…)

 

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The 3-Ring Circus – a 50Km MTB Event round the three trails at Wingello State Forest in the Southern Highlands of NSW– was first held August 2009.

Starting with the 6km Blue Trail, it’s followed by the Red Trail with 25Km of mostly singletrack and finishes with the Yellow Trail: 19km of serious ascents/descents & with a bit of flat at the end. With conditions near-perfect on the day, 600 competitors had a heap of fun on the well-groomed course.

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August 2009, Wild Horizons ran its first 3-Ring Circus MTB Race at Wingello State Forest. The race includes all 3 trails, covering 50Km. A sellout event with seamless organisation, plenty of food and drink, considerate riders, and circus-themed entertainment made for an excellent family day. (And the riding was great too!)

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Sydney to Canberra MTB Tours: A great weekend MTB on some of the best trails in Australia. Sparrow Hill, Mt Stromlo, Majura Pines and some secret little singletrack near the Australian Institute of Sport. This is the full video review with rider interviews … Check out www.mtnbike.com.au

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Sydney to Canberra MTB Tour: A great weekend MTB on some of the best trails in Australia. Sparrow Hill, Mt Stromlo, Majura Pines and some secret little singletrack near the Australian Institute of Sport. This is the video highlights review… Check out www.mtnbike.com.au

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The highlights vid shows Awaba’s fast & flowing the singletrack at its best.

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Awaba’s a hefty 123Km from Sydney central but if you’re heading up North it’s a great stopover. For Newcastle guys, it’s just a 30-minute drive across the freeway to beautiful X-country singletrack meandering through the Awaba State Forest. With a big car park and a challenging downhill track nearby, the Hunter Mountain Biking Association have set it up really well. Only 5.5Km today, they’re planning to extend the singletrack to 8km and add other facilities to make the area even better. The Full vid includes an interview with Lenny Allen.

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The Highland Fling is a 110km Endurance Mountain Bike Race held each November in the Southern Highlands. The course starts and finishes in Bundanoon and passes through state forests in Penrose & Wingello. The Full video includes footage of the “Dash” race held the night before, more extensive footage and interviews with riders and Huw Kingston, the race organiser.

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The Highland Fling is a 110km Endurance Mountain Bike Race held each November in the Southern Highlands. The course starts and finishes in Bundanoon and passes through state forests in Penrose & Wingello. This version shows the best of the day and the terrain and many of the riders.

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Mogo - a small town just south of Batemans Bay - is the home of the Angry Doctor Endurance Event which travels through (50 or) 100Km of well-groomed singletrack and wide firetrails in the nearby Mogo forest each September. Hundreds line up to compete, and we filmed a few of them beforehand and along the trails in the 2008 race…

This version is formatted for iPhone.

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Wanna ride 100Km of bermed singletrack & firetail? Then head down to Mogo, about 4 hours south of Sydney, where they race the annual Angry Doctor Race. We did and had a great time riding & filming the 2008 Event. The highlights version cuts out the interviews…
This version is formatted for iPhone.

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Narrowneck is a rough, roller coaster of a ride; steep, rocky down & uphills -most will walk at least some of these - and some impressive, panoramic vistas along the way. This video from Noel Gurney & mates showcases the first part of this classic Blue Mountains trail…

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Rocky and dusty in summer; it’s a scorcher in the middle of the day so take plenty of water and soak up the view as well.

One of the Blue Mountains Classic rides.

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The end of the Grose Point trail is well-known for its spectacular view over the Grose Gorge. I guess it’s one of those panoramas you could sit and look at for hours and never get bored. The trail’s not too bad either. A typical Blue Mountains firetrail: rolling country with ascents and descents, enough to get your heart rate up; tiring but nothing too strenuous if you’re reasonably fit. Tempting views at various points along the way but she saves the best ‘til last. The early trailblazers must have been awe-struck. I still am.

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Appin is a well-designed XC course developed and maintained by the Wollongong MTB Club. They run at least 8 races on the track each year & this one was filmed at the BMC Working Week Series in May 2008.

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Sydney CBD on a Friday night: Revellers, travellers, restaurant-goers and the occasional biker and stair rider…

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Ourimbah is one of the most frequented MTB trails by riders north of the Sydney border. Regulars from Gosford to Newcastle head there almost every weekend to take advantage of the well-formed trails, the high-speed downhill ‘Roller Coaster’ and the snake-like bush-covered trails like ‘Jurassic Park’. All the trails are inspiring and a few can test both man & machine. Once ridden never forgotten.

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Ourimbah is one of the most frequented MTB trails by riders north of the Sydney border. Regulars from Gosford to Newcastle head there almost every weekend to take advantage of the well-formed trails, the high-speed downhill ‘Roller Coaster’ and the snake-like bush-covered trails like ‘Jurassic Park’. All the trails are inspiring and a few can test both man & machine. Once ridden never forgotten.

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McLeans Forest at the Waimakariri River Regional Park in Christchurch NZ has a great new XC track that’s an easy 10Km sprint. The curvaceous trail meanders through stands of new and 20-year-old pine forest and is adjacent to golf, horseriding, Orana Park Zoo and the fast-moving & freezing* Waimakariri River (*in Maori: Wai means water and makariri means cold).

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Trailer for the forthcoming Trailflix Appin movie, featuring the Wollongong MTB Club race day , part of the BMC Working Week series. This is a 10Km singletrack course, with two creek crossings, and was filmed over an 8 hour race with 650 entrants… Full movie coming soon

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This package has the highlights of Day 4 & 5 of the Anaconda MTB Enduro event held at Alice Springs from May 19th - 24th 2008. The Night Ride and the last day - a grueling 50km of combination singletrack, hills and fire trail are shown, along with interviews with the the winner of the mens and womens events: Adrian Jackson and Imogen Smith.

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