You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / By Location / Australia / NSW / Newcastle & Hunter / northshore riding around newcastle

northshore riding around newcastle


bigred666's picture

By bigred666 - Posted on 26 February 2013

NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.

is there any places with some decent northshore type stuff. ive been to one place about 1km away from a certain maccas (hopefully you know where i mean)

anyway if theres not thats ok just wondering if there is.

Lenny_GTA's picture

Not that anyone will post publicly. Letting the location out would be a sure fire way to upset the locals and ensure the trails are taken down.

bigred666's picture

i shoulda mentioned that they could pm me if they want to. sorry

Dirtdog's picture

I would say get out there and start building one

nuke's picture

I havnt seen a picture or video of any in the country let alone yewcastle

bigred666's picture

know any good places to start?

fwoark's picture

Just be aware that illegal northshores' will be immediately removed once discovered by land managers. A blind eye may be turned (for a while) to trails if the impact is minimal (erosion, vegetation removal etc), but any artificial structure will not hang around long.

Lenny_GTA's picture

I don't get northshore in Australia. In Canada it serves a purpose, that is, getting the trail off a wet forrest floor and over fallen pine trees.

I'd rather see local trails make the most of the natural terrain. In some instances, that will call for northshore, but I would rather see trail builders work with the natural terrain. By all means use it where it fits, but north shore for the sake of it I don't like.

And do it where you have the permission of the land manager.

nuke's picture

Amen sammydog, here north shore means timber used in some way, I call that lazy haha mtb tyres are made for dirt not timber! Just too many artsy videos makin north shore look cooler then it is, fast and rough is the Australian version of north shore

Lenny_GTA's picture

For me a good trail builder responds to the natural terrain. I have seen very little north shore in this country that is sympathetic to the terrain. While it takes a lot of work to build well, I still see a lot of it as lazy trail building.

Dirtdog's picture

I think the intention would be to build features like a drop built off a steep section of hill or a little bridge or ramp to make the most of a fallen tree and not just long bridge runs. If built good and from the right material i would say it is a low maintenance and very sustainable approach with the lowest possible impact. This construction has huge possibilities for problematic areas where people are spending a lot of time with constant rebuilding and armouring. A great way to over come a natural water course for example. I definitely would not say it's a lazy way of building compared to using an excavator or the like. Lets face it no one likes doing things the hard way if it can be avoided in any circumstance. In saying all this I must stress it has to be done right and can look and be dangerous if done with bits and pieces of left overs.
I would not even suggest a place to start building via a forum as it seems very frowned upon, but I would love to see one done properly.
I like seeing MTb riding everything. Dirt, park, wood, whatever. Slopestyle seems popular using a mix of dirt and wood.

Lenny_GTA's picture
This construction has huge possibilities for problematic areas where people are spending a lot of time with constant rebuilding and armouring. A great way to over come a natural water course for example.

That is exactly how it should be used, as a solution to a trail problem. More often than not, the stuff locally I have seen has been random A frame ramps and ladders in areas with no real trail constraints.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti northshore, far from it, but so much of it that I see has been stuck in purely for the sake of having northshore. Used well its great, but put in for the sake of putting it in, thats lazy building.

bigred666's picture

but how are man made objects eg. wooden ramp, any worse than a dirt jump? all you have to do is build over the land, if you build a dirt jump you either need to bring the dirt in from another source, or dig a big hole in the ground to get dirt from. could somebody please explain why man made objects are bad?

Dirtdog's picture

I don't think they are bad, but there is a lot of bad examples around that are giving them a bad name. I would like to see a really good example and I think it would change people's opinion but it would be expansive using the right material (h4 treated or hardwood). Too expansive to do on someone else's property to risk having it ripped out anyway.

sleepalldayrideallnight's picture

Save your pennys, get to vancouver, then head north (in about 3to4 months time, still snowin) & experience how the canadians do it. 6 to 12kms on any given track. Then see if you want to pursue the idea.. It ripps but scared the shit out me. They do it for a reason theand they do it well. On the flip side when I've had canadian friends out here, they absolutely have a blast in the australian bush.

Dirtdog's picture

An example of shore trails not needed but used. http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=8Fs...
Wouldn't be upset if this was around here

bigred666's picture

i agree that its not needed in alot of parts, but its just something different to have fun with

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Best Mountain Bike