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Old Man Valley Stage 2 coming soon.


Matt P's picture

By Matt P - Posted on 15 January 2014

Apologies if this has been posted already.

http://flowmountainbike.com/post-all/trails-old-...

From Dirt Art (the trail builders).

"The 2.1km (approximate) trail develop will build upon the existing trails to create a wide range of new, world-class riding opportunities. The development will include a number of natural and built-form trail features, including some newly designed features that have only just left our CAD program. Work is set to commence in late January/early February, with anticipated construction period of 4-5 weeks. Our team is looking forward to hitting the ground to turn the first soil on what will be an exciting new network of trails."

[Mod. moved to Sydney (North)]

hawkeye's picture

Woohoo! Smiling

bmar560's picture

only 4-5 weeks construction time is that right ??

Isildur's picture

4 - 5 weeks may be on the money, especially as the beginnings have already started (by the looks of things). When I was there over the last couple of weekends, there was the tell-tale orange marking tape, as well as a gated section that will enter onto the current climb out Eye-wink

Exciting times!

Ray R's picture

I hope they don't get too "clever" with the trail features. Personnally, my impression of the existing OMV track is that they tried fitting 10km of features into 3km of track. Some of us prefer to ride with flow, rather than be "challenged" every 20 metres.

But that's my opinion only!

Hasbeen Racing's picture

The current blue track flows really well but the black bits feel more like an obstacle course than a mtb track.

Isildur's picture

I think they all flow quite well actually, even the Black sections Eye-wink You just need to carry speed and you'll be OK! (i.e. in the first Section, if you double the gap after the big log ride, it sets you up well).

And the blue flows like butter all the way around!

Hasbeen Racing's picture

Yes, I did suspect my lack of skill contributed to the loss of flow.

mikethebike's picture

To have an official mountain bike track constructed by people who know how to build mountain bike tracks is a great thing. I like the fact it has obstacles and challenges as that is what you would expect... on a mountain.
There are already some fantastic footpaths and fire trails around which can give you good flow and not be challenged. I reckon you could even find a road or two which could do that.
Well done Hornsby Council and SNORC and DirtArt who put in the hard yards to get this happening. Keep it up!

Flynny's picture

Only ridden there once but thought it had more flow than the Murray river.

Sure some bits required a techi up and over or thought in line choice to stay in the flow but isn't that what mountain biking is about?

Ray R's picture

I'm hearing postive comments above from some quite experienced riders - but don't forget those with less competence, and the beginner riders and kids.

I'm not saying everything should be "dumbed down", but B lines and blue/green areas are important for the overall growth of the sport.

There is a good line of thought that explains the relative decline in Downhill racing with the increasing technical nature of some courses (which also demand very specialised bikes).

Isildur's picture

I definitely agree with you Ray that a course needs to be accessible to all, but believe me, OMV is just that Smiling

The Black sections are very technical, but have advanced trail filters to get onto them. You can't just "stumble" into the Black areas of the trail (one entry is a 5 meter slightly uphill skinny about 1 foot off the ground, including a corner, the other is a technical log ride with 3 turns plus a rock roll-up onto it). While very technical, that's the whole point on Black Diamond rated sections.

The Blue sections though, I can ride on both my 29er rigid as well as my 6" AM bike, having blast on both bikes! I can bomb faster on the AM bike, but the 29er climbs the back side much better Eye-wink Now, I'm an OK rider, but there are plenty of people out there that will smoke me any day of the week Eye-wink

But, I regularly see kids on their 16" wheeled bikes riding it no probs. I've taken beginners out there too and they've been fine. Sure, they may not get the whole track flowing perfectly, but that's what practice is about, right?

And, I've also had my GF and one of her best friends on the trail, and they're totally fine - believe me, my GF *will* let me know if she's out of her comfort zone Eye-wink I'll hear about it for the rest of the day!

Also remember that a Blue trail, by it's nature, has mildly technical elements. I can understand that the Green section is incredibly boring at the moment, being such a small loop, but once it's finished it'll be a great day out for everyone, regardless of ability Smiling

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