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Survivin Thredbo ...
Hittin Thredders for the holidays and am absolutely shittin myself n petrified about my rig and skill level...
Saw some tubes and it looks pretty hectic.
Far from being a DH rider, I would say we're XC intermediate riders at best.
Will we survive on XC rigs with 5 inches of travel?? Or are we better off rentin out the leadweights?
Is there flowy downhill rides to do?
Also we're thinking about hitting up Sparrow Hill on the way through.
Anything else worth the look that is within our route??
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Thredbos DH track is one of the easiest in the country. You can ride the whole track without your wheels even leaving the ground.
It is very long though. Most people that dont ride much DH end up with bad arm pump. I would sugest that you set your brakes up properly as where the lever sits on the bar and how close to the bar the lever engages has a huge influence on arm pump.
I personally wouldnt want to ride thredbo on a 5inch travel bike. You will end up braking or damaging them.
Better of hiring a full suspension DH bike. You will enjoy the experience so much more.
Good Luck!
Rode it first time 2 years ago and you can take it at any pace you like. If you can ride Manly Dam, you can ride Thredbo. Take it easy on the first few runs and then you'll soon find yourself shaving seconds, even minutes off your time.
Definitely hire a bike though. I took mine down (6 inch Nomad) and it was fine but got a stuck down shock on the 2nd day, so hired a Iron Horse Yakuza with 7, maybe 8 inch travel and it made all the difference, plus when it's someone else's bike and you've got your full armour on, you can just let rip without worrying about your bike.
You'll have a blast down there for sure.
track #2 is the one they used for the last rockytrail 4hr ... heaps of fun ... go slowly down the first time to identify both of two two significant hazzards ... the first is a jump (bypass to the right) and the second is a deep wheel sized rutt / hole on one of the right hand turns (bypass high on the burm / left) ... it's absolutely beautiful ... probably one of the best of all that i've done so far ...
going easy with breaks, refreshments and talks at the bottom, plan about 40mins - 60mins per lap for a beginner ... that's about 10mins chit chat, 20mins to 40mins up hill and 10mins back down again ... lots of fun ... you'll have a blast ...
have a look at cardiac arrest while your there ...
There is also a cross country track around the village, Cascades for some back country XC epic distances, the new tracks at Lake Crackenback and the older tracks at east Jindabyne. Or, if you can get someone to drop you off at Smiggins, you can then ride down to Munyang Power station, up over Schlink Pass, down to Geehi Dam and out onto the Alpine Way. Need that same someone to pick you up around there much later that day.
Take your cross country bike, but hire a DH rig if you want to spend a day or more on the Cannonball Run. Mind you, you can access the bottom part of the track for free just by riding up some fire trail. Its serious up though.....
The biggest issue I find surviving thredbo and enjoying it over a weekend is combating arm pump. If your an office worker or not riding DH a lot etc not using your hands all day for manual work, you need to build up your hand & forearm strength if you want to have fun for more than about 2 runs a day. Armpump at Thredbo is real and can ruin your day... when your fingers have no strength to use the brakes, espically through bunny walk.
About 6 weeks before each trip I get 2 empty spray bottles (ie household cleaners), fill with water and spray the plants for as long and as fast as you can, by the end of 6 weeks you should be able to do 5-10 mins not stop without your fingers and arms cramping.
it's the best simiulation of the arm pump and braking forces that thredbo gives that you can replicate at home.
Yeah Dh riders consider thredbo one long "b line"
It's hell fun but nothing overly techie. Arm pump on such a long brake rutted track is an issue.
Having your brake levers set up properly can help and If you are there for a couple of days forget trying to break records and stop some where each run to stretch out your forearms.
Head for Majura Pines instead. Majura is a MTB playground! Lot's of fast flowing ST mixed with jumps, bridges, balance beams, drops, ravine jumps etc. Get you in the mood for Thredbo. Sparrow is less interesting IMHO. Warning Majura is addictive. You will want to go back on your way back through so allow an extra day up your sleeve for this
PB
Hit Majura then Sparrow for a leg burner then go Stromlo for a decent challenge downhill & the xc track.
Haha ironically. i have a Thredbo squishy snow ball on my desk that i've just started pumpin away on!
Awesome, thanks for the advice. The DH rigs are bloody expensive to hire though.
Saw the trail map and yeah, I fink bringing both our XC and hiring DH rigs is the way to go.
We're staying in Jindy so hopefully there be more cost effective options there. Dont wanna be luggin an extra 2 rigs all the way down from Syd.
Majura is that much better is it?
The ride profile on Sparrow makes it sounds like, its da bomb!
May give both a try then...
hire a Dh bike, hire all the armour in one hit & saves you traveling with all the gear
bike hire place might require you to do a skills/competency course
get wrists, fingers, arms & even shoulders strengthened using weight bearing or resistance exercises
Sparrow Hill is lots of fast single track switch back stuff through pine forest, me & my mates spent 4.5 hrs there & had a blast
Majura is great fun with lots of different challenges for all skill levels but as mentioned previously "a playground" with a lot of fun to be had
Yup I did the cannonball run a few years ago - by my 4th run down the fingers had just about totally cramped up.
I had a Gemini 2000 at the time and it was awesome - I'd suggest you hire a downhill rig, otherwise you'll be fighting the bike and not enjoying the ride. Also go the full armor.
Hire the bike, as a 5-inch travel XC bike is not good enough. You can ride it, but spending $100 on a hire bike will leave you loving your day of riding.
Hey fellow nobmobers...
I'm hanging out with my family in thredbo village ...the christmas thing......and taking my trusty trance to do some riding.
me = keen as can be to explore the cross country area...... Cascades ...tin mine huts....
I sent an email to the guys that run the bike shop but haven't heard back... ...as I'm keen to hook up with others and not head out on my own.
If you want to hit the trails with other like minded folk - feel free to message moi between 25th - 29th December ??????
cheers Anna