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getting the exercise.
where to go to get the constant grind of some fun exercise without the constant interruption of slight rises ?
Manly Dam would be a real hoot apart from
the lip up just past the school
the grind up the road
the step up to the rock
the step up the semi-impossible rock with the frowned on b-trail to the right
heart break hill
back to the parking lot, another lap >? bah lets watch tv
me, i'd like lots of firetrail like western commission track, a bit up a bit down, sort of Andersons/Oaks WITHOUT Bedford Ck and the Glenbrook down/up
don't make me resort to laps of Homebush Bay and the tourists!
the Awaba meet sounds nice but hte map looks very hilly so why do ppl mention single speed ? much fun i hope.
I'd almost relent to doing laps of the M2, but for crazy car drivers (me the truck driver, they're all crazy, I tell you)
so, a little more XC i think, less downhill, cos you got to do too much uphill to do it again 
Lidsdale was very nice, fun with a little grind, more fun, little grind, must do that again.
ideas for close to Sydney for regular Sunday's ? (I can't do saturdays' sleeping from truck driving friday night)
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I don't get it, you listed all the best bits of Manly Dam
XC by it's name means you will tackle hills If you are looking for rides without hills then perhaps check out
Narra Lake which is all flat but lots of walkers
Olympic park for road riding, very popular in the weekend,
Perimeter track hasn't got many hills,
So have some of the tracks at Oxford Falls till you get to the hills
Majura Pines, bit far from Sydney but wicked fun and little climbing.
Perhaps something within RNP (?)
Other than that I can't think of any MTB that is flat around Sydney, I don't think you will find much around here unless you hit the road or a wind trainer.
that's where i went when i was starting ... but stopped after a car nearly wiped me out ...
tangent / off topic : i was doing 30km/h (i.e. the limit) she was behind me, then accelerated quickly past me and turned left in front of me ... i was just starting so didn't have the control needed and just stacked on ground to the left ... btw i reckon in the few races i've done it is the the hills that sort out the field ... so if you plan to compete, hill practice is essential ...
As for singlespeeding I ask why do people bother with gears they just make you soft.
i'm with Ladytoast the bit's you don't like is why
we ride XC a mix of everything.
Is you do the hills for the blood sweat and tears so that the descent on the other end is brilliant.
Also, in a sick sadistic way, I love climbing, I love the pain in the legs and the challenge it brings and knowing that the pain is worth it cause your getting fit from it.
Same reason why I do personal training on Monday and Wednesday which almost definitly involves smashing 100's of press ups and stair training excercises that ruin me.
Constant grind without hills? Try freeriding or downhill riding. You will love getting chairlift and/or car shuttles back to the top of the hill. Certainly an underestimated luxury IMHO.
Otherwise, you have singled out all the fun bits of Manly Dam, the whole reason one rides there in the first place. What's the point of grinding away on the flat? You may as well ride the M7.
sounds to me like fitness is the problem here as when you get fitter the 'hills' get smaller (with the exception of Cascades!!)
if you don't ride up anything 'undulating' you won't get fit enough to manage hills - maybe you just take a while to warm up? I know I do - if i ride from home to the dam then the hills are minor, but starting from the car park i hate them - in a nice way!
probably the suggestion of perimeter/long is the best for the time being - it's an irritating sport though, you have to be fit enough to ride up all the hills, learn to ride up and down rocks, then get faster at it all and then if you don't ride for a little bit you have to get your fitness back again...
love it!
ps cross the Wakehurst and you can miss out on Hearbreak Hill by going a far more interesting way!!
Awaba hills are easy. I've ridden there a number of times - the last few on a rigid single-speed. It's fast and flowy, there is nothing that even resembles a technical climb, and by last count I think I saw 6 rocks on the course and one tree root. I've been there recently with my wife who is a real novice and has next to no fitness at the moment due to having chemo every 3 weeks over the last 6 months and she punched out a few laps without putting a foot down.
Get there, you will have a great time.
and varied collection of responses.
I'd rather do 30kms of The Oaks than the stop start of the dam, notice my lap record? 1hr 40
if i could get it done faster, i'd be having fun and the time for a second lap.
so the options for more trail (awaba, glenrock) are good with bail out options being also good.
Lidsdale was good for that, sort of 6 sections linking together and the car is always just up there
and also, the old training partner copes even less with the grind and the heat, so it's also for him (no names you big wuss)
I agree - as a newbie I want to do the hills - but find them very hard at the moment
. Something a little easier to build up fitness in the mean time would be good.
either to get to Canberra before April and ride the lovely flowing, non-technical and hill less (ish) Sparrow Hill (or Majura), or closer to home there's Bankstown Velodrome.......
me, id like thredbo
ride down, chairlift back up
ourimbah area is looking nice for the weekend
lots if trails to just ride along
There's too many hills, unless you're shuttling the DH track.
...you do know Ourimbah isn’t flat don’t you? And also, Manly Dam is not a beginners track. I took some friends there who said that MTB riding was ‘sooooo easy’ as I had been taking them to Terrey Hills – they didn’t finish a lap of the dam!
Also, are you riding at all with some more experienced riders? That does help a lot too...they offer advice and tips or you can watch them and learn some little tricks.
If you like the Oaks (weirdo, but I take it you are doing the Oaks down not up and down) then you ought to like Duck and Centre, they are nice as well as some of the other West Head trails...
GE ourimbah, it might be steep but it's firetrail
so i guess a bit of a slog followed by the DH part
or just cycle back and forth along the ridge top
hilarious!
Hi mate,
My suggestions would be Lady Carrington Drive in the Royal National park and Perimeter/Long Trail at Terry Hills. The other option is a few laps of Narrabeen Lakes for a cruise.
i'm a shocker on climbs as well but there is no avoiding them if you want to enjoy the downhill. I ride Loftus to get some kms and do a 23km loop, there are a couple of hills, but one in particular used to beat me and i would push my bike up it. So i set a goal one day to get past the burnt tree which seemed to be my usual stopping point, so up i went, i passed the burnt tree and was about to stop when i realised i could actually go further and so i did, i let out a bit of a 'yahoo' when i got to the first turn and then continued up the next bit. Now that i have overcome that hill i have started to take a more direct line over the rocks instead of taking the smoother path to the side which sometimes resulted in me heading off the track. another thing that i have also changed was my approach into the climb and setting myself up for the climb rather than being reactive. I'm no expert but the above works for me. Still don't like hills but, could be something to do with fitness