Western Sydney Regional Park aka Tohellandgong

The canadain doesn't know where the olympic mtb course is. The equestrian centre is part of the regional park, though I have yet to see a horse, hoof print or turd. 2or3 busted lungs.

I did a google and now believe that the equestrian centre is the old mtb course so it could be a good ride, as I would guess the locals would have been doing a few laps since 2000, Chris, welcome to NoBMoB and Australia, can you tell us a little about the riding available there? I've added a link for the 2000 mtb track. http://www.gamesinfo.com.au/vn/15/VN15VM.html
I won't be there as I need another 4 1/2 weeks to recover from my last ride.
Cheers John

Thanks for the welcome John. My regular thing is North of Fairfield city farm. From your link, it appears that most of the games' track was south. I will go exporing soon as I get a chance. The Regional Park where I ride is bordered by the M7on the west, Horsley Dr. on the north, Cowpasture on the east and the Farm to the south. I am pretty sure that this is the equestrian area for the olympics. In any case, in ten visits, never seen a horse or sign of one. The area has a ridge down the middle of it (Sugarloaf Ridge) whith a couple of communication towers on it. Most of the tracks are smooth grass that gets cut weekly and are 5 feet wide or dirt singletrack. I yo-yo up and down the ridge and another hill to make a couple of loops and stretch it out. There are four ok descents and four climbs. Might use the granny gear once. Takes a bit more than an hour at a steady pace for a lap. There are stunts all over the place for horses, a few modified ones for the lone canadian biker. The place is completely under used and has enormous potential for creating more singletrack or stunts. This would probably be illegal though. I start at the Primlea picnic area at horsley and cowpasture, through the play area, across the bridge over the canal and into the thick of it.
Great to have near by being stuck in Bosley Park and all, but I am growing bored, need some company or a change of scene.

Sorry, but won't be joining you on this ride. I feel bad about missing out on a new area and not saying hello to the Canadian contingent.

Apologies again, don't be disheartened Chris, hope someone shows. Any change you take some shots of the area and tell us more?

Well, trundled off down the M7 to see what this place was all about. Needed a training ride and wasnt up for the Woomerah ride in 30 degree heat so set off on a personal mission. Friday night had also taken some enthusiasm away for the group ride.
The WSRP was 20 odd kays from home according to GPS and Google earth. Ok so that was at least 40Km. Not bad but is was road
Got out there in good time, 53 mins, and set about finding the best entry point or at the time, any entry point. I was using the recording GPS software and so finding the target wasnt as easy as it should have been. I was in the vicinity so didnt pay to much more attention, probably should have!
Found a small sign and pathway that seemed like the way to go. The path ran along side the aquaduct from Prospect reservoir interestingly.
Potted around a few sealed roads and checked out the very nice equestrian fairways, complete with jumps, then instinctively headed up hills (it was training) to get a better view. At the top of Mt Sugarloaf there was the said transmission towers and a pretty good view. I was encouraged with the outlook for some good trails.
Stopped for snacks and drink at an abandoned bbq area and contemplated the next move. Rode off down some stairs (who hoo) and over to another lightly wooded peak where the spiral track was grassed over lined with blackberries (ripe and yummy!). I was dubious whether this was part of the MTB cct cos who would line the trail with blackberries? Interesting.
Spotted a faint trail a little further into the gully and set off on that. This again was all grassed over but did at times resemble a track. Across the creek and into the climb out. Dirt and grassy with a couple of corners having what once might have been a berm. Was feeling positive that with some more riding there was potential!.
Looped around and back down to the creek to exit via another trail. Part way up the trees were uncannily lined up perfectly straight here, could this have been a marshalling area or something??
Eventually got back to Mt Sugarloaf and snooped around some more. Found a few more trails on the other side of the hill that were fast flowing down hill runs. Again all grass. This got me down to a very very well set up equestrian area so followed the fence back to a sealed road.
Was a bit demoralised by now although moments of fun it had not met my expectations. Got back out to to the main road and set off home thinking that I must not have been in the right spot.
So 55Km all up with 2h40mins of ride time. So it was a good fast blast but not the leg training that is probably needed right now though.
Checking the earlier posts and google earth I concluded that I didnt find the right spot. Had I explored a little more I may have found it. Basically I was on the wrong side of the aquaduct by the looks. Will try again soon with better directions under my belt.
But didnt see a soul all day. It's hard to understand how all this infrastructure was set up and now seemingly abandoned. Well bad management or planning is most likey but on a positive note, the national parks have a sign up saying how they are rebuilding. Of course I dont know how old the sign is. The equestrian facilities were nothing short of amazing. Interestingly there is a lot of mowing and maintenance by the looks, so maybe its not totally mothballed.
It would be a terrible shame if potentially top class mountain bike trails were killed off because of insurance and mismanagement etc. Although for it to be set up properly and then maintained would require funding and resourcing. Then the inevitable insurance...because the council or national parks could not take the risk of someone being hurt.
Certainly potential out there though. Will report back after the next excursion.
Craig

Yes this is the part that I missed although reading back through the post Canuck1 indicated most of the good stuff is on the side were I was. So maybe I didnt miss out.
That said, the olympic MTB track is unrecognisable from the details in the links posted. Although this aerial shot does look MTBish it is not the olympic track by a long shot.
I am trying to piece it all together and go for another exploration.
If someone knows the area better I'd be glad to have a tour guide.
Craig

yeah what i linked before looks like a concrete path.

How about this bit?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Australi...

Hey Thanks Canuck..

Hoped you might chime in with some info.
I rode parts of what you mention but will now have some inside information for my next visit.

As for the snow report....thanks

Take it easy..
Craig