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appin sydney best track?
hey all, i just rode appin for the first time yesterday , after downloading one of the great 'KML ' files supplied by the team at nobmob and importing it into "my maps" folder , when logged into google maps on the desktop. Then when i open google earth on my iphone i can login to "my google maps" and know exactly where i am on the trail (or not). Alternatively for you old skool types just follow the yellow arrows . oh me so funny.
any hooo the reason im posting this is that i really loved the appin trail and would like to say that its the best single track/techy stuff within an hour of sydney and if anyone thinks other wise i'd like to hear about it. 
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yes Agree, south west Sydney has the best trails,another rippa in the area is Camden river run, argueably better than Appin!
but has suffered a bit from the recent rain and also dirt bikes which is very sad. Grant now runs a mthly maintenance day so if you can, get on down to Appin 3rd Saturday of every month to give some lovin back to Appin. I know he has spent the last few days out there fixing some trails and also reroute of some trails. (Thanks Grant!)
for the dodgy bridge crossing
I was there yesterday too. First time I had ridden Appin. Rode two laps plus Lost track. Spent 4.5 hours riding. Funnily enough, I thought it too was the best trail I have ridden and the most interesting by far. A great combo of technical and smooth sniggle with interesting terrain. Signage is very good too. Yes that approach to the main bridge crossing could be described as dodgy as one takes a big gulp before rolling down. I gather there are many other tracks other than the race track maintained by WMTBC (Lost Track for one). Appin is also fairly convenient to drive to (M5, Hume then Appin Rd).
I was actually talking about Camden river. I broke my foot coming off the bridge with Craked last year. All better now tho
But yeah that roll down is a lot of fun, gotta get your landing right tho, from memory there's a tree close to the LZ?
The beverage that man with the camera on his head is drinking is a very suspicious yellow colour....
In my opinion, and keep in mind it's just that, my opinion, yes Hawkeye. Because of the mix of physically challenging technical rock gardens, step ups, roll downs complimented with flowing sniggle plus the overall bush terrain compared to Awaba's all-flowing terrain. Not that Awaba is less enjoyable because of it, Appin for me has more variety and technical challenges. It's an Apples / Oranges comparison really. Think of Menai with more flowing sniggle - that's Appin for me.
FWIW I vote Menai/Lucas Heights as head and shoulders above any other venue I've ridden. It is closed at the moment but there is a team working with land owners etc to get back the access.
ah yes menai is awesome but you need to learn your way around there or you get lost! and is probably in a state of disrepair, I bet the motos are the only ones still useing it!
@ Phil ,the bridges at camden are fixed and fixed properly the whole track is in great nic at the mo.
Get yourselves up to dungog common for a ride. Lots of rock gardens, fast descents and nice winding switchback climbs, Best track in the hunter valley By a long shot. I've ridden appin a couple of years ago and it is pretty good too but dungog is my favorite track at the moment followed by paterson.
what happens in Appin stays in Appin (re: yellow drink)
I think Appin is the best official technical XC riding in Sydney, possibly NSW. There are a number of other great tracks in the area too. For me the absolute best riding is in a now informal area, and it's not Menai, but it also has security patrols. If you think Appin is technical then this area would really challenge you! Menai is great, Kentlyn is a lot of fun too. I've had a big stack on that dodgy bridge on the Kessel Run, which can also be linked to Mt Annan for a 50km round trip.
There are a number of possiblities at Appin. The regular 9.5km race loop. Add Abbots Loop to the race loop for 10km. Add The Lost Track for 16km. I've pieced together another 16km of singletrack on top of that but it needs a bit of work at some points and none of it includes the 7km on the other side of Kings Falls Bridge (which I think is rubbish anyway). There's more out there too!
An Appin maintenance day is coming up this Saturday. It's on the Nobmob calendar. I just got back from finishing the reroute. It's now rideable but needs 3 finishing touches, meaning two big rocks to be moved and one big log that I couldn't move myself today. The reroute adds 300m to the overall track length, not too bad considering it cuts out 400m of crappy, eroded stuff.
up there but not the best in my opinion ,ourimba & awaba are better then u have glenrock,mt annan,kentlyn & appin comming 2nd & yellowmundi & manly dam 3rd .
best thing about appin is the burger and appin pie at the corner cafe after the ride!!
The best trail is the one you're riding on. Nuff said
Sounds like we need to orgsnise a mission then
I'd be up for a trip to Appin to find all the extra extra single track as I only know the xc loop.
I have only ridden the racetrack too..where are the extra bits of track ?
The Rock Wallaby 50km is on in a month or so. 2 x 25km loops. If you want to see all Appin has to offer then enter the event. I really enjoyed it last year but got caught short on drinks not realizing Appin is so twisty & slow I think my lap times were nearly an hour slower than I'd anticipated...
Possibly a new route this year too. There is much more out there than the RW takes you on though. It's worth an explore and you're always near a few big firetrails so you can't get too lost, and if you do the Police bikes get out there every now and then so they should be able to find you!
Is there a KML file of the extra bits?
There are some variations to this as well.
I always ride Abbot's Loop as well so that's in all of my files. I forgot to start the gps until the top of the first climb, sorry.
The regular race loop including the fall line reroute I finished yesterday. It needs a bit of riding.
Last year we rode under Appin Rd to the south and did a big loop. Is that not on this year?
I'm not sure if the route has been finalised.
I don't rate the stuff on the other side of Kings Falls Bridge at all. It's a horrible climb with an unrewarding descent/bog/hike-a-bike on the way back. This was the course last year.
All this duscussion has got me looking forward to the rock wallaby, never been to Appin I might have to make a trip down before the race.
Thanks for posting up the Garmin traces. Is there a way to convert these to a file that Google earth or similar could read?
Open the link, Export as either GPX or GoogleEarth, save and open in GE.
@crank - that horrible climb was the only spot we could relax in the whole race. From memory it had old Tarmac so it was easy to stand without loosing traction and push a big gear while lowering the heart rate and managing a drink & feed. The rest of the trail is constant both hands on the bars stuff so it was really difficult to eat & drink. A welcome break...
Fair enough. The tarmac section is only about 100m long. I think it's a horrible climb because the single track is ugly, boring and sandy. It's definitely an easier climb than other parts of the course though.