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Newto mtb
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
Im new to down hill and was just looking for people in the newcastle area that wouldn mind showing me around some good trails
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There are some nice but short downhill runs at Glenrock. There are some longer but less technical downhill runs at Jesmond Park bushland. There is a very hardcore downhill track at Awaba that was recently used for a round of the Australian titles. There is an excellent downhill track at Ourimbah that is hard enough to be a challenge for the fast guys, but is still ridable by most average riders. There is also a downhill run starting near the top of Mt Sugarloaf, ending at O'Donelltown Rd out the back of West Wallsend. I have not ridden this track yet but it looks like a very good challenging track from what I have seen.
I think this is about all of the tracks around here that have any decent downhill sections.
What bike do you ride Drew? I ride a Specialized Enduro and ride XC, All Mountain and Downhill type terrain all in the one ride, so if you ride a proper downhill rig, I would not be the bloke to ride with as you would hate the flat and uphill bits, but if you like to ride to get to the downhills I would be happy to show you around,
is there still a downhill trail at mt sugarloaf, because i cant find any info or directions for it
for locating - strava is your friend.
southern most one is pretty rough and not ridden at all - the northern most one seems to still get a little traffic
what do you mean by strava? and could you maybe make a map becuase i still have no clue where it is
edit: i do know where O'donelltown road is, if that helps
GPS tool where riders log their rides.
http://www.strava.com/how-it-works
Ok , the best run IMO starts parallel on the south side of mt sugarloaf rd about 200m down the hill from range rd
It crosses odonneltown td at the bottom - its called Holmes ln by then.
If you google earth mt sugarloaf td you can see the single track running parallel for a couple hundred meters before it dives into the bush on the east side and heads down towards odonneltown rd
thanks for all the help. ill check out the track and strava.
The easiest way to find the downhill track at Mt Sugarloaf is to drive up the tar road and turn left at the dirt road just before the top carpark. It is called Sugarloaf Range Road. Only about 10 metres along on your left you see a track heading down......this is the start. Keep following this track down to the south of the tar road and you are a downhiller. It does indeed finish out on O'Donelltown Rd. You can pick up the bikes for shuttling here. I have ridden this track once and it is a serious downhill track. I must point out that I am no downhill riding god by any stretch of the imagination. I ride a a 160mm travel Specialized Enduro and I chose to get off and walk a couple of sections. The rest has some great jumps, drops, off cambers and berms. If you are not a good downhiller you can still have fun by walking the super hard bits.
sounds pretty intense. would you advise not trying it on a hardtail?
If you are a good enough rider you can ride anything on any bike. You could ride it on a hardtail and only ride the stuff you are comfortable with. There is more ridable than not ridable. Having said all this though, the track is best suited to a good rider on a 200mm travel bike. I would not ride it alone though, as the chances of hurting yourself are higher on a track like this, and it is a very long track and really needs to be shuttled. Give it a go and have some fun.
ill give it a go on a hardtail first time round. and i always ride with 2 other people when riding downhill. sounds like its a pretty good track. know where i can find some videos of it?
I have looked through YOUTUBE to try and find a video of it but could not find any. I will video it next time I ride it and demonstrate my very average ability.
make sure you attempt the bits you've walked before then - the word "crash" increases youtube hits exponentially.
for extra points - fracture and ambulance helps as well ;D
i rode the track this morning and loved it. just wondering if you could tel me some other downhill trails. ive ridden awaba, ourimbah, glenrock, and mt sugarloaf.
i rode the track this morning and loved it. just wondering if you could tel me some other downhill trails. ive ridden awaba, ourimbah, glenrock, and mt sugarloaf.
There is the remnants of the old downhill track at Killingworth. There is also some good downhill trails at Kincumber Mountain on the central coast......I have not ridden here though.
sounds good. hows the condition of the killingworth track? and kincumber mt. looks good on videos ive seen. anywhere else worth checking out?
Killingworth full downhill track is in disrepair and some man made sections are unridable due to damaged timber structures. These sections can be ridden around and there are a few different ways down the hill. I rode out there on sunday and was able to link together trails to make a nice All Mountain/easy Downhill track. I plan to do some work to this trail to make it nicer to ride.
Jesmond bushland between Jesmond Park and the John Hunter Hospital has some short but fun downhills.
where does the killingworth trail start? and is it possible to ride or is it really bad condition?
is there any other decent downhill trails on sugarloaf?
anybody reply?