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amazon downhill trail
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
i read something about a track called 'amazon', apparently its at awaba? can anybody provide more information or does it not exist?
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http://youtu.be/T5uAmeQ_HqQ or is this the actual amazon rainforest?
stupid question i know haha
Your on fire! haha its another old shut down race track thats also about an hour turn around on shuttles, enjoy
haha
what can i say? i just have a knack for finding old downhill trails.
do many people still ride here?
Nah it's eroded as all hell and most of it looks like fire trail not to mention its literally a half hour drive from pick up to drop off, gotta be pretty desperate
shame, looks real nice in the video.
i read somewhere that they wanna make another easier downhill track at awaba. true or false?
and maybe some all mtn type stuff as well
It was the best track we have had. HMBA opened it properly in about 2005, held a bunch of state races there, it was featured in Earthed 2 world wide. But due to neighbour complaints due to people on the access road, State Forests asked us to look for alternatives.
This led us to the current trail, Monkey.
There was always issues with motos going up Amazon and it shows on the bottom half of the trail. Logistically for the club, Monkey is a lot better due to the much reduced shuttle turnaround.
Used to love the mineshaft section then into the rock garden though.Most people didn't relaise at the top how close they were to a 100m+ cliff. Kind of scary when you knew it was there.
Last time I stuck my head in for a look, the bottom was unrideable.
The most of it was originally a bullock trail that was cut back in by motos then another guy done more work to make it alot easier to get up to use it as part his moto trail tours, that was in the early 90s
Yep, it was one of the locals that suggested it when we had nothing to host a state race on.
There are so many Bullock trails in that area, they criss cross the Monkey trail as well. Other than the section below the rock garden, the Amazon trail actually held up really well.
should i stay off it?
You would be better off riding monkey, much cheaper on the fuel.
yeh the monkey trail is alot easier shuttle.
is it true that they are thinking of making an easier downhill trail for more beginner type riders?
There's plenty of short stuff around.
Long downhill is in short supply, but, if you enter the fire trail just south of the fire station at Tingira Heights then head west towards Elebanna you may find some interesting stuff.
If that is boring you may try some of the trails going off the ridge. Sometimes there is some north shore type stuff, most of the time, not.
Real Reign territory (what goes down must come back up)
There's other stuff around but requires exploring off the beaten track and they come and go depending on the interest of the local builders and how quick the land manager is at removing / closing down.
Yes, and easier trail at awaba is being planned but there are a few hurdles to get over.
The management and masterplans for awaba need to be finished, and an easy route down the hill actually found.
Yeah I think monkey is about the best way down that hill that's possible
In places it is the only way. Will be interesting to see where an easier trail can fit in.
I'm sure it can be done, but there will be some serious planning to get it to work.
Yeah a shiiiite load of benching which will mean pretty serious environmental impact in some of super steep sections, are they looking at renewing the lease at killi do you know? Would only take a day with a decent size posi or a little dozer to fix the fire trails to the top of the old dh stuff there, that'd open up a heap of cruisier down hill stuff for folks not overly keen on Awaba. I don't really get the idea of an easier or safer track though downhill tracks are as safe as you want them to be, the brakes are right there along with b lines, even though I went around scorpion gap on my Xc bike once and nearly ate shit haha
Access to killi is being pursued, right now it comes down to $$$$$$.
if killi could be reopened that would be sick. and yeh i agree it would only take a day or so to fix. main problem i thought was the dirt was really sandy and lose, nothing a couple of people with shovels cant fix though
how much money would it take to reopen?
Its not about cash to reopen, its about on going fees to HMBA to be allowed to hold events there. Ig it costs more than the club would recoup, its not really viable. At the moment we are just locking in exactly what it is going to cost.
that makes more sense then just paying some cash and voila track reopened.
Maintenance for the club is normally volunteer hours, not physical cash. But getting a license agreement with the land manager costs money. If the numbers don't add up to at least break even, then it is hard to justify.
Can anyone provide me with coordinates to the trail head or where it pops out. I have race awaba alot and am looking for a big MTB adventure in the summer. Cheers
Hi, assume you can use strava.
Use strava explore and a couple of Kay's north of awaba is a climb called Watagan Forest road Climb. It is amazon in reverse.
Other option is to get to awaba, ride straight up the road to the top of the hill, always take the right hand rd option and after about 7 kms from the top you come to a picnic area - you have gone too far, there is single track however all the way back south on the eastern side, some of it is a push up little hills, but if you keep veering left on this single tracking starts going down the hill and there you have amazon.
Or just log into strava and find the top of that segment with a smart phone and you are off
Just to add in case you don't have strava. If you start at the carpark at awaba and head up mt Faulk rd keeping right , at around the 6.3km mark you will see single track on your right and this single track links to amazon ( just checked my ride that I did for that loop, it was only an hour and a half from carpark and return)
Thanks bud! Found it! Have a tripped planned in a few months!
I remember that ride/walk/hike.... Glad I had a light bike to "carry"