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Where to base myself for mountain biking within 30 mins commute of Hornsby
Hi all,
I just landed a job today in Hornsby just near the railway station so I'll be moving back to the Northern Beaches which I'm stoked about.
Where would you live if you were in my shoes if access to good trails was your only consideration?
I've ridden Manly Dam a fair bit in the past and Oxford Falls/Red Hills.
I like cross country mostly with some descents chucked in occasionally.
Ideally I'd like somewhere I can be within a few minutes ride of to get to the trail head but only about 30 mins max commute from Hornsby.
Thanks,
Will
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Quick access to Hornsby via burns road and close to Cascades (via Acron), St Ives sniggle, Terry hills, oxford falls, etc
agree St Ives ... if you go any further into the beaches will be 45 mins to an hour in bad traffic to hornsby
Are you the new trail fairy for OMV?
Good access to Lane Cove NP and if Pennant Hills you can get to the trails around Cherrybrook, Westleigh and of course Old Mans Valley pretty quickly. It's also on the train line and bus ways if your commute is via public transport.
public transport or car? This will make a big difference.
Im in st ives and its pretty central. 15min drive and ur within a lot of different trails and 15min to hornsby. Terryhills is also worth considering but probably harder to find a place to move into. I ride to cascades in about 5 min.
Just take your bike to work and ride OMV after or before work
Let me no if you've got any questions.
Jono.
Thanks all for your replies.
I won't have a car for the first couple of months but will probably get one once I've saved up some dough.
I shoulda probably said in my first post that I'm most interested in technical single-track and if there were some nice road rides handy that would be awesome too.
Can't wait to be able to get back on the mtb regularly.
I think I'm just gonna have to go hit all these trails and decide from there :DDDD
In some ways I could do worse than live in Hornsby and ride the trails round there before/after work instead of commuting if there is enough variety to keep things interesting. OMV looks awesome from some of the vids I've been checking out.
Will be cheaper in Hornsby as well.
and am central to everything within 10-15 minutes.
Lane Cove firetrail with some council land sniggle in the mix.
Willoughby pump track and DJ.
Wakehurst pump track.
Manly Dam
Bantry Bay, soft opening soon on Forestville side
Oxford Falls, Bunnings etc, Freeride tracks
Red Hill
Mona Vale / Ingleside DH track
Warrimoo Oval
Old Mans Valley
Terry Hills
Cascades
I can just see the top of Bare Creek from my house.
Or a few minutes to M2/M7 for Knapsack, Chicken Run etc in mountains.
Or M1 to Ourimbah
Thanks again guys.
Spent most of today googling trying to suss this out.
St Ives sound pretty awesome and is looking like the number 1 pick atm.
What do you think of this location?
It would be a short ride to both red hill and manly dam and also only a couple of minutes to the coast.
Google maps reckons it's only 30 mins or so by car but from what I'm hearing, you think it would be a lot longer in peak hr?
If I got a cyclocross bike i could ride to work via Cascades
Not that there is anything wrong with St Ives.....But since when has St Ives become part of the Northern Beaches?
LOL
But we should grant Simon a passport and honorary Northern Beaches citizenship for his services to mountain biking.
It's called marriage and compromise.
As much as I liked Dee Why, St Ives is halfway between the beach and the inlaws for future baby sitting.
Have adjusted ok as I seem to be in the centre of Sydney north riding and can still get down for a morning swim and run at Dee Why very quickly in the weekend.
Throwing the kayak in at Bobbin Head and Roseville bridge within 10 minutes is also very cool. Turn right on water at Bobbin Head and you can get about 4km up behind Duffys Forest. My smaller kayak can be carried up cascades when I run out of salt water from Roseville bridge and then it's freshwater and turtles.