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Manly Dam Condition?
I am visiting from overseas (U.S.) and really want to rent a bike and try the Manly Dam trail. I just got to Sydney but I noticed that it seems to have been raining for at least a day or two but there might be a few sunny days coming up. Could someone tell me how wet the trails are and if they might be rideable any time soon? Thanks!
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The Manly Dam track is "open" but it has been raining on and off for a few days so there is a lot of water on the track.
It was certainly rideable the last few times I went around, but as more and more people do ride around the muddy bits get worse and start to join together and the track becomes less rideable. And since yesterday morning I'd guess a fair few people have been around.
In my opinion it would be wise to give the Dam track a miss until maybe a week after the rain stops.
I suggest you head up to the Blue Mountains and ride The Oaks (from Woodford, via train from Glenbrook), Anderson's (from Wentworth Falls via train from Glenbrook) and Narrowneck (from Katoomba) if you want to enjoy your riding. There are bike shops in Glenbrook and Katoomba.
Local to Manly there is a bike store on Pittwater Road (www.manlycycles.com.au) that rent out Trek hardtails (well - they were Trek last time I was there) so you can grab one of those and head out wherever you fancy.
Depending on how long you're here there are several other trails worth checking out. Great North Road (GNR) at wisemans ferry is regarded as the best technical riding around Sydney, although without transport this could be a problem. As others have said, you can easily hit up the Oaks or Narrowneck as both are easily accessible from a train station. Depends on what you are looking for though.
Probably not a good idea to ride the Oaks this Sunday though as the NRMA race is on.
Or perhaps that makes it all the more interesting?
That said, you wouldn't want to be doing that decent for the first time in race conditions on a bike you weren't used to
Does anyone know if the trail is closed to others not in the race?
so if you are going be doing the oaks anyway cough up some coin and do the "race"
Thanks for the info guys, I'm here for less than 3 weeks. Hopefully the rain will die down and I will try to ride Manly Dam if it dries up. I will call up Manly Cycles and see what type of bike I can hire. I did some reseach and have found a couple other places that claim to hire "off-road" mountain bikes, but the quality of bike doesn't seem too promising. Even though I ride a full suspension back home, I don't need anything really expensive, but just something that's not the cheapest mountain bike you can buy.
After reading some more about the Oaks trail it sounds pretty fun. Coming from the midwest (basically all flat) in the U.S., I havne't really ridden any major downhill trails. Does anyone know how the trail conditions are at the Oaks? I may just head out there if it's not too muddy.
How much money do you want to spend on hiring a bike for the day? Bike Addiction in North Manly hire out demo bikes from around $70 per day (from memory). Good bikes like Giants, Yeti's and the new Pivots.
The cost will come off the purchase price of a new one if you like Sydney and decide to hang around.
I've asked them and they told me that they won't hire bikes. I'm assuming the'll only do it if you are serious about buying a bike. Fortunately I called Manly Cycles and they'll hire out the top of the line Mongoose Amasa which is a pretty decent bike. I think I'll go to them whenever Manly Dam dries out.
when you do decide when and where to ride if you post it someone is bound to go with you, especially for those tracks - much more fun with other people than on your own..especially when you don't know the trails that well...
Stupid but is it open for thurs/fri (25th June), like have they finished work on fireroad near wakehurst, is it too wet still?
Thanks in advance...
See here:
http://nobmob.com/weather
Only been 3 days since the last soaking it got so I imaging it won't be properly dry yet.
FWIW, I spoke to someone in NPWS yesterday and they were saying how it disturbs them that people still ride the dam in the wet, they said that this sort of attitude is discouraging when they look at building their own sniggle. I did point out (and as we've talked about here many times), that sadly you will always find people who don't know/care but most do. That and the Dam could really do with at least 2 large notice boards with trail maintenance/wet weather impact news, and more open/closed signs elsewhere on the track.
I went up yesterday for a ride and it was too wet. Seeing I had to ride back to Drummoyne I rode the stretch above the golf course and then out on to the road at the Wakehurst parking. I noted that when I crossed over to go up the fire track toward Warringah Road that the Bantry Bay track had a massive cable fence and signs stopping everyone, even walkers, on this track. Does this mean that the Bantry Bay area is now exclusive private property of the Parks employees? That ride was almost all rock so it can't be erosion problems. I assume it's the Aboriginal sites that need to be protected. WELL HOW ABOUT FENCING OFF JUST THE SITES rather than shutting the whole bloody area to everyone. This has gone too far. The NPWS are a joke. I read in the paper this morning that the government are looking at ways to fund obese people in gyms. So our taxes are being spent on private parks for a select few employees of the NPWS and for obese people to lose weight however for a large amount of people who will stay out of the health system following outdoor pursuits and remaining healthy are shut out of tax funded parks for the reason that an act is outdated. I know this issue is brought up constantly but my disappointment just continues to grow almost every time I go out on my bike. The whole thing is a joke. The NPSW are disturbed about people using Manly when it's wet. Screw them. Respect begets respect. The people making the decisions in this issue have no relevence.
"Does this mean that the Bantry Bay area is now exclusive private property of the Parks employees? That ride was almost all rock so it can't be erosion problems. I assume it's the Aboriginal sites that need to be protected. WELL HOW ABOUT FENCING OFF JUST THE SITES rather than shutting the whole bloody area to everyone. This has gone too far. The NPWS are a joke. I read in the paper this morning that the government are looking at ways to fund obese people in gyms. So our taxes are being spent on private parks for a select few employees of the NPWS and for obese people to lose weight however for a large amount of people who will stay out of the health system following outdoor pursuits and remaining healthy are shut out of tax funded parks for the reason that an act is outdated. I know this issue is brought up constantly but my disappointment just continues to grow almost every time I go out on my bike. The whole thing is a joke."
I just don't think that it can be said enough...
I thought the dyslexia was just particularly bad this morning...
Don - I think most ppl would tend to agree with most of what you said, the only part that raises concern is this:
Does this mean that you are going to ride the Dam when it's wet to get back at NWPS?
Absolutely not. I rode up from Sydney yesterday afternoon to do a couple of laps and left it alone when I saw the condition of it. The Manly dam is the only place which gets my respect because they support mountain biking. The irony is the NPWS are now commenting on the Dam even though they have nothing to do with it. The reason why people are forced to use the dam is because the NPSW have SHUT OUT the lands under their responsibility. The person who is making the deciscions at the NPSW is clearly not doing it in the best interests of the majority. And the be patient arguement? I'm 38 - I am from NZ - they have been telling Kiwi MTB's to be patient regarding access to an epic ride the Heaphy Track for 10 years. And NZ is proactive toward mountain biking so if you think this is going to change soon I think you will be disappointed.
Hmmm.... this is not what I understood would be happening. So you are saying the gap in the bushes opposite the Dam here is now blocked?
When I spoke to the rangers about this I specifically asked that this be left open as it means you can cross the road here and ride on the firetrail North to the reserve and round to the lookout North end of Bantry Bay. Without a gap to get to the firetrail one has to ride on the rather busy Wakehurst Parkway. They said that the gap would be left. Can you please confirm this is what's happened and I'll ask again them.
No doubt NPWS will have already read this and abuse me about the comments here. Oh well, such is life
I'd imagine that it's not what you're thinking Rob. When we were talking to the ranger the other weekend he was saying how they had obtained permission from The Aboriginal Land Council ( or what ever they're officially called) to fence off the exit to the Bantry Bay singletrack. Therefore I'd say the fireroad is ok, the fence would be on the bush side of it.
Very sad, very sad indeed.
Theres still the gap of the Pk Way to get to the Red Roads ( Fire Trail )
Ps, Im personally spuin they have gone to this extent, but hey its all good for the housing development to go ahead dont figure. END RANT
...Rob, you say that the NWPS have probably read this and will abuse you?
Why?
Because mountain bike riders are using a community public forum to communicate to each other?
MTB rixders who express their immense disappointment at the way the NWPS handle the trails and their complete and utter disregard for our thoughts - who, buy the way, as tax payers pay the NWPS...
I have doubts they read our site at all, as if they did they would probably manage to have something constructive to say rather than hiding behind someone like yourself,
Blondie... NPWS rangers do read this site. I speak to them regularly and they mention various things from the forums that indicates this. One can also check accesses made from their not-so-subtle government proxy, although if they are reading from somewhere other than a government office this is not so easy to see.
I get abused by NPWS rangers for what is said here, and how riders in general act when they are riding. Dunno how many other people they speak to regularly, but when you (me) are unwittingly representing a group of people that are causing them grief this is just how it is.
Then I get abused by people here too for all sorts of reasons.
Yes, life is fun
isn't that just another example of their supreme ignorance and irrationality that they have a go at you when this forum is a bunch of individuals expressing themselves..and I do believe that this is what a public forum is...
I agree with don... the respect for the NWPS is extremely hard to rustle up
This is a public forum we can and will discuss your actions all we like if you feel that you need to read this to keep track of us fine go ahead but you had better grow a thick skin having a go at Rob for what individuals say here is a cheap shot.
Oh and NPWS just in case you are wondering heres a heads up you don’t have or will ever have the resources to totally keep us of these trails so smarten up and work with the mtb community to give us legal access to some more trails.
Yes NPWS are a little over precious about public criticism.
Often rangers on the ground are hamstrung by lack of funding or over riding policies, but like any government department they are open to public scrutiny and if they can not handle that they need to man up.
I feel the major reason you wont ever get a NP rep commenting on these, or any other MTB forums is that they are too scared.
It is a very brave public servant that commits in writing something which could later be seen by those higher up as being contrary to the official dogma.
NPWS get attacked on a lot of different fronts by different would be user groups. Unfortunately we are seen as one of the undesirables and they can't grasp the fact that we could be a willing allies
There were recent comments about riding on fire trails to is like asking a hiker to walk across across a rugby field, and that singletrack was seen as dangerous. (not to mention the equivalent of environmental genocide)
So by that analogy:
Surfers must cleary be asked to surf on narrabeen lake, because wave's are clearly too dangerous. besides, you scare the fish, leading to more shark attacks.
Paddle boarders - stop pretending to be Jesus, your'e freaking me out.
Windurfers - satan's sporn, clear and blatant wind theft, give it back to the politicians arse.
Golfers - should be fined every time they take a divot, and serve community service for peeing on every tree
Runners - blatant toxic release of BO in close proximity to walkers.
Should i go on...