So I had my Bay Of Fires fill over the last few weeks... strangely didnt get to ride the St Helens trails due to injuries collected on the BOF trail.
I rode the first 14km x 3 times and the whole 42km x 2.
0-14k is nice, very loose and very unpredictable soil/sand. It was ok in my opinion, really needs a good winter to pack it down... though the level of rider completing this trail may mean it gets gouged out on every corner before it ever gets to bed in.
14-23km is fire track, simply its 9km of mostly climbing vehicle track. Towards the end of it, it gets very sandy.
23km -42km is very scenic, large monolith boulders, slabs of rock, grass trees, this is actually my favourite section of this complete trail. Its got a lot of climbing but its relatively easy. The last 6-7km is basically all downhill. All very loose and unpredictable trail surface, even some of the rock roll over ramps are crumbling away.
I really enjoyed this trail apart from the crashes. Hope it will be pristine on our next visit but seeing some of the 'holidaymaker' riders coming up from St Helens to do this ride, its going to need lots of maintenance.
The shuttle operators are having a nightmare trying to keep everyone happy, drop 20 at the top, 1st ones are finished in 2.5hrs, last one rocks in at 6.5hrs... people waiting to head back to Derby for 4hrs.
Both rides took us 3:22 and 3:04, thats with stopping to take pics, vids, fill water bottles, eat and crash.
I have a good bit of GoPro footage, will get a vid up in the next few days.