Serrata track bantry bay

clockworked

clockworked

Like an orange
its 1.5 km long supposedly, and its across the road from manly dam. You could easily do both in one loop. I'm not sure when its opening though
 
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Honzo15

Likes Dirt
Its only open since yesterday but even with linking it to the Dam I dont think its worth driving all the way from the Gong. Dont you guys have some nice riding down there?
 
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Snit

Likes Bikes
ryanburke said:
Anyone know much about this serrata track developed in the national park? Me and a few mates located wollongong were thinking of heading up this Sunday for a day trip. Is it worth the 2 hr drive? Will the track be open?

http://flowmountainbike.com/post-all/new-trail-preview-serrata-track-bantry-bay-nsw/


This is my only source of information...
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Mate, there will be two trails in Bantry Bay, one on the west side (Serrata Trail) and another one on the East side near the Wakehurst parkway. The latter won't be ready until around mid December apparently. You are better off waiting a few weeks until the second trail is ready, then you can incorporate an extended Manly Dam loop (12-13km) with the new stuff which will probably add another 6-8km.

Come back to this post in a few weeks and organize a ride day, I'd be happy to meet you guys there and show you the extended Dam loop linked up with the new Bantry Bay trails.
 
loc81

loc81

Likes Dirt
Snit said:
Mate, there will be two trails in Bantry Bay, one on the west side (Serrata Trail) and another one on the East side near the Wakehurst parkway..
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Hey buddy I'm going to take a look this weekend- bit of a Manly/Hornsby double header for a change up from the coast. I've ridden Manly a couple of times in the last 12 months but can you help me with where this new trail starts?
I normally ride onto the trail from the end of the school car park if that helps.
Much appreciated!
 
foxpuppet

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
loc81 said:
Hey buddy I'm going to take a look this weekend- bit of a Manly/Hornsby double header for a change up from the coast. I've ridden Manly a couple of times in the last 12 months but can you help me with where this new trail starts?
I normally ride onto the trail from the end of the school car park if that helps.
Much appreciated!
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Loc81 here you go. Check strava too if you want a bit clearer idea of the route.

This is for serrata track only, access will be different for the other trail but it's not open yet so here's the route I took for serrata.

Sorry if this seems complex, there are easier ways to get there but this is a fun route to take that minimises time on roads.

starting at hydro lab or school is fine.

Once you ride past the golf course, you'll come to the long rocky straight near the trig point running parallel to wake hurst parkway. Once this hits the firetrail turn left And you should be seeing wakehurst parkway this is where you cross the road to the bantry bay side.
Once over the road head right on the firetrail again. At the end of this turn immediately right again. It will enter the winding single track called possums.

Stay on this single track until you hit a footpath and turn left. (This single track does continue if you want but you'll have to either double back on it or go down the road - the ride back on possums is pretty fun though.)

Then you need to ride back down bantry bay rd until you reach penrose place. At the end of this cul de sac is a pathway. Follow the path between the houses and head straight into the firetrail section which will fade into a rocky single track. (Known as worst shortcut ever on strava)

This will drop down onto the sports fields on currie rd. Follow currie road down until you see the currie rd fire trail on the left. Turn in there and about 1km in you'll reach the start of serrata trail. It's a one way track with return on the firetrail back to the start. Once ridden you can ride back the way you came up to bantry bay rd and rejoin the singletrack and drop into manly dam again on the creek gap trail section.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1417123817.205584.jpg

Yellow shows manly dam trail. Green is link section and red is serrata trail. It's pretty rough but gives the general idea.
 
loc81

loc81

Likes Dirt
Holy crap! Thanks man I'll run over this tonight and get my head around it. I wasn't expecting it so far from the dam route!
 
foxpuppet

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
loc81 said:
Holy crap! Thanks man I'll run over this tonight and get my head around it. I wasn't expecting it so far from the dam route!
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Well the section that's NOT Opened yet is a lot closer to the dam as its on the eastern side of Bantry bay, serrata is on the western side. I think roughly the 2 trails plus connections will add 7-8km to the dam loop.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1417124392.071695.jpg

I've not actually ridden it yet. About 2 weeks ago I went to have a look and see it but just rode the currie Ed firetrail top to bottom. I fee poeple I know had done the same and the trailscapes crew gave them the nod to have a little preview. I was hoping for the same but no one was around and I didn't feel right about poaching. But now it's open I might see if I can get there this arvo.
 
loc81

loc81

Likes Dirt
foxpuppet said:
Well the section that's NOT Opened yet is a lot closer to the dam as its on the eastern side of Bantry bay, serrata is on the..
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Where did you grab that pic from mate? It's pretty blurry but I might get a better look at the source. Cheers
 
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Honzo15

Likes Dirt
A short report would be nice. Is it worth riding it on it own and do it multiple times? Is there parking to be found somewhere or will the guys living in that street freak out because of all the rack equiped cars suddenly parking in their street.
 
foxpuppet

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
Honzo15 said:
A short report would be nice. Is it worth riding it on it own and do it multiple times? Is there parking to be found somewhere or will the guys living in that street freak out because of all the rack equiped cars suddenly parking in their street.
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yeah if you wanted to session just that trail you could park in currie st near the firetrail entrance. currie rd has a sports ground on it so I'm sure they are used to cars being there.

first impression is its a heck of a lot of fun for such a short trail (the bit that open so far) it's one way so once you come out you have to ride up the firetrail to get back to the start. its a mellow climb though, a kid came through on a glory with full face and pedalled back up if that gives an indication.

overall I've ridden funner trails but as a side note to the dam loop and little offshoots or other local single track it adds a new dimension. can be ridden as fast or a slow as you want and some of the A lines look pretty hairy (this is from 1 ride through with no scoping first) but once your through the tech stuff it kind of peters out in conventional single track. i think the funner stuff will be on the soon to be completed eastern side!
 
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Honzo15

Likes Dirt
I've ridden 3 loops this morning, was the first one on the trail at 6am and had a blast. It's way more technical than I expected but it got more fun with every round. It really is a track that should only be ridden when you are confident on your bike though. There are no second guesses and you should know when to let go your front brake. I really liked it and will ride it regularly from now on. Its great to test your skills and some lines are there to test your balls as well. My advice is to ride it very early at the moment as when I left at around 7.45am a biker passed me every 30 seconds and some in large groups. Having a rider or more of them in front of you will not be fun on this track. You may also struggle a bit if you run 800mm bars and dont know how to use them. Look out for your pedals and your cranks and get your arse on the rear tire. Before dropping in lower your post, take the first run very slowly and you'll have a blast. It may even scare you a bit the first time and thats a good thing here on the beaches.
 
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AzonicNick

Likes Dirt
Har a go this morning and did a few laps. It's pretty technical and I couldn't ride the whole thing (maybe that doesn't mean much!) but I would take a slow lap first as it can catch you off guard and it caught a couple of people out this morning in the short time I was there.

Great little trail though and a nice addition to the area!
 
bowtajzane

bowtajzane

Likes Dirt
Was it supposed to be as technical as it is ?
It's just that most tracks these days seem to be dumbed down when built
 
foxpuppet

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
I'm gonna apologise in advance for any bouts of nausea from watching this. But this was from yesterday's ride through the trail. Be kind on my riding, it was first time on the trail and we didn't do a scope through first just rode it as it came. If you don't like daft punk out it on mute (was hard to find a good long track in short time)

[video=vimeo;113135391]https://vimeo.com/113135391[/video]

Also note chops sitting down at the start but on his bike at the end. ;)
 
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bowtajzane

bowtajzane

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Mate no need to apologize, i think you did exceptionally well not to bin it on your first ride
there, it's definitely not what you'd call xc friendly is it .
There will be many people lose skin and bits of their bikes that don't ride to their abilities,
but it's good to see a" natural " built trail. ..........
By the way what was chops doing. .......... having a mothers meeting ?
 
ChopSticks

ChopSticks

Banned
Man I was hurting yesterday !!
Already did many Km's and had a few tumbles..... Battered and scratched I was struggling to even keep up with puppet's fresh legs
 
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