MTB trails in Cairns, Australia (and bike hire)

[aquaratza]

Hi

 

I'm planning on visiting Cairns in Australia for a few weeks. I was wondering if anyone here had any experience hiring bicycles and/or riding trails in the Cairns area ?

 

I spent a few weeks in Tenerife late last year, during which I hired two basic hard tails and cycled with my SO through the pine plantations. We alternated between MTB and diving on alternate days. It was awesome. I'm hoping to recreate that kind of experience in Australia.

 

Any advice/ideas would be great.

 

Thanks

[DjCyclist]

According to my buddy there's nothing out there. He opted for road cycling.

Edited August 25, 2019 by DjCyclist

[BMXER]

Loads of mtb trails, parks and forests to ride.

Far less racing but plenty of trails. Cairns is tropical and very hot.

 

Road is also an option. Far safer than SA.

 

I have not entered a race in the past 2 years!

Edited August 25, 2019 by BMXER

[ShovaTours]

Check in with Di Caroline. She is out that way.... And always mountain biking.

Instagram or Facebook should lead you to finding her. She is a bike guide and very good rider.

[aquaratza]

Yeah @ hot. I've been to Cairns before, mostly for diving. I'm going back again for more diving but figured I'd take a bicycle with this time haha. Dive, cycle, dive, cycle 

 

MTB in Queensland seems to be heavily controlled in that there are only a few MTB tour operators/hire outlets (seems they're licenced by the government) and they charge a lot for bicycle hire (the equivalent of R 1000 per day). 

 

So far good options in QLD seem to be the Smithfield MTB park, Davies Creek and Atherton MTB trails.

 

There's also the Blue Mountains, "near" Sydney, which seem to have some trails. I was just curious if anyone had experience with these areas.

 

Loads of mtb trails, parks and forests to ride.
Far less racing but plenty of trails. Cairns is tropical and very hot.

Road is also an option. Far safer than SA.

I have not entered a race in the past 2 years!

[patham]

Yeah @ hot. I've been to Cairns before, mostly for diving. I'm going back again for more diving but figured I'd take a bicycle with this time haha. Dive, cycle, dive, cycle 

 

MTB in Queensland seems to be heavily controlled in that there are only a few MTB tour operators/hire outlets (seems they're licenced by the government) and they charge a lot for bicycle hire (the equivalent of R 1000 per day). 

 

So far good options in QLD seem to be the Smithfield MTB park, Davies Creek and Atherton MTB trails.

 

There's also the Blue Mountains, "near" Sydney, which seem to have some trails. I was just curious if anyone had experience with these areas.

 

 

I think half the issue is that Queensland is a big place - about 50% larger than South Africa by area. So I only have a feel for my little corner of the South East - close to Brissie. But Cairns has hosted some DH events, so must be something happening there. 

 

Cairns does have a well developed tourist industry, which is why you are finding bikes for hire. That service is a bit harder to find in the South East. R1000 per day is what I have been finding is the going rate at Rotorua. It seems to be the price you pay in a tourist hot-spot in a high labour cost economy.

 

Blue Hills should have something, but I gather the best MTB hotspot in the vicinity is to keep on heading out from Sydney and go to Canberra.

[SlowManiac]

I'll have a go at the NSW trails. What kind of riding are you after? 

 

In Sydney on the north side there is Manly Dam which is 10-15km of mostly XC trails with some slightly trickier stuff. 

Old Mans Valley in Hornsby - short but fun flow type trails with some jumps. Beginner and intermediate friendly. Nearby is another short XC trail called H2O.

Mount Narra trails - gravity orientated trails with some big drops etc. Does require riding up a pretty gnarly hill. Can be linked up with other trails in the area. IMO the best riding in Sydney but does require a level of competency and at least a trail rather then XC bike.

Out of Sydney but close by - Ourimbah and Awaba - XC trails.

Canberra has some great riding. Stromlo, Majura Pines, and others.

 

If you are after shuttles then Thredbo. 

 

The mountain biking hotspot in Australia at the moment is Tasmania - Blue Derby, Maydena and others.

[aquaratza]

Hey SlowManiac, apologies for not responding sooner, I must have gotten distracted.

Thanks for the advice. I landed up taking one bike with a view to hiring a second bike for my partner in Sydney and Cairns. So far so good, my Stumpy 29'er has survived the CPT->JHB->SYD->Cairns flights without a scratch wooohooo! I thought I was mad taking a bike with me but I haven't regretted it so far. I'm using an *economical* Chain Reaction Cycles bike bag. I have a Scicon bag, but it exceeds the Qantas height dimensions. So far the CRC bag has been near-perfect.

We took the train out to Katoomba and did the Narrow Neck trail - very easy, some light climbs, AWESOME views. The bike we hired in Katoomba was terrible though - Frankenstein; badly resprayed hardtail thing with no back brake and a dodgy groupset - for anyone reading avoid "The Flying Fox" in Katoomba. On a related note: taking the front derailleur off a 2x10 bike does not make a good 1x10 bike       

We went out a day later to Loftus and then cycled to Waterfall via Lady Carrington's Trail, which was very pretty. So cool taking a bike on the trains haha. This time we hired from a guy in Sydney and he gave us a very fancy 2018 Commençal Meta bike. Jet black with silver text. Huge rotors. Super cool. Highly recommend CranksWagon (Jay). I'm hoping to give the Oakes Fire Trail a go on the way back, which is more downhill apparently. They say "the train is like your ski lift".

 

Just arrived in Cairns, bike's ready to go. Will hopefully try out Smithfield MTB park tomorrow.

(Katoomba lookout)

 

(Hired Commencal Meta 2018 under the canopy of Lady Carrington's Trail)

Edited September 9, 2019 by aquaratza

[SlowManiac]

Hey SlowManiac, apologies for not responding sooner, I must have gotten distracted.

 

Thanks for the advice. I landed up taking one bike with a view to hiring a second bike for my partner in Sydney and Cairns. So far so good, my Stumpy 29'er has survived the CPT->JHB->SYD->Cairns flights without a scratch wooohooo! I thought I was mad taking a bike with me but I haven't regretted it so far. I'm using an *economical* Chain Reaction Cycles bike bag. I have a Scicon bag, but it exceeds the Qantas height dimensions. So far the CRC bag has been near-perfect.

 

 

 

Awsome - glad you are enjoying yourself! The Oaks is pretty much the classic Blue Mountains ride - a fast mostly downhill 25km with a fun section of single track near the end. Don't miss that, the entrance to the single is where the gate across the trail is at around 18km in. Save some energy for the climb out of the causeway! 

Bakehouse on Park in Glenbrook (where the ride finishes) has AMAZING pies and cafe 2773 is really nice too for a brekkie or post ride coffee.

[aquaratza]

Haha, yeah, looking forward to it. We planned on doing it sooner but on the day we hired the second bike the Katoomba line had track work on it.

 

I was last in Australia 2 years ago and between then and now there's been a mini-revolution in cycling. Maybe I didn't see it before but this time round you see bicycles and facilities for bicycles everywhere.