St Ives Horse Track   (3.00km)

Notes:

The St Ives Horse track runs from the intersection of Forestway and Mona Vale Road (opposite the Fruit Market) out to the St Ives Showground.

There is a short section of fire trail from the intersection before the single trail starts. The first piece of single track has the slightest incline; however the winding track contains a number of rocks, roots, ruts plus the odd wet section and bump to keep you alert.  It runs for around 500m before intersecting with the Ryland Track.  A left turn and 30m ride up the fire trail leads to a gate where the track heads off to the right.  It remains fire trail until the tower at which point the trail narrows and immediately presents some rough sections.

This section gets a little tricky with lots of ruts with hidden obstacles.  The ride back reveals how messy it really is however thankfully it’s not long before the trail flattens out again and gently winds its way through the bush for a further kilometer. Cross over to continue along the single track. 

After a short open stretch the trail gets very narrow with dense bush coming right onto the trail (7mins on the video).  You will get plenty of hits on the bars, arms and helmet as you wind your way through this section.  To make things more interesting there are some tight rutted sections and a few other on trail obstacles.  The bush opens up again confidently because it’s at that point you start an easy descent over some rough terrain.  Rocks, ruts and roots will try and throw you offline and there is even a nice 1 foot roll off as well.  Unfortunately that section is all to short before you reach the first real climb – but its a fun climb featuring challenging rock steps each offering a number of alternative lines. It's a great section to practice your line selection, momentum and climbing ability. The rock gardens are also plenty of fun when riding in the other direction. 

After reaching the house at the top the trail becomes more subdued ringing the hill and leading to the climb up parallel to Mona Vale Road.

At the top of the widened trail keep an eye out for the single track on the right, it runs along the fence line for a while before popping you out into the North East corner of the showgrounds.

I get very lost around the showgrounds so its worth taking note of the location of buildings so you can find your way home.

Parts of this trail are quite tight and obstacles come at you fast.  Coming across other riders on parts of this trail could be VERY tricky however thankfully it doesn’t receive a lot of traffic.

This trail is rapidly becoming a favourite of mine.  Relatively flat and easily rideable from start to finish its far more interesting than cranking out miles on a fire trail.

Blog articles that mention this trail

• 28/6/2015 - VIDEO: 365 Days of Reign - The Third (year of serious mountain biking)
• 26/1/2015 - VIDEO: 2014 FAILS - Will Ride, Will Fail
• 17/6/2014 - 365 Days of Reign - My 2nd Year on a real mountain bike
• 18/5/2014 - Review: the Bionicon C-Guide V2.0
• 1/1/2014 - 2013 Another Year of #FAIL
• 14/12/2013 - Merry Christmas from MTB-TV - What a year its been
• 18/3/2013 - I'm on a mission to ride the St Ives and Belrose Trails

Comments: