If you raced mountain bike in NSW during the 90s, there’s a fair chance that you’ll remember Killingworth. Located in bushland next to the freeway just south of Newcastle, it used to be a regular stop on the circuit for both cross-country and downhill MTB events.
With formal trail networks established at Awaba and Glenrock, Killingworth slipped under the radar and remained there for near on two decades. In this time the trails have been overrun by 4WDs, moto riders and random rubbish dumping scumbags. Just recently – thanks to the hard work of Hunter Valley MTB Club (HMBA) – the area has been rejuvenated and the MTB trails have been brought back to life.
Aside from lots of trail maintenance to bring the tracks up to speed, HMBA has also been holding events at Killingworth. Private promoters have been getting in on the act too, so we loaded up the Rav and headed up there to take part in the opening round the Rocky Trail Fox Rollercoaster series.
Over 150 riders took part and the enduro format offered a great way to sample the trails. If you’re not familiar, this style of event allows you to pedal up the hills at a leisurely pace, chatting with your mates as you go, then race the timed descending sections and brag about your run at the bottom. While this almost sounds relaxing, the three timed sections meant you had to do a fair bit of riding to get familiar with the trails. When combined with near 40-degree temperatures on the day, it ensured that the Fox Rollercoaster was no walk in the park.
So how is gravity enduro different to plain old downhill? Well aside from having to get back up the hills under your own steam, the courses are usually a little less intense. As a result, enduro is best ridden on an all-purpose trail bike; something in the 120 – 150mm travel range. It’s the sort of bike that most enthusiast mountain bikers already own; this makes enduro a far more accessible form of gravity oriented MTB racing.
The advantage of this is clearly evident, as the event attracts riders of all levels. While the elite level fast guys and girls were in attendance, I spoke to people who were out to ride their first ever competitive MTB event. It’s great to see this comparatively new event format attracting new faces into the sport.
Back in its heyday Killingworth was considered a challenging place to ride; it had real MTB trails and was seen as being quite technical. Many of the trails used in the Fox Rollercoaster were the same ones we rode in the 90s, so it was interesting to revisit ‘Killi’ and gain a perspective on how times have changed. One of the tracks ridden was the old downhill track, but DH in the early 90s was ridden on hardtails and if you were really ‘hardcore’ you’d have 80mm of suspension travel up front. Combine this with steep and nervous steering geometry, lousy brakes and skill levels that were on average less developed – well you get the idea; things were tougher in that era.
Fast-forward to the present and Killingsworth serves as a perfect setting for XC and gravity enduro racing. Overall the descents aren’t overly steep and the trails offer some nice flow without feeling manufactured like many modern bike parks. There’s also a few washed out sections as well as the odd rock drop to keep it interesting for those with skills and challenge those without. Overall Killi has a relatively natural feel and would be a great place to hit for a weekend explore, maybe when it’s a good deal cooler than our race day!
The racing was certainly close with the top elite women finishing within ten seconds of each other, with Vanessa Thompson finishing four seconds ahead of experienced DH racer Joanne Fox and the ever-enthusiastic Kath Bicknell in third. The elite men’s race was unbelievably close with Michael Vanos, Jon Odams and local rider David Bowden tied for the win. Chris Martin and Michael Kafka completed the podium placing fourth and fifth respectively.
If you like the sound of this event format, round two of the Fox Rollercoaster powered by BH Bikes is coming up in a few weeks – 1 March 2015 at Del Rio Resort, Wisemans Ferry. Go to www.rockytrailentertainment.com for all the information.
Want to find out more about the Killingworth trails? Get in touch with HMBA or ‘like’ the Killingworth MTB page on Facebook.
Photos: www.outerimage.com.au
