New MTB trails at Lake Leschenaultia

[Mububban]

Can't wait to go check these out soon. Newly opened green and blue trails at Lake Leschenaultia. Apparently designed to fill the need for more beginner friendly trails to introduce people to the sport. And possibly a bit easier on little legs for young kids learning the ropes. The climbs at Kalamunda are not doable for my 8 year old currently so we do a lot of walking while I push both bikes up hill

No crazy black lines for advanced riders, but after seeing some noobs on the weekend's Kalamunda group ride going OTB on moderate trails, some gentle introductory trails will be very much appreciated for young and beginner riders to learn their skills on.

[HappyHumber]

but after seeing some noobs on the weekend's Kalamunda group ride going OTB on moderate trails

Reminds me of the time I saw a guy in full down hill guards and full face helmet on the Railway Heritage Trail

[Mububban]

Hey, whatever makes people feel safe enough to get out and ride. I armour up like a stormtrooper because I'm super skinny and bony, I've been that noob going OTB and I was very glad of my padding then

[gsxrboy]

I've been keeping an eye on the builders Insta progress. I'll travel out there, (60kms away), for a zip around in the next few weekends!

[Rorschach]

Looks good. My MTB hasn't been out in a while as I really struggle to get up the hills in Kalamunda (my knees are shot), so will be looking at giving this a go

[wexford]

I was there today. Went up Man vs Machine, pretty tough, and down Shakes and Ladders (lots of features - fun and juddery). I already had 50km in the legs at this point riding the XC bike and my hands were sore so I took the B lines - will go back with the trail bike soon and do it properly

The next 50km back home hurt. I was hoping to have a coffee at the kiosk but it was closed! There were heaps of people around, you'd think they'd do reasonable business.

[Mububban]

Looks good. My MTB hasn't been out in a while as I really struggle to get up the hills in Kalamunda (my knees are shot), so will be looking at giving this a go

I'm looking forward to this Sunday's ride with the kids group, I'll report back on the severity of the climbs with bad knees in mind, compared to Kalamunda.

Is an ebike an affordable option to keep you out on the trails?

[wexford]

I'm looking forward to this Sunday's ride with the kids group, I'll report back on the severity of the climbs with bad knees in mind, compared to Kalamunda.

The elevation was pretty gentle. They've used it well to make the green climb easy and the blue climb just challenging enough to be interesting (by way of technical features more than pedalling effort). Likewise, it's used well on the descent with the green stuff to the north skirting the available contour a bit more while the blue stuff to the south goes down the guts where possible. Very good use of the terrain!

[fixed]

As a result of all these new trails the nineteen year event run by ATTA called the Panther Trophy has had to be cancelled due to the traffic and marshalling requirements
http://www.atta.asn.au/maps/LakeLesch.html
This was confirmed to me by both ATTA and Shire of Mundaring staff.
Hopefully a compromise can be made for next year.

[Rorschach]

Looks good. My MTB hasn't been out in a while as I really struggle to get up the hills in Kalamunda (my knees are shot), so will be looking at giving this a go

I'm looking forward to this Sunday's ride with the kids group, I'll report back on the severity of the climbs with bad knees in mind, compared to Kalamunda.

Is an ebike an affordable option to keep you out on the trails?

have tended to stick to my road bike recently, but have been looking at ebikes. Not affordable at the minute, but will keep putting pennies aside for something like that.

[wexford]

The fire trails around the outside are smooth and low gradient. The whole area doesn't have a lot of elevation anyway so it's pretty easy to get to the top, such as it is.

TBH there's more discomfort to be had from the juddering on the way down than there is from effort on the way up

[Mububban]

The Kalamunda kids group rode today and we only did 8km, compared to our usual 11-14km at Kalamunda. The blue tech climb Man vs Machine was challenging for adults, and saw the kids largely walking big sections. They had fun on the green descents though.

I managed to crash on a green jump (I can crash anywhere apparently...), I *think* what happened was my front wheel caught some soft gravel before the lip, handlebars twisted, I failed to launch properly and then landed with a crooked front wheel, and down I went onto my right shoulder. Nothing broken, just sore.

Standing up and moving my bike off the trail, I felt the gravel "mush" under foot. So be careful until they're compacted with more use

[gsxrboy]

Spent a few hours up there yesty. Signage from the carpark could be a little better as I couldn't see anything that said the Eastern Line was just "there" behind the carpark. I ended up finding the start of Man vs Machine and went from there. I could very well be blind and not have seen anything though :-p

The trails all ran well indeed, though I think maybe there was some blue bits on Towie (green) and maybe some black bits on Blue Panther (blue). Congrats to the WTA team and the volunteers! Fingers crossed there is room and future funding for some more trails. Maybe in the busier months there might need to be another Eastern Line type trail to get people up to the top.

Dandy parking, nice little spot and while I didn't use them in the end, excellent end of ride facilities for all and sundry.

Edit - One thing I thought of today is that the top section, at the entrance to the trails, they could possibly clear out a bit of a landing zone for riders to move off the single track. It's a bit tight up there already so having a bit of a spot to dismount, sit on some log seats to snack on some lollies etc, would be a good addition.