Asariderontheground, this means that when
youstepoutoftheshuttle bus, get your bike and
takeaselfieatthetop of the park, by the time
yourollin,youareonly sharing the trail with your
mates,andthechances of seeing others on the
waydownisreallysmall. With such a myriad of
trailsthatstretchacross the park, you are offered
choicesallthewaydown. With some trails coming
togetheratmajorjunctions with trail maps and
aplacetotake5,itis easy to regroup, and jump
intoaneasierorharder trail if you want. And that
varietyoftrailislikely greater than you think.
“Westartedwiththe initial gravity offering and
broadeneditfromthere,” explains Ellis. “We’ll
continuetomakethings more accessible for
familiesandbeginner riders so they can come to
learntojumpandlearn to mountain bike as well.
We’vedonethatnow but we’ll continue to broaden
that.We’llalsobedoing more jumping things
too.Notjustbigjump trails, but some green and
bluejumptrailswhere people can learn to jump
properlyandlearnto use that elevation to build
progressionintopeople’s riding.”
There’sabitofatheme here – Maydena Bike
Parkisprogressivein a few ways. It’s a high-level
bikeparkinasmall town that has had to bring
muchoftheinfrastructure it needed with it. The
townhashadtochange, and there have been
anumberofproperty sales with new owners
takingadvantageof short-term accommodation
demand.Andtimeriding Maydena will push you.
Notonlyisitphysically demanding, but the option
toprogressyourskills are clearly evident. With an
all-dayshuttle,youcan hit run after run trying to
getyourlinesrighton hard trails or maximising
yourflowontheeasier trails.
Withsometop-notch food on offer ride at the
Rider’sHub,whoare licenced and have beers on
tap, great coffee and tasty baked goods, you might
even eat three meals there a day, while talking to
other riders and staff. The question then remains- how long will you stay? We had two full days of
riding at Maydena, but still we barely touched the
surface.
“We have been here for three days but I need
to now move on, my hands and arms are so sore!”
West laughed when we warmed up around
the fire.
“If you’re a bit fitter then staying more than
three days is worthwhile,” added Korum. “It takes
a little while to know all the trails and all the
features.” While other groups were there for a few
days, some were open to staying longer, as they
were travelling on a pretty open itinerary. With
the scope of the riding in Maydena Bike Park, and
the huge playground for hiking, endurance riding,
kayaking and more in the surrounding area, if you
can head to Maydena with an open agenda, you
won’t be disappointed. Just book your shuttles
ahead – you don’t want to be stuck without a seat.
Maydena Bike Park has made a big impression
since opening about 18-months ago, and I suspect
this is just the start. They are vying to have riding
options and services that rival those of the big
bike parks like Queenstown and Whistler – and we
reckon they’re well on their way.
VANLIFE60 AMB
MAYDENA
ESSENTIALS
WHERE TO STAY IN
MAYDENA
While you could look up short-
term accommodation online, we
stayed one night in our van near
Junee Caves, then at Left of Field
Caravan. Book in advance if you
need a powered site as this place
is popular.Give them a call: 0418
136 434DON’T FORGET
Maydena Bike Park is hard on
brake pads, so bring some spares.
It’s also pretty wild, so take a
jacket and clothing to suit a wide
variety of conditions.RENT A BIG BIKE
If you don’t have a longer travel
bike, you can ride plenty of
the trails at Maydena. But we
guarantee you’ll have more fun on
something with more travel. Book
your shuttles and lock in a Canyon
Torque or Sender as well.