MTB_plus_2

Community
Gangsa Track
Halfway along the Chesnut/Track 15 trail comes
something definitely not for beginners – the Gangsa Track! We’ll
be honest, we’ve never ridden this fast, carefully built stretch of
nastiness, which is firmly the domain of the full-helmet, flatpedaled
baggie brigade. But Low has ridden it and gives us his
description.
“A really dedicated trail crew have built Gangsa up over
the years. It has big drops, big jumps, and requires a lot of
commitment, so advanced riders only should do those features.
A novice or intermediate rider could probably roll through them
without too much trouble but if you wanna get your air, get your
bike totally airborne, well that requires a lot practice before you
can take on all the features there. It’s not long, it’s over in like 40
seconds.”
You have been warned.
Butterfly
Just a few hundred metres along Chesnut Avenue from
the Track 15 entrance sits Butterfly, a love-it-or-loathe-it, 3.3kmlong
trail that offers Singapore’s definitive experience in roots
riding. It can be ridden both clockwise and anticlockwise but
obviously with the dual-direction option, watch out for other
riders. Butterfly is also a shared facility so take care not to hit
any roamers.
Low is firmly in the love camp.
“Fantastic trail, most technical trail in Singapore, real jungle
riding with a lot of roots, slippery sections, a couple of jumps. I
think you need to be physically fit to ride this trail even though
there’s not a lot of climbing. It used to be an illegal trail, but
through some very positive lobbying and participation of MTB
interest groups they managed to get it open and it’s a favourite
trail among many,” Low says.
Any point in beginners venturing into Butterfly?
“No … probably not … not at all,” Low says.
He also informs us that with a lot of work currently going on to
build additional trails in and around Butterfly, it might undergo
some closure in a few weeks time.
Kent Ridge Park Mountain Bike Trail
The Kent Ridge Park trail is located just past Car Park
A on Vigilante Drive, but keep an eye out for the actual entrance
as it’s not completely obvious. Built for the most part on the
side of a forested hill, the relatively short but highly technical
Kent Ridge cross-country trail is not for the faint-hearted. But
for higher-skilled riders with a good level of fitness and nerve its
combination of steep, twisty and obstacle-filled descents and an
even steeper climb back to the starting point is a true test.
Once in there, just follow the trail on its mostly downwards
trajectory. Due to trail maintenance work some sections of the
Kent Ridge trail are temporarily closed, so it can occasionally be
confusing where to go, but down is a good bet. The best place
to exit the roughly 1.5km trail is currently onto the tarmac of
Vigilante Drive, which leaves that nasty little road to be climbed
to complete the loop.
There’s also a downhill line, the Sidewinder, at Kent
Ridge that we haven’t tackled, but after speaking to Low we me
just have a go.
“The downhill line is very interesting, lots of big berms,
a few drops and a couple of table-top jumps, so guys with the big
downhill and trail bikes can really enjoy themselves there,” Low
says. “But it’s still suitable for beginners to work on their skills.
The corners are actually really, really smooth so if you control
78