Sherwood Pines Mountain Bike Centre http://www.ibikeride.com/media/reviews/videos/thumbnail/280x280s/b5/ce/6b/Br6UtbxbZ2o.jpg Hot

Ok so the first thing you need to know about the Kitchener Trail (red trail) is that it is an XC loop red and not a "Trail Centre Red". It is graded as a red because compared to the Green and Blue tracks they have, it is progressively more difficult. You have to know that it is a family orientated centre, so don't expect to be thrashing long decents and killer climbs! The area they have built the trail on is very flat but the trail builders have done a fantastic job in my opinion of the little contours there are.

The XC Loop itself is fairly mundane compared to say Cannock, Cwmcarn, or Gelntress and requires pedalling for 80% of it, so you will need to be energised for a round!. But there are some exciting sections which can bring your speed up fairly quickly. The best part about the trail, and the reason why i continue to ride it, is the bike park section roughly two thirds of the way round. During the winter of 2012 they worked on the section and I have ridden it new in 2013. There are at least 10 different route combinations you can take down the park, each with drops beween curb height and 2 foot, and swooping berms/corners.There are also a few rock sections on which a HT would suffer greatly! Each run takes around 1 minute on average and they all lead to the push up track which only takes 5 minutes to do.
There is also a Dirt Jump area with 5 sets of really well progressed jumps. It's fairly popular with DJ bikes and BMXs but is fun to ride on a Mountain bike too.

Recently (start of 2013) there has been a fair level of work put into the track itself to aid water run off and general conditions. I noticed a number of sections that used to be mud baths, transformed into hardpack trail with good drainage. There are a handful puddles/mud sections that seem to never disappear but I'm sure they will be sorted in due course and they only last for a few 10s of metres.

In terms of facilities there is a bike shop, cafe, toilets, jet wash, and picnic benches. They also have a 'Go Ape' activity centre for people not riding the trails. The bike shop does rentals and appears to be open all year round.

Overall I would certainly recommend the Kitchener trail to any level of mountain biker especially those just starting out. It's not a thrill seekers trail centre but it has been crafted well onto the given area. One thing I am yet to do is a night ride as the place is perfect for them! I believe Wednesday night is the unofficial day for them so I will have to get there some point soon with my new lights!

Sherwood Pines is both great fun and quite dull. The XC loop alone is very flat, and nothing too exciting on it's own - it's more of an "exercisey" loop than a "fun" loop, though as with most things, if you go flat out you can make things interesting. :)

Some sections of the XC loop feel extremely well surfaced, but it definitely suffers in the wet. There are various bits that get very very muddy, and some of the puddles are more like lakes at times. It's tolerable in the wet, but if you have the chance wait until it dries out, do.

What makes Sherwood Pines awesome, however, is the dirt jump area and the freeride park. They have a small but decent selection of dirt jumps, both small and rollable and some pretty big ones, but the highlight is the freeride park. They've very recently rebuilt the top section of it and it rides brilliantly. I probably wouldn't suggest it for absolute beginners, but if you pick the right line there's certainly nothing too scary and you can roll most of it. But if you hit it at speed, and you can get a heck of a lot of speed on it, it's awesome fun to ride over and over again, and there's plenty of stuff to session and build your skill up on. Lower down the hill there's a small selection of jumps and so on which you can hit - they're scattered all over the place with no real route over them so you can make up a line yourself.

Finally, there's the usual facilities at the trail head - bike shop w/ bike hire, a cafe, and toilets. The cafe has some pretty tasty cake too. ;)

Overall, Sherwood Pines isn't anything too special, but if you're within an hour's drive of it, it's worth a visit, and if you're passing by and have a few hours to kill, give it a visit.

As mentioned fun if you mix it up with the Downhill and Bike park as well as the XC but for XC on it's own is great mainly for beginners and novices.