Sticks Pass
This ride starts from Glenridding. Park in the main car park and head up the road past the Travellers Rest pub, the road curves to the right and eventually joins a track that steadily climbs it’s way up to the Youth Hostel. At the Youth Hostel go through the gate and keep right, zig zagging until you reach the main trail that will take you up the right hand side of the valley.
This is a long steady climb too that gets steeper as it climbs. It’s all rideable though so just keep spinning the legs. Eventually you’ll reach a fork right, pop the bike on you shoulders and take this right. Basically you’re hike-a-biking the majority of the climb all the way up Keppel Cove. It’s can be a hard slog at times but you’ll soon forget it. At the top, check out the 360 panoramic views then head right up the slope towards Raise. You’ll climb again, this time on moonscape rocky terrain picking your own line until you reach the summit. It’s literally all down hill from here.
The first rocky descent is technical and again you’re pretty much choosing your own line through the rocks. It gets steep in parts before you come out on a long straight trail that brings you to a crossroads (cross paths). Take a right and give it all you’ve got. You’ll be smiling all the way back to car from here, the terrain is challenging, fast on parts, super technical on others, but everything is rideable and you’re even treated a small flat section (over the bridge) before the wicked last descent through the rocks back down to the Hostel. It’s bouldery, rocky and narrow but so much fun.
At the Hostel enjoy the fast track descent back to the car, via the Travellers Rest, of course.
