Tai Lam Mountain Bike Trail

I recently dusted off the mountain bike and decided to take it for a spin as a bit of a change from all the road cycling I had been doing recently. I had purchased a mid-range Boardman 29er since being in Hong Kong, but it hadn't got a great deal of use primarily as most mountain bike trails were relatively difficult to access and that I didn't have a riding partner (having no power meter also means that, as far as my performance management chart / software was concerned, kilometers on the MTB wouldn't 'count' towards my 'fitness'.... more important mentally/motivationally than it should be!)

I had only previously ridden the trails on the Chi Ma Wan Peninsula, which offer some (in my opinion) pretty technical MTB single track but a few too many stairs / very steep rocky sections for my liking/limited ability, so was keen to try out some of the trails on offer in Tai Lam Country Park. Apparently they are 'easier' and suited to cyclists of 'all abilities'.

I headed out on the MTR to Tsuen Wan and set off along a ~10km section of dual carriage way towards the Tai Lam Reservoir loop I had identified as the trail for the day. MTBs are not really made for the road but given the terrain wasn't too bad I found this really hard going, but dismissed it as a bit of a hangover from the Lantau 100 a few days earlier.

Bizarrely the route up to the reservoir lead me straight through the Tai Lam Correctional facility - I was waved through the stop sign and cycled straight through the 'campus' with serious looking security guards marching all around - presumably they see mountain bikers all the time... prisoners were presumably weaving hesian sacks somewhere nearby.

I only hope it is minimum security...

A sharp rise out of the correctional facility (and with  small diversion into a chlorination plant, which for some reason I thought I could cycle round the perimeter fence of) and I was at the start of the trail.

The whole trail was really well signposted

The machine...

Heading out onto the trail I wasn't 3 minutes in before my rear wheel started really squeaking. I stopped to check what was going on. The rear wheel wasn't spinning properly and the rear brake appeared to be stuck on (thankfully explaining the struggle I was having on the flat roads earlier).

Er.... how do I fix this?

It was at this stage I realised that, whilst I know a lot about road bikes, I knew next to nothing about mountain bikes or how they worked. I blindly got the multi-tool out and took a typically male approach and started to take things apart only stopping when after turning one bolt hydraulic fluid started oozing out (I was later to learn that this was in fact what I should be doing...) - to be honest I hadn't even been sure up until this stage whether I had mechanical or hydraulic disc brakes! Having admitted defeat I put everything back together and put the wheel back on, resigned to the fact that I would have to cycle the rest of the day with the rear brake half-on the whole time - it was going to be hard work!

Unfazed, I continued on and started to really enjoy the trail, which was mostly flat and hugged the reservoir's coastline. Whilst this is billed as one of the easier trails in Hong Kong there were still plenty of steep, rutted and rocky sections to keep me busy. A 29er in Hong Kong is probably a must given the rocky/craggy nature of many of the trails.

My main concern is the consequences of a tumble.....

The western and northern side of the reservoir continued in much the same vein with a few near head-on collisions with other bikers thrown in to keep things interesting. On hitting the north-eastern point of the reservoir the trail turned to country park road for the remainder of the loop. When doing it again I would just head back and do the trail in reverse - it was a pretty boring second half....

Tai Lam Chung Reservoir

All that was left was trip back through the prison yard and a trudge along the dual carriageway with the brakes still locked on. A taxi from/to Tseun Wan would have been a better  option. Once off the MTR in Central I headed to Sky Blue Bikes and was somewhat vindicated in bleeding the hydraulic fluid (accidentally, on purpose) as apparently the humidity in Hong Kong has a habit of expanding the fluid - resulting in the brakes locking on.

Look forward to my next trip out to Tai Lam - hopefully it will be slightly easier next time.

The Strava link for the ride can be found here.