South Lantau Island, going the distance
Lantau is the largest Island in HK. The natural environment is an ideal playground for all outdoors enthusiasts and was recently decided by the government to become Hong kong’s main outdoors venue.
Famous for its dramatic peaks and the giant Buddha statue at Ngong Ping Buddhist monastery Lantau for decades has been a welcome respite from the hussle and bustle of city living, but with the arrival of the airport at Chek lap Kok, Disneyland and the 360 cable-car North Lantau is gradually being transformed from a quite backwater to thriving commercial and mass tourism hub. The rest of the island however is there for the taking!
Most of the mountain biking action takes place on the South Eastern side of the island, with a network of trails stretching from Discovery Bay all the way to Shek Pik reservoir. some of these trails lie in country parks other not and it is easy to see the difference by the amount of concrete you are rolling on.
THE TRIALS
DB to MW
Linking Discovery Bay with Mui Wo, the starting point for the Chi Ma Wan (CMW) peninsula is a rough trail that lies outside of the country park, it has had little to no maintenance work done on it except that of local enthusiast. a killer of a ride both up and down that will test the skills of even the most expert rider.
Contour trail
To access the CMW loop that lies within the country parks you must ride the contour trail, this trail dips in and out of the country parks boundary and is gradually being concreted over, it soon becomes very obvious as to whether you are in the country park or not! It is a flowing trail that alternates between fast off-road sections and even faster and concrete sections that are notoriously slippery in the wet.
Chi Ma Wan Peninsula
The Chi Ma Wan loop is the second most popular riding destination in HK. With fast flowing singletrack that meander in and out of shaded woods and an occasional technical section thrown into the mix. this 11k (15k with extension) offers a little of everything, it is a relatively easy by ride for HK standards and in many ways a very pleasant ride. Many Adventure race and off-road Duathlon organizers are using this prime location for their events.
Water Catchment
One of the AFCD and HKMBA success stories, Combined efforts and lengthy negotiations with the Water service Departments (WSD) have succeeded in allowing cyclists to ride the Lantau South Water Catchment maintenance road, this is something unheard of, as the WSD are notoriously biker unfriendly.(see advocacy section to learn about this issue). This road is mostly flat and makes a very pleasant traffic free ride for almost 20 kms (one way). It’s the best way to link the island’s east and west side. It’s also the only road in HK where you can ride on such a distance without major hills or being interrupted by road works.
Huge potential
The south west side of Lantau has a huge potential for mountain bike trails. but at the moment none of those trails are open. See our project section on the trails we think are suitable for riding.
Getting to Lantau
Getting to Mui Wo or DB from Central on Hong Kong Island is easy, it is a simple matter of getting on a ferry. But gaining access to the north side of the island can be difficult, No public transport – trains, busses, ferries - allow bikes on, the only ways to get to Tung Chung are the pricy airport express, that does allow bikes, but getting out at the airport and riding to Tung Chung is a dangerous stunt. If you have a car you can drive to Lantau via the Ching Ma bridge, but because private vehicles need a special permit to access the south side via the Tung Chung rd you will have to leave the car in Tung Chung, this is also rather costly as the toll fee and parking prices aren't cheap
It is also possible to reach the South side of the island from the north riding the very steep and busy Tung Chung road or via the pedestrian linking Tung Chung to Ngong Ping (Big Buddha)
Unfortunately The Ngong Ping 360 cable-car is not accessible to bikes, which is ashame as their is huge potential in this area to develop an ideal bike park
Facebook: An HKMBA member, Ludwighihi, has created the following facebook site devoted to biking on Lantau: www.facebook.com/RidingLantau
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