Was it better than Derby?
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It was the question which followed us everywhere we went on St Helens' impressive new mountain bike trails, echoing off giant granite boulders and through dense eucalypt forests.
But the question was unnecessary and even self-defeating.
Since the Blue Derby network was created, it has become the benchmark by which all other mountain bike trails are judged.
The newly-opened $4.7 million St Helens trails, featuring the 42-kilometre Bay of Fires Trail plus a network of shorter options just west of the township, are magnificent.
Blue Derby is also magnificent.
To compare the two is to ask a parent to choose between their children - an impossible task for all, except perhaps Alois and Klara Hitler.
The trails' strength will be in their joint appeal.
If they combine rather than compete then the mountain biking world is their carefully-shucked Georges Bay oyster.
Glen Jacobs, director of the World Trail company which built both networks, said as much when also asked how they compare.
"I love Derby and I love St Helens. Really St Helens is Derby by the sea," he said.
"They are working together. They are the premium mountain bike locations in Tasmania. Derby and St Helens are the jewel in the crown of Tasmanian mountain biking."
Jacobs also pointed out why the locations should be viewed individually.
"They have different countryside, different soil and very different townships. St Helens is a thriving location where Derby is more for core mountain bikers."
It is a good point. Both have elements denied of the other but together they represent a mountain biker's fantasy come true.
The Flagstaff network is connected to St Helens by the 3.8km Town Link trail - considerably more fun when ridden in an easterly (ie downhill) direction.
To date, 11 trails are listed there, with the promise of more.
Ranging from easy to intermediate level, they vary between 280m and 6.2km in length, delight in such names as Swell Done, Pearla and Old Salty Dog and generally derive maximum enjoyment from the available terrain.
Trails like Rock Lobster (4.5km) and Wedged-in (4.4km) tend to follow the contours, thereby minimising gut-busting climbs or neck-breaking descents while offering gorgeous perspectives on successive hills and ravines.
Difficult black trails are in the pipeline which should ensure the network caters for the entire experience spectrum from experts to social riders, beginners, kids and right down to politicians.
But what puts St Helens in the same league as Derby is the Bay of Fires Trail.
It begins at Poimena - thereby linking up with the Blue Derby Network via the Blue Tier, Big Chook and Atlas. Although predominantly downhill as it heads east towards the coast, it involves plenty of climbing and, being intermediate, should not be tackled by complete beginners.
What makes it so spectacular is the changing environment from rain forest to giant boulder fields, eucalypt forest to sandy beaches.
In the words of Jacobs, this combination "simply does not exist anywhere else".
Added to those diverse landscapes is World Trail's uncanny knack of transforming seemingly non-descript scrub into chocolate ice cream on tyres - the mountain biking equivalent of alchemy.
A beautiful coastal location and superior accommodation opportunities suggests mountain bikers are more likely to stay in St Helens but, with the Poimena drop-off just a 55-minute shuttle ride away, a day riding in Derby could be easily added to a holiday itinerary.
And with the Flagstaff trails less hardcore, riders may be more likely to bring their families than their mates.
Combined, the mountain bike trails of Derby and St Helens could end up doing for North-East Tasmania's appeal what the harbour bridge and opera house do for Sydney's.