Hidden Challenges Map & Guide

BMX Challenge

The BMX Challenge can be found in the skate / bike park in Glen Park, next to the hospital. Get on the BMX at the top of the hill next to the half pipe to start the challenge.

Your objective is to pedal around the park using your bunny-hop to collect red ring checkpoints. Every checkpoint you grab will add 10 seconds to your time, which will constantly count down as you go, so you need to be quite quick when grabbing them.

This, like the other hidden challenges, depends on your skill at being able to jump at the right time to grab the checkpoints, but I'll try to give a rough idea of where to go first.

From the start, head down the hill slightly to the right and grab the two checkpoints there, you'll probably need to bunny hop under the first one on the left.

Once you've got them head around the outside of the bowl and grab any low-level checkpoints there, then when you reach the half pipe section of the bowl, jump in and start collecting the easy checkpoints in there.

Jump up the sides in order to grab the floating ones, then make your way back around to the lower wooden half pipe.

Jump from the side and grab any mid-air checkpoints, then head back up the hill to where you started and grab any checkpoints left over there.

At this point, you should have about 50 seconds or so to get the last 4 or 5 checkpoints. The ones you'll most likely be missing are:

• The stone half pipe in the bowl.
• A high checkpoint South of the lower wooden half pipe.
• The lower wooden half pipe checkpoint (hardest).
• Higher wooden half pipe checkpoint.
• Higher wooden half pipe checkpoint.

The two higher wooden checkpoint ones are relatively easy, you just need to get on the half pipe and mash X so that you start to climb the wood. When you reach the top you should leave the ground to grab the checkpoint, then go and do the same on the other side.

Next you'll head to the stone half pipe. The best way to do this is to speed up one side of the half pipe, then hit L1 to bunny hop while going up. This will ideally push you backwards and if you timed it right, you'll fly through the checkpoint. It might take a bit of practice.

Next up is the higher one near the lower half pipe. All you need to do is park right under it, and mash L1. On my first day of playing the game I discovered that mashing L1 will sooner or later result in a "Super Bunny Hop". You'll go two or three times higher than normal and it's easily high enough to grab this checkpoint. What's more, it doesn't even require max cycling skill, you can just keep mashing L1 and eventually (if you have enough time) you'll jump high enough. If this doesn't work, you'll definitely be able to reach it with a normal bunny hop with max cycling skill.

The final checkpoint is by far the hardest, so hopefully you have a lot of extra time to grab it.

Get into the half pipe, then speed up the ramp to the East and try to force yourself up onto the ledge. The only way this is possible is if you just keep going back and forth up and down both sides of the half pipe, then lean forward in the air to try and push yourself onto the ledge. You'll really need a bit of luck, but once you get the hang of it and get up, it's mission complete!

A Possible Exploit

In the original game, there is a glitch found by my good friend Platinum which allows you to have no time limit on this mission. To do this, you need to grab a checkpoint literally JUST after the timer disappears when you hit 0 seconds.

The best way to do this is to go down the hill to the right and wait under the floating checkpoint, in a bunny hop position. About half a second through "0 seconds" being displayed on the screen, release L1 and if you timed it perfectly, you'll get the checkpoint just after the timer disappears, and then you have as long as you want to grab the rest!

If you miss the exact time and fail, just pedal to the top of the hill and get off, then back on the bike to start the mission again.

It takes a bit of good timing, but it certainly helps if you're having trouble with the mission.

None

Screenshots

Original PS2 Screenshots

Challenge 1: Scotch Bonnet Route

The first route is the simplest and is called the "Scotch Bonnet" route.

This route is relatively easy, it's just back and forth along the downhill roads all of the way to the bottom. Use the bicycles handbrake on the corners and try to not hit the fences as they'll slow you down or spin you around. You can actually cut quite a lot of the corners and still grab the checkpoints, so try to work out how much you can actually cut and use that to gain places.

Mash the X button when you're going straight to get max speed but always use a combination of the hand brake and regular brake to slow down when you think there might be a sharp turn coming up.

As you get towards the bottom of the mountain make sure you do not go off the side or you'll almost definitely finish in the bottom 3.

If you want to win, you need to finish the race without crashing or falling off the mountain. If you don't win you'll need to grab a vehicle and drive all of the way back up the mountain because you're starting again which can be a painfully time-consuming process.

Small Cash
"Birdseye Winder" route available

Screenshots

Original PS2 Screenshots

Challenge 2: Birdseye Winder Route

The second route is slightly more difficult and is called the "Birdseye Winder" route.

The route starts the same as the previous one, however it goes off to the right after a few corners.

From here it's back and forth down some winding roads which may be unfamiliar as it's a strange route which probably isn't taken very often while heading up the mountain.

You'll follow it around and through some trees before finally getting to the bottom road of the mountain which continues from the first race.

You'll need to make the sharp right corner then speed down the slope to the finish. Remember that you can almost always catch up to the riders with 10 or 15 seconds of good riding. I crashed about half way and was sure I'd lost, but I kept going and over took the leader on the final straight to win the challenge.

Small Cash
"Cobra Run" Available

Screenshots

Original PS2 Screenshots

Challenge 3: Cobra Run Route

The final route is by far the fastest and most dangerous and is called the "Cobra Run".

The Cobra Run is extremely difficult, however the AI is pretty stupid too, so you can expect them to crash into almost every tree on the way down.

All you need to do is hold X to maintain a decent speed and follow the track through the checkpoints over the wooden ramps.

Once you're past the tricky wooden part, just speed down the dirt path towards the final straight and then onto the finish.

You can jump over the hills on the middle section and gain a lot of time as you can grab three checkpoints in 1 jump rather than spend 15 seconds weaving down the track to get them.

Small Cash
"Cobra Run" Available

Screenshots

Original PS2 Screenshots

NRG-500 Challenge

The NRG-500 challenge takes place in the abandoned Dry Dock at Easter Basin, which is just next to the large Import / Export ship.

Like the BMX challenge in Los Santos, you'll need to grab a number of checkpoints dotted around the area, however this time it's on a superbike which means more speed, however you don't have the ability to bunny-hop, so you need to direct your jumps perfectly. The bowl is rather steep, and you'll need to successfully jump out of it about 15 times in order to grab all of the checkpoints floating above it.

Unfortunately, this challenge is a lot harder than the BMX challenge, and there isn't really a specific route you can take. It'll also require a lot of trial and error when it comes to jumping up to grab the checkpoints.

The best advice I can give is to head around the top first, collecting the checkpoints at ground level, then get all of the checkpoints at the bottom of the dock to boost up your remaining time.

From there it's just really luck as to whether you hit the jumps at the right angle and manage to fly high enough to grab the rather frustratingly placed floating checkpoints.

Going up the steep ramp slightly sideways and jumping alongside it, rather than directly up it seems to be the best way to go about getting the checkpoints, but even with full bike skill, it's extremely hard to work out which angle to approach at, when to lean back and forward and even how much speed to carry.

The only advice I can give is to keep trying the jumps until you get them right. Collecting all of the ground-level checkpoints should give you about 1 minute to get the last 7 or 8, so that's about one every 10 seconds or so, which is usually 2 or 3 jump attempts.

A Possible Exploit

The glitch from the BMX challenge where there is no timer works here too, however it's a lot harder to get it working. Your best bet is to wait on the top just above the 2 checkpoints on the ramp. As the time reaches about 1 second, drive over the edge and land on the checkpoint. Perfect timing will result in infinite time, although it is extremely hard to get it right.

Small Cash

Screenshots

Original PS2 Screenshots