Thanks to Andrew Bos for the write up of our recent social ride to Buxton / Lake Mountain.
Last Sunday the club made the long trip to Buxton and Lake Mountain in search of new trails. Well actually we met Jim and Laurie from Murrindindi MTB Club in Buxton and they kindly guided us around the 2 venues.
Sunday 6 May we’re heading to Lake Mountain and Buxton to check out trail networks that have appeared in the last couple of years.
The day is planned to start early – that’s 6:30am meeting at Castlemaine Cycle Concepts! We will pack cars and hit the road at 7am. We’ll be on the trails at Lake Mountain (the main track is used for the Granite Grind race) by 10:30am. If you’re coming from Melbourne we’ll meet you in the carpark at Lake Mountain. Riders from Melbourne who need a lift can emails us at info@rockyriders.com and we’ll try and put you in contact with others.
We’ll break for lunch before hitting up the Buxton trails in the afternoon.
For those that want another challenge, the famed Buxton burger from the Igloo Roadhouse is well worth a try! That should fuel us up for the trek back to Castlemaine. We should arrive back around 8pm, after taking in about 4 hours of riding. Of course, if you aren’t feeling quite up to that much riding, you could either just ride in the morning or afternoon.
It will be good to coordinate cars to save on petrol costs, so let Grant know in advance if you can make it (grant.schuster@gmail.com or 0418 627 731). Also, let Grant know if you have a car and how many bikes it can carry.
Cost
Please come self-sufficient and equipped with water, snacks and spare tubes.
Members and non-members are all welcome. Hope to see you there.
Club members and other riders of all levels of fitness and ability are invited to join this gentle social ride. We’ll be riding the trails used for the Garmin 24 Hour last December. These trails are rocky in sections, but not too technical.
This ride coincides with a training session for The Kristy Cup – an annual mountain bike race held to raise money for breast cancer research. We encourage you to make a donation on the day to a Kristy Cup representative (perhaps something gold or foldable) to help the good work.
Where
Mt Lofty Reserve, Summerhill Rd, Redesdale.
When
10am
If you are leaving from:
Cost
Please RSVP to info@rockyriders.com and let us know:
Please come self-sufficient and equipped with water, snacks and spare tubes.
Hope to see you there.
Other Rocky Rider social rides for your diary
This weekend Dylan McKenna is riding the Otway Odyssey 50km Kona Shorty. Like all the best riders he decided to check out the trails before race day. This is what he had to say.
Otway Bike Adventure
By Dylan McKenna
Designed around the village of Forrest the Otway MTB trails showcase the natural beauty of the Otway ranges. They pass through tall eucalypt forests, dry heathy scrub and dense fern gullies. These trails have been built with real mountain bikers in mind. Luckily for our family, there are trails for beginners as well as hard-core dirt fanatics, so there is a trail for everyone.
Day 1
All of the 16 trails have different names and ratings. A green circle means easy and two black diamonds means extremely difficult. We went for a ride on Roller Coaster, Third Time Lucky and Follow the Dog. These trails showed us some of Forrest’s best forests. They were really smooth and flowing, with fast, steep descents and sudden pinch climbs. They also showed us that Mum’s mountain bike skills are a bit rusty. She stacked five times on the first day.
Day 2
I rode to Lake Elizabeth on Trail 2, Barlidjaru. Unfortunately it was not very well marked and I got lost between Trail 2 and Trail 3, the Red Carpet. Finally I made it to Lake Elizabeth and the views were amazing. Later that day we went to Apollo Bay Beach and then went on the bumper cars at the carnival.
Day 3
We went for a ride on some of the trails for the Otway Odyssey 50km Kona Shorty. I did a loop that included Trail 12 the Yo Yo, which is a black diamond, Trail 10, Foxtail, and trails 7 and 14. I didn’t find the Yo Yo too difficult at all. Trail 7, the Yaugher Super Loop, was very sandy and I greased it on a slippery corner. The weather became really hot and muggy later in the day. I discovered that riding Trail 5, Vista, in these conditions isn’t a good thing to do. In the undergrowth it felt very hot, with sandy ascents and overgrown tracks.
Overall, it was a great holiday and the Otway trails have to be second best in the world (after ours, of course!)
www.rideforrest.com.au
With perfect conditions, and many a rider needing to work off some christmas cheer, we had over 20 riders hit the trails on the Castlemaine Cycles wednesday night ride. A surprisingly high pace was kept up for most of the night, taking in Forest Creek, Dirty Dicks, the Welsh Village and back through the pineys to finish with an ale and tucker at the Theatre Royal . Same time next wednesday – 6pm – Castemaine cycles.
Top of the pineys
Recovery!
