Hardtail rides again

I now have a new frame for my Apollo Comp hardtail that I use for commuting. The new frame is a 2010 model so 2 years newer than the original. At least it was replaced under warranty as the bike has been a real lemon.

When I bought it 3 years ago the right crank fell off on the first ride when we were miles from civilisation in the Otways. This is now the 3rd frame. I still have original seat, seat post, bar, stem, brakes & front shock. EVERYTHING else has been replaced at least once!

Ballarat to Creswick on Great Dividing Trail

Last Friday I started along the Yarrowee Ck just north of Ballarat then joined the Great Dividing Trail. I followed it as far as Creswick. The track is closed beyond there due to flood damage.

Interesting & varied riding. Some smooth flowing singletrack. A few rock gardens. Some winding undulating fire tracks. Some amazing water race track.

Probably a bit less technical than the GDT between Daylesford & Castlemaine. Great riding just the same.

Major fun

A great section of track through trees
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I spent this morning at Mt Major which is about 30k west of Shepparton. Tracks are sticky red volcanic clay. The best of the riding is as good as I've done anywhere. Lots of challenging rock gardens. But unfortunately some other tracks are overgrown. As the photo below shows, some have disappeared completely.



There used to be a track here!
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Smiths Gully Revisited

Track feature: burnt out log

My day off last Friday started with a good coffee in Warrandyte. I can't remember the name of the place but its on the main road on the left just before you hit the town centre.

After the caffeine hit, I spent a solid morning at Smiths Gully. Found a heap of new singletrack. Well it was new to me. Here's details for some of it:

Tracks near Smiths Gully

Tracks near South end of Clintons Rd

I think I can now link together a loop of approximately 30k with most of it being singletrack.

Buxton revisited

We revisited Buxton today. 30 degrees & very humid meant sweat was the order of the day.

This time I found some of the newer trails which extend the main Buxton loop. Some nice flowing track but very wide in places.

Details here

Hardtail cracks up

I use my old hardtail for commuting to and from work. By old I am talking 3 years. I've recently discovered a crack in the frame near the bottom bracket. Not happy! No wonder it has been creaking so much! Hopefully this will be covered by warranty.

Anglesea "secret tracks"

Some fun riding near Anglesea on a beautiful sunny day. There is lots of good riding above Anglesea in the scout camp and nearby bushland. It is not always easy to find. Here's a nice ride including some new track north of the highway shown to me by some friends who live down that way.

Trip details here

Duelling with the Duael course

This route roughly follows the course for the 2011 Duael enduro  near Woodend. We went to explore it the other day. It's ok but nothing special. Some nice flowing single track but it has been chopped up by motor bikes and was a lot wetter and sloppier than you'd like to see at this time of year (March 2nd).

Buxton tracks all to myself

 

Did some good riding at Buxton the other morning. Who has been keeping Buxton a secret? While there aren't a lot of tracks, the riding is great fun. Nothing very technical but there are some lovely sweeping sections that make excellent use of the natural 'half pipe' gullies. Not quite as good as the famous Marriners at Forrest but good enough to make you go back round again and again!

Conditions for today's ride were cool, dry with a perfect tacky surface.

I had also intended to revisit Lake Mountain but it was wet up there so I wimped out.

Stones Fly on Stonefly

I took advantage of some nice weather on my day off last Friday to spend all day riding singletrack at Buller and Stirling including trying out the new Stonefly track. By accidentally tackling Stonefly in the wrong direction initially, I got to ride it twice. Once backwards and once the right way. Double the fun and double the pain. Riding uphill on what is supposed to be the downhill section was bloody hard work. Best to do it the right way. See the second link below for instructions

Stonefly is being hyped as the best trail in Australia, which is a pity as that can only lead to disappointment. My verdict is that it is a good track. A very good track that has had a heap of work put into it. Best in Australia? Probably not, but who cares. Such terms are not very useful. Just go and enjoy it. At the moment there are a few wet sections and soft sections. It will be interesting to see what condition they are in after the hordes of racers charge round it in the MTB event there next weekend. I suspect I made a smart choice riding it when I did.

Here's more information on the the route I took. Highly recommended.

The entire route plus cross section showing the elevation
The Stonefly Track plus photos and a cross section showing elevation