The Whipstick

As I was booked on a fishing trip for Sunday morning Tony and I headed off for a ride Saturday instead. The fishing trip ended up being cancelled due to a Gale warning for coastal waters but at least you can count on the bush tracks to remain open.
We headed out West Bendigo through some of the fire affected areas and its good to see some rebuilding happening and new growth from the gum trees. We came out near the E'Hawk golf course and tried to link through to the Echinda trail without much Bitumen but ended up blocked by a fence and had to take a detour around. We followed the trail through to the Lightning Hill look out and then out whipstick road before ending up at the site where the TV show Eureka Stockade was filmed and then riding back to Rosalind Park.

Here is a picture of Tony's 2009 Giant Anthem x1
Ride distance 39.29kms
Ride time 1 hr 55mins

Eagle's Nest

It was a hot and humid morning so Brett, Tony and I decided to a bit of a shorter ride but throw in some hills for fun. We headed out Olympic Parade along the dam track and made our way to the back of Crusoe Res. That was the cruisy part of the ride because from there it was up some nasty hills towards the Eagles Nest. The first climb is what we have named The North Face. It is a rocky steep climb that only the fittest and most skilful can master and Brett did this morning. I was the first to start walking followed by Tony. We got our breath back at the top and then did the up and down trek across to the Eagles Nest which seemed pretty sedate after The North Face. But after all that climbing there has to be a descent and this one is a beauty especially the fast flowing section in the middle before you enter a small section of trees. This track brings you back to the rear of Crusoe Res and from there we headed up Phyllis St to the railway and back onto the Fenceline Track to Diamond Hill. I picked up a flat on the track through to Faugh a Ballagh so we fixed that and headed for the coffee shop.





Ride time 1 Hr 54 mins


Distance 34.5kms

One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill sure is a funny name for a hill covered in trees but it was one fallen tree that managed to bring Steve undone on this weeks ride. Brett, Tony, Steve and I decided to do some technical up and down work around One Tree Hill to sharpen our skills up a little. Things were going fine early on apart from a snake/lizard sighting (some of us didnt see it curled up off the track, the others couldnt decide if it was a snake or a lizard and no one was going back to check). But things got more exciting as we were heading down a rough descent, the track flattened out a little and was good to ride except for the fallen tree. Steve was leading on his hard tail and decided a little log hop was in order. The front wheel cleared the log no worries but the chain ring had other ideas and tried an impersonation of a chain saw as it tried to cut its way through the log. The end result was Steve on the ground with a bit of claret on his leg and a bit of gravel rash on his face. The picture shows the log, Steve checking everything still works and Brett getting out his multitool to give Steve's bike a wheel alignment. In true MTB style Steve continued the ride and even joined in a tough bitumen hill climb off Tannery Lane which although marked private road looked like it had been designed with bike riders in mind.

Distance 28 kms Ride time 2 hrs 5 mins