Paul Petch

Mountain Biking at Woodend & the You Yangs….

Today is the first day that Amy and I have really stopped since rocking up to Melbourne last Friday. Having some internet access is also very nice! After spending time with Family and friends and craving our own bed back home- it was great waking up on Collins Street in a huge hotel bed this morning to the sound of the city and the smell of fresh coffee on our door step :) It’s a tough life- but someone has to do it :D

I hit Woodend with Richard & Mark on Sunday and having never ridden there before, it was a real treat. We are not talking about a grind up and then across with big downs here- rather non stop undulating trails that weaved though trees and obstacles. On the 40KM spin (we rode the “normal way” and then in “reverse”) there was not one point that could have been seen as “rest” as it was a really physical ride. With fast berms and sharp turns it was a case of drop seat-hit it hard-bite the front tyre-power out-seat up-pedal-repeat. What a thoroughly fun and exhausting ride that was!

Yesterday we had the You Yangs in our sights. With the sun shining and a perfect temperature of 20- we hit the fireroad up to the top before winding down a new section full of rocks and drops off to the flatter and windy forest. Interestingly the fireroad climb that 4 years ago used to break me- now feels like a nice 5 min spin! Crazy. At one point in the forest the trail had a perfect gradient to pickup some speed and then we hit a pump track..which like the top of Vic Park in Christchurch called my name! The difference is that this track was a few KM long……with jumps…pumps…kickers and some of the best berms that I’ve ridden. What a blast! (Spencer- I was thinking of you bro!) This trail then flattened out and continued…and continued….and continued….and by the end of it I was quite happy to suggest that we climb up the rocky trail we had come down on earlier and then ride down the downhill trails…and repeat.

Richard ad Mark had never considered this before- but by midway up it was clear that it was a lot of fun. I just love rocky technical trails and climbs…..as there is a kind of “peace”  through such deep concentration and a great sense of achievement when you clear it. It’s wicked. We then hit another 4 descents and then climbed up different trails in between…. and boy oh boy what a lot of fun it was. On the double black downhill trail though I was quite fortunate to ride out an obstacle that had no warning signs what so ever. Not knowing if it was a launch or roll over I got to the top to discover that it was a 2 metre boulder with no roll out what so ever. I had no choice but to drop the front end and throw my ass back….and amazingly I rode it out! I slowed down a bit on this track after that! Of course….I could have scouted the track slowly first…ahem!

A few of the trails were familiar from when I rode here  4+ years ago on my trusty XC hardtail. Being on a dually with great tyres made such a difference this time around and I was grinning from ear to ear! The trails have changed a fair bit over the years too- but I had no reservations on the Trance….it just loved every minute of the rocky, sketchy and fast tracks. Talking of sketchy- imagine hard rock with sand and pebbles…..with some big loose rocks thrown in for good measure…..that’s the You Yangs trail surface. Grinding along on the flat sandy trails hurt like hell with the 2.2 Rubber Queens (but was doable)- but as things sped up and got technical….with some proper weighting on the tread..the magic unfolded. As for technical climbing….well….move aside please!

One highlight for me (and there were many) had to be clearing the nastiest rock garden that I’ve ever ridden (on the new Downhill Track) and…..wow….what a buzz that was! First attempt I cleared it and the camera missed it……and it took another 3 to nail it second time around. What a MINT ride…and so good to be back at the You Yangs with such great company. Cheers Fellas- it was much appreciated :)

This weekend, Richard and I are off to ride at Mt. Buller and at 1600+M we hear that shit will get a bit crazy. With temps of -2 and a max of 5- it will also be the first freeze of the season for me and in Australia! Now where are my damn thermals……oh yeah….not here :D

Related posts:

1. Craigieburn mountain biking with Mark & Ricco!
2. A sunny afternoon of Mountain Biking in the Port Hills
3. Mountain biking at Lake Sumner
4. Woodhill mountain biking. North Island trip. Ride one.
5. Mountain biking at Hamner Springs

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at 11:30 am and is filed under Bike Rides and tagged with australia, mark, melbourne, richard, Trails & Rides, woodend, you yangs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.