I know this is the Derby thread but as a followup to my previous post we did indeed make to to Maydena via Maria Island (well worth a day trip or stay). First shuttle up we were a bit nervous and thinking we were out of our depth... got off at the half way point and rode the cross link track to Spirit Quest then rode green trails to the bottom. To be honest at this point we were sorta leaning toward 'nah' more than 'yeah', the trails were 'brake hard, flat corner, short straight, brake hard, flat corner, short straight' and 'green but chopped as fuck making it feel like a black' but we had a snack and jumped back on the bus but this time to the top.
View from the lookout is amazing, and this time I really loved the green trails down to the midpoint - they were slightly rockier but had so much more flow. Sure there were some steep bits but it was manageable. Now that we'd found our comfort zone we tried some of the other green tracks and even took the blue jump track at the bottom, mostly to avoid the chopped green but also to try something different. Really, really enjoyed this run down, the only negative being my 12yo center punching a berm down near the bottom (I think mostly cos he was buggered). Dusted him off and he was fine, thank goodness.
Anyway, stopped for some pizza and my 15yo went up for another run, took some greens down apparently, then a blue, then of course why not let's go a black made it most of the way down but crashed at the end, just a few abrasions and nothing too serious. Called it done for the day, bought some merch and drove back to Hobart.
Final thoughts, I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. Yeah, you want dependable brakes and pads with plenty of life. I'd prly also think 140mm+ of travel both ends would be wise along with knee, elbow and head protection. But if you can ride Atlas and the Dam Busters descent you'll be fine at Maydena.
View from the lookout is amazing, and this time I really loved the green trails down to the midpoint - they were slightly rockier but had so much more flow. Sure there were some steep bits but it was manageable. Now that we'd found our comfort zone we tried some of the other green tracks and even took the blue jump track at the bottom, mostly to avoid the chopped green but also to try something different. Really, really enjoyed this run down, the only negative being my 12yo center punching a berm down near the bottom (I think mostly cos he was buggered). Dusted him off and he was fine, thank goodness.
Anyway, stopped for some pizza and my 15yo went up for another run, took some greens down apparently, then a blue, then of course why not let's go a black made it most of the way down but crashed at the end, just a few abrasions and nothing too serious. Called it done for the day, bought some merch and drove back to Hobart.
Final thoughts, I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. Yeah, you want dependable brakes and pads with plenty of life. I'd prly also think 140mm+ of travel both ends would be wise along with knee, elbow and head protection. But if you can ride Atlas and the Dam Busters descent you'll be fine at Maydena.