Finally got to finish the Cascades trail after several swings and misses due to various reasons.
What a great trail! Honestly surprised it doesn't get more love... having said that it's marketed as a family trail and I think that's seriously wrong. It's a strong blue intermediate in my opinion. A similar length to the Blue Tier but with some decent continuous climbs, this is not the shuttled ride you may have thought it was. I saw a dad with his two young sons out yesterday, I hope they enjoyed their day. We set off together from the car park toward the summit and even by that point the younger bloke was ready to throw his chips out the window.
Anyway, the weather was awesome, we had a good run from the summit down then up the second climb which has several false tops just to fuck with you, then the run down to Arnold Gap which is pretty raw at this point. Great fun and much like the rest of this part of the trail, it feels very hand built which is great. The climb up Mt Arnold (?) is starting to hurt at this point, it's punchy but at least it's short, and the run down to the ticket box is bit more machine built and faaasst! Some cool A and B line options here, some decent jumps amongst the berms (that I rode around, natch) and we stopped at the ticket box for some pre-made sangas and a break. The shuttle crew have been leaving water here recently which is very nice of them btw.
OK, finally onto the new section! With max excitement and a raging chubby at riding some new trail we settle in to a decent climb. And yeah, it's decent alright. Only 120m of ascent but it's relentless, switchbacks galore and a little chunk thrown in here and there just to keep things interesting. At this point I'm about to heave out a lung - got my booster shot a couple of days ago and have spent the last 2 days in bed with fevers and chills... hrm, good planning? Anyway, after a couple of false tops we make it to the Lunchroom and head down into Dirt Art machine built bermtown. And it's awesome! Feels a bit like a combo between Beach Babe and Warratah, even the talcum filled top few corners are just an obstacle to overcome and we get in to the solid down stuff. Wow, this is great. Practically a small slice of Maydena just an hour away from home. Not enough superlatives in my vocabulary to describe it, but yeah max fun. Again, not beginner, not family friendly, but if you're comfy on blues and greens at Maydena this stuff is the shit. I had to stop a couple of times in fear of a leg cramp snapping a bone (yeah it's a relentless trip downward) but eventually we get to the bottom of the Dirt Art section and stop to enjoy a little creek which I assume would be a good fill point if you're low on water.
We continue and here it's more like a hand built Buxton - reddish soil, undulating bush track and nice, but after the thrill ride I'd just experienced my emotions were mixed. Maybe that's more a reflection on me, I'm not sure. Anyway, cool bush track riding here, seemingly mostly hand built, familiar to anyone that rides natural bush tracks. Nothing untoward. We get to Lady Talbot Drive and we know we're close to home now.. it's 3.55 and we're thinking we'd better pull a finger out in case the bakery closes soon. This section of trail winds through a flat area, bouncing off the river and back into the bush. Really serene, I love riding through bush hearing a river. Very relaxing. A bit of an unwelcome climb comes next and I'm pissed, but it leads into a really nice flow/jump section that's very well built and awesome fun. OK, legs and ass are feeling second hand, I'm cooked. A bit more traverse and we can see town and hear traffic. Finally, I think, we're done. But no, another small but punchy climb leading into another jump/flow section with some decently big jumps here and we roll out onto the main road opp. the caravan park.
Fucking great track. Bring a little fitness, some medium level skills and the understanding that it's a decent day out. My GPS shit itself not long after the Dirt Art magic so there's around another 8 kays of riding not seen on my map. The shuttle dropped us off at just after 12 at the Lake Mountain car park, and we were packing the bikes at around 4.30. A few stops to eat, a few to talk shit, maybe even one or two to scope A lines and wee a little in fear. Ridable on a hardtail if you're keen but a great trail/enduro style track and one of only a few here in Vic. They've just got to stop marketing it as a family track I think, which is a bummer.
What a great trail! Honestly surprised it doesn't get more love... having said that it's marketed as a family trail and I think that's seriously wrong. It's a strong blue intermediate in my opinion. A similar length to the Blue Tier but with some decent continuous climbs, this is not the shuttled ride you may have thought it was. I saw a dad with his two young sons out yesterday, I hope they enjoyed their day. We set off together from the car park toward the summit and even by that point the younger bloke was ready to throw his chips out the window.
Anyway, the weather was awesome, we had a good run from the summit down then up the second climb which has several false tops just to fuck with you, then the run down to Arnold Gap which is pretty raw at this point. Great fun and much like the rest of this part of the trail, it feels very hand built which is great. The climb up Mt Arnold (?) is starting to hurt at this point, it's punchy but at least it's short, and the run down to the ticket box is bit more machine built and faaasst! Some cool A and B line options here, some decent jumps amongst the berms (that I rode around, natch) and we stopped at the ticket box for some pre-made sangas and a break. The shuttle crew have been leaving water here recently which is very nice of them btw.
OK, finally onto the new section! With max excitement and a raging chubby at riding some new trail we settle in to a decent climb. And yeah, it's decent alright. Only 120m of ascent but it's relentless, switchbacks galore and a little chunk thrown in here and there just to keep things interesting. At this point I'm about to heave out a lung - got my booster shot a couple of days ago and have spent the last 2 days in bed with fevers and chills... hrm, good planning? Anyway, after a couple of false tops we make it to the Lunchroom and head down into Dirt Art machine built bermtown. And it's awesome! Feels a bit like a combo between Beach Babe and Warratah, even the talcum filled top few corners are just an obstacle to overcome and we get in to the solid down stuff. Wow, this is great. Practically a small slice of Maydena just an hour away from home. Not enough superlatives in my vocabulary to describe it, but yeah max fun. Again, not beginner, not family friendly, but if you're comfy on blues and greens at Maydena this stuff is the shit. I had to stop a couple of times in fear of a leg cramp snapping a bone (yeah it's a relentless trip downward) but eventually we get to the bottom of the Dirt Art section and stop to enjoy a little creek which I assume would be a good fill point if you're low on water.
We continue and here it's more like a hand built Buxton - reddish soil, undulating bush track and nice, but after the thrill ride I'd just experienced my emotions were mixed. Maybe that's more a reflection on me, I'm not sure. Anyway, cool bush track riding here, seemingly mostly hand built, familiar to anyone that rides natural bush tracks. Nothing untoward. We get to Lady Talbot Drive and we know we're close to home now.. it's 3.55 and we're thinking we'd better pull a finger out in case the bakery closes soon. This section of trail winds through a flat area, bouncing off the river and back into the bush. Really serene, I love riding through bush hearing a river. Very relaxing. A bit of an unwelcome climb comes next and I'm pissed, but it leads into a really nice flow/jump section that's very well built and awesome fun. OK, legs and ass are feeling second hand, I'm cooked. A bit more traverse and we can see town and hear traffic. Finally, I think, we're done. But no, another small but punchy climb leading into another jump/flow section with some decently big jumps here and we roll out onto the main road opp. the caravan park.
Fucking great track. Bring a little fitness, some medium level skills and the understanding that it's a decent day out. My GPS shit itself not long after the Dirt Art magic so there's around another 8 kays of riding not seen on my map. The shuttle dropped us off at just after 12 at the Lake Mountain car park, and we were packing the bikes at around 4.30. A few stops to eat, a few to talk shit, maybe even one or two to scope A lines and wee a little in fear. Ridable on a hardtail if you're keen but a great trail/enduro style track and one of only a few here in Vic. They've just got to stop marketing it as a family track I think, which is a bummer.
