VIC Lysterfield Park

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TMLS1

Likes Dirt
Hey Ando, the photos almost don't do justice to the trail. Can you put some rough detail of what was built as you know more detail and some might appreciate the work that was done for all and stay off it for awhile so it beds in. Maybe an official opening date might help. ie. after a couple of dry weeks.

Anybody who sees people riding it feel free to give them a friendly serve as this has been the type of trail everyone has been asking for, but will be wrecked quickly in this weather as it's still quite soft and literally just cut.
 
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ando_assi

Likes Dirt
No problems,

So as many of you may know, the northern end of 'buckle' does not stand up to rain of any level, we identified the cause of this as its location, so when given the opportunity of IMBA-AU bringing there trail Dozer to Lysterfield this seemed like the ideal time to discuss re-alignment of buckle and upper buckle.... (i have spent the last 3 years doing ad-hoc trail repairs to this area, and nothing had been a permant solution)

So Tony from IMBA came, unfortuantly (and predictably) it rained HARD!!! So Tony being MASTER of trail design, created some fantastic trail, but the footprint of the Dozer combined with the really soft dirt, means that we have quite a bit of work to do to finish this to be 100%, Finishing really just means getting the trail suface smooth, not because we want bike path style trails, but so the drainage is 100%. So we are spending time out there with rakes and hoes just cleaning up, but this causes the trail surface to be really soft, given a bit of rain and a bit of a sun bake, the trail surface will go hard and the trail should be a sustainable trail for years to come.

So the Trail will be 2 directions, and goes from the existing route of buckle, goes up to the soon to be completed 'follow me' and all the way to the start of middle.

Unfortuantly the opening day, cannot be determined until we actually do the work, as all us Vollies have full time jobs (and this is the silly season at my work), lives, and we have so many opportunities to build AWESOME legal trails at Lysty, things will take some time. (this is a good thing)

I am also working really hard on getting the first phase of Follow Me dialed.... (Follow me isn't officially open yet)

Contact me or the club if you want to help make some really cool trails!
 
Beej1

Beej1

Senior Member
Forgive me - I've only read back 4 pages. Is any of Follow Me rideable right now? (or ... this weekend to be exact). I see mention of people riding it, then mention of "please stay off till it's complete", but don't know if this means the whole thing.

Also, the trail work mentioned on the previous page (with photos), regarding fixing up bulldozer tracks etc I think on Buckle - if this is not rideable does it therefore close off a large portion of those trails? Or is there another way around it, so to speak?

Basically I'm thinking of heading down there Sunday morning if the rain holds out till the arvo, and I haven't been there in over 18 months. I know there's probably signs to inform me what's rideable and what's not, but I was hoping to find out before driving 90min to get there.

Thanks in advance.
 
NS Capital Man

NS Capital Man

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From what I've read follow me is not officially open but i think you're aloud to ride it (there is no tape saying its closed) Heaps of people are riding it and there are even some helmet cams floating around here
 
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ando_assi

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So there is a sign saying 'trail closed' on follow me as we are having problems with the risk assesment and paper work.

The original alignment of Buckle is still ridable.
 
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sukebe

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When did Follow Me get closed? I understood it was open (the first half) and rode it a few times last Saturday (won't ride again until I'm sure it is actually open). Some good features and is definitely one you need to ride a few times to get the feel for it before you let loose. A bit too tight for my liking in some parts (I remember a nice berm that I couldnt rail too hard for fear of hitting my head on a tree on the opposite side of the trail), some of the kickers are too small and really buck you violently if you are not ready for them, and the roller section is very tight and kills momentum, but generally it was a fun trail that adds a bit of technical riding missing from Lysty.

My biggest problem was some half-wit punter with a skill set barely sufficient for rail-trails. He was doing about 5km/h and I very nearly cleaned him up (had to lock up both wheels while going over a 0.5m drop). I said I was coming through, he ignored me, I asked him to move (politely), he refused. He eventually pulled over after about 100m of me hounding his wheel. He had two more fat, incompentant friends waiting for him at the bottom, I gave them a bit of a lecture about only riding trails within their means and they just looked at me dumbly. I see the big challenge in building technical trails at Lysty will be the hords of 'people on mountainbikes' endangering themselves and the true mountainbikers who have the appropriate skills for the trails.

Also, not sure about the thinking behind giving it a double black diamond. It's a blue trail, maybe single black if you include the largest granite rollover/drop-off as a 'crux move'. I guess they gave the rating to scare off the punters. Problem is, punters with a little skill will still try it, come out thinking they are good enough to ride double blacks, then go and kill themselves when they try riding real double blacks in other parks. I reckon the place is too popular with families and school groups and any technical trails should be sectioned off and VERY well signed. You don't see these issues at You Yangs as the trails area is not setup within the areas that attract families and school groups.
 
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.stu.

Likes Dirt
sukebe said:
When did Follow Me get closed? I understood it was open (the first half) and rode it a few times last Saturday (won't ride again until I'm sure it is actually open). Some good features and is definitely one you need to ride a few times to get the feel for it before you let loose. A bit too tight for my liking in some parts (I remember a nice berm that I couldnt rail too hard for fear of hitting my head on a tree on the opposite side of the trail), some of the kickers are too small and really buck you violently if you are not ready for them, and the roller section is very tight and kills momentum, but generally it was a fun trail that adds a bit of technical riding missing from Lysty.

My biggest problem was some half-wit punter with a skill set barely sufficient for rail-trails. He was doing about 5km/h and I very nearly cleaned him up (had to lock up both wheels while going over a 0.5m drop). I said I was coming through, he ignored me, I asked him to move (politely), he refused. He eventually pulled over after about 100m of me hounding his wheel. He had two more fat, incompentant friends waiting for him at the bottom, I gave them a bit of a lecture about only riding trails within their means and they just looked at me dumbly. I see the big challenge in building technical trails at Lysty will be the hords of 'people on mountainbikes' endangering themselves and the true mountainbikers who have the appropriate skills for the trails.

Also, not sure about the thinking behind giving it a double black diamond. It's a blue trail, maybe single black if you include the largest granite rollover/drop-off as a 'crux move'. I guess they gave the rating to scare off the punters. Problem is, punters with a little skill will still try it, come out thinking they are good enough to ride double blacks, then go and kill themselves when they try riding real double blacks in other parks. I reckon the place is too popular with families and school groups and any technical trails should be sectioned off and VERY well signed. You don't see these issues at You Yangs as the trails area is not setup within the areas that attract families and school groups.
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ando_assi said:
...as we are having problems with the risk assesment...
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10 chars...
 
A

ando_assi

Likes Dirt
I understand that 'follow me' isn't 100%, but i am committed to getting it right... :)

Its a good start?

Problem is that i only have weekends, and i occasionally want to ride.

Any help is appreciated
 
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sukebe

Likes Dirt
Don't get me wrong ando, your efforts are fantastic. If I lived closer and r
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ode there more once or twice a year I would make the effort to come to build days. I was just trying to make some constructive (and hopefully helpful?) comments
 
shakes

shakes

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potblak said:
Great work everyone! Can't wait to try it out; but I will.

Unfortunately though, without active enforcement, many riders will just ignore the signs and tapes, just like they have all year so far.
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Unfortunately its also very easy to end up on closed trails and not realise they are closed until you hit the other end with the signs and tape.

This happened to me on a couple of occasions earlier in the year.
 
V

velocidad

Likes Dirt
ando_assi said:
I understand that 'follow me' isn't 100%, but i am committed to getting it right... :)

Its a good start?

Problem is that i only have weekends, and i occasionally want to ride.

Any help is appreciated
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Its a great start! I had a session there last Sunday arvo with my 10yo - great work all, we had a ball.
 
IIITAK3NIII

IIITAK3NIII

Likes Dirt
Follow me has never been "officially opened" because Parks Vic were yet to approve it. The approval will be coming soon, but some small changes to the trail may need to occur for it to pass. I agree that many of the jumps buck you way too much, but being as this trail was built by volunteers (Myself included) I think we have done a good job considering it's the first technical trail we have built.

The Double black diamond was labelled by Parks Vic and not by the trail builders.... so yeah.

I'm fairly sure once we have some time on our hands we will try and do all the finishing touches to follow me, but for now we have a few other trails (both new and old) that need our attention. Considering build days are only once a month it makes it hard to build all the things that we want when half the time maintenance needs to be done.
 
Beej1

Beej1

Senior Member
ando_assi said:
So there is a sign saying 'trail closed' on follow me as we are having problems with the risk assesment and paper work.

The original alignment of Buckle is still ridable.
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Thanks.

So, FM's closed, but at the same time you seem to be after feedback - am I right? Or is the help you're after strictly in building? If the former I'd only want to roll it just to check it out. I can't say I'd be the most knowledgeable person in the world, but I did just come back from a month of riding in the US, and they've got their shit so well & truly sorted it makes the MTB scene here look infant at best. But it has to start somewhere.

Having said that ... if the trail's closed, it's closed.
 
leadz

leadz

Likes Bikes
Downhillers @ follow me?????

Hey all,

Tell me is follow me trail going to be like cressy descent trail at the you yangs??where downhillers xc guys and gals can hit. with drop off's, jumps, and rock gardens, all with b-lines for the people who like to take the easy way down.

cheers leadz..
 
martinpb

martinpb

Likes Dirt
leadz said:
Hey all,

Tell me is follow me trail going to be like cressy descent trail at the you yangs??where downhillers xc guys and gals can hit. with drop off's, jumps, and rock gardens, all with b-lines for the people who like to take the easy way down.

cheers leadz..
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that's up to you - if you build it like Cressy's, then it will be like Cressy's; if you don't, it will bike like whatever the people who choose to contribute build it like :)
 
O

OT

Likes Dirt
I walked some of the new trail and it looks pretty good. It's packed in and firm and looks ready to ride. Looks like some have already ridden it. The trail up to follow me still has tape across the trail and people have been going around it. The rest of the new trail has had the tape broken and is being ridden. Is it open? I was speaking to a LDTR member and he said that Trailmix opened the trail on Wednesday night's ride.

I've always assumed that if there is tape still up but broken that it's probably not open. If the trail is open it would be better to pull all the tape down and if it can't be carried out at the time, roll it up and stash it behind a tree to pick up later.

Follow Me doesn't have a sign up saying it's closed or any tape, so I rode it.
 
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