Silvan

gippyz

Likes Dirt
This follows on from the previous discussion above around the post-storm logging - which is pretty contentious not just with YRMTB and mtb riders but also with the trail runners, walkers, birders et al, and national parks/conservation groups who don't want to see what remains of a forest that has suffered the destructive impacts of the storms be further flattened in the name of "remediation". \

I think as much as anything else the frustration with DEECA/VicForests is a sense that they treat the area as a problem to be solved with interventionist management rather than as an asset with a range of motivated user groups who want to see the forest conserved, as as a result don't meaningfully work with those groups and end up doing shit like flattening mountain bike trails at the same time as dragging their feet for years on sanctioning additional trails etc. The YRMTB crew have put huge amounts of volunteer time into Silvan and Warby over the last few years and then shit like this comes round again... can't blame them for wanting to throw their hands up.
In this case, I don't understand why DEECA / parks victoria are so willing to throw more cash around to do something that most users do not want them to do. If bush fire is to hit the area, the whole park is going to go up in blaze anyway, with or without "remediation". In fact, leaving the remnants intact is (perhaps contentious) better for the environment. Wildlifes can use the felled trees and what not.
 

Chriso_29er

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hoping they stay close to the fire roads so only the ends largely affected. Or they take care around features and wood structures.

If they do like they did up the top of Bottlecaps the trail itself should stay mostly intact with a bit of care and luck.

But they’re welcome to kill this little log with fire, mf thing that is lol.
Screenshot_20230415_134211_Chrome.jpg
 

yuley95

soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Hoping they stay close to the fire roads so only the ends largely affected. Or they take care around features and wood structures.

If they do like they did up the top of Bottlecaps the trail itself should stay mostly intact with a bit of care and luck.

But they’re welcome to kill this little log with fire, mf thing that is lol.
View attachment 398789
Is that the ankle killer?
 

caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Had a solid ride here on the weekend and the trails are running mint. Snakes absolutely f***ing everywhere though! Nearly all looked big enough to be adults so a bit less unpredictable but take extra care if you're riding solo atm.
I have been riding in Silvan for 20 years + and I've never seen a single snake on a trail - everyone I know sees them regularly.
Hope it stays that way!
Seen everything else imaginable - deer, koalas, goannas, foxes, cats along with the usual native wallabies, lyrebirds, wombats, echidnas, antechinus etc
 

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
I have been riding in Silvan for 20 years + and I've never seen a single snake on a trail - everyone I know sees them regularly.
I actually didn't see any on the trails either, just plenty parallel to them cruising or lurking until I decided I just wasn't going to look at anything rustling next to the trails anymore. Sure did make some of those climbs faster though.

As an aside I haven't been to Silvan in a while but I was really impressed with the trail conditions. Someone (YRMTB?) has been clearly putting a shitload of effort into trail maintenance and it shows. Bulk fun.
 

gippyz

Likes Dirt
I have been riding in Silvan for 20 years + and I've never seen a single snake on a trail - everyone I know sees them regularly.
Hope it stays that way!
Seen everything else imaginable - deer, koalas, goannas, foxes, cats along with the usual native wallabies, lyrebirds, wombats, echidnas, antechinus etc
Ya seen lyrebirds there? lucky chap!
 

gippyz

Likes Dirt
The trail’s not called Lyre Lyre for nothing! Pre- the storm that brought all the trees down, when that hill was still dense rainforest, I’d see them quite regularly on the climb up Bartlett Tk.
Ah ofc! I've been riding silvan 2-3 times a week, have seen many different species of wildlife (not snakes), but not koala or lyrebirds! Perhaps one day I will.
 

yuley95

soft-arse Yuley is on the lifts again
Seems like the best spot to ask - are trails running ok in silvan after recent storms? Any trails out of action due to trees Down??
 
Top