Archive for Mountain Biking
22 July, 2010 @ 11:32 pm | Comments (1)
Hands up who takes Lotto? I do from time to time. It’s a family legacy but I don’t really have the same urge as the rest of the clan. My Dad got us into the habit us with stories of what he would do with the winnings if we hit the jackpot. “We’ll take all the kids – and their kids – to Disneyland.” “Then pay of the mortgage”, he’d sometimes add.
At least he had his priorities in order.
A couple of years ago my Uncle actually won $65,000 on a scratchy while he – a Kiwi - was in Oz, and he vowed to keep to the family tradition, taking his son and daughter their spouses and kids (8 in all) on the hallowed trip, just 6 months later.
Dreams rarely live up to the reality (hey, except for dreams of riding great single-track!) and 6 months later it didn’t end as happily as anyone had hoped.
Well, at least the thought was there. It hasn’t stopped Dad from continuing to spout the same story. “We know where he went wrong and darn it, we won’t make the same mistakes!”.
Heaven help our close-knit family if it actually happens.
So the other day I’m in the city foraging for supplies (read: buying breakfast cereal for work) and was regaled by a small built and smartly dressed guy – could have been a jockey – handing out brochures to unsuspecting wayfarers like myself.
The barely scanned pamphlet went into one of the bags…something about FREE ENTRY, which could have been anything but the word FREE still gets the hormones going. If only it didn’t come with so many NOT REALLY FREE strings attached.
Unpacking the food booty at work I caught sight of the aforementioned handout. “FREE ENTRY to Greyhound Racing”. Ahhhh. I forget this marginalized sport exists except when visiting Mum & Dad and they are watching the TAB channel. A rare day at the horse races can be fun but Greyhound Racing seems like it belongs in some black & white gritty movie from the 60’s.
Commuting home on the bike, I got to thinking about how Australians are gambling mad. Why don’t we gamble on MTB? Does anyone, anywhere? Is it because the sport is so small? I looked up gambling statistics and found there’s a bit of money in it… In NSW Sports Gaming is worth 1.5B out of nearly 4.5B Australia-wide…. Now wouldn’t we like to see just 0.1% of that go towards MTB? $4.5M could do heaps.
Sadly, sports other than horseracing account for just 6.5% of those billions, but some of the sports listed in the TAB are not that well known in Australia either. You can bet on all these:
AFL
American Football
Baseball
Basketball
Boxing
Cricket
Cycling (road)
Golf
League
Motor Sport
Netball
Rugby Union
Soccer
Tennis
Politics – party of the next AU PM/Vic Prem/NSW Prem!!! Who’d have thought you could gamble on those?
But even if we could slip MTB into the list, there’s the hint of corruption when you start to talk big bets.
Nikolay Davydenko, major tennis player in ATP Ranking was at the center of a match-fixing investigation in 2007. That touched off a wider scandal in tennis in which at least a dozen ranked players said they had been asked to throw matches or had heard of similar approaches to others.
Tennis’s major governing bodies commissioned a report, which recommended that 45 matches played in the previous five years be investigated further because betting patterns gave a “strong indication” that gamblers were profiting from inside information. As a result, they set up a Tennis Integrity Unit.
The ATP cleared Davydenko of fixing the 2007 match even though they were unable to review the phone records of Davydenko’s wife and brother, which were first withheld and then destroyed.
“A lot of money is being able to be made outside of what’s happening on the court,” said one Australian player. “Sometimes that has a little bit of a negative influence. But luckily enough, I think it doesn’t happen that often.”
Proposition bets, Parlays, Progressive Parlays, Teasers Run Luck, Future wagers, Head-to-Head, Totalizator bets… all these betting types (list from Wikipedia) sound to me as hard to understand and therefore as risky as the CDO’s in the recent GFC…
So, would gambling work with MTB? If they opened up betting on MTB races – say the next World Cup, here or somewhere in the world – would you bet?
How would it change your thoughts about the sport? And how would it change the MTB Racing industry? Would the relatively down to earth and laid-back style of our top MTB riders alter?
Would the clubs be in a better position if there was more money from these events? Or would we lose something important?
Would it maybe broaden the audience? Would Australians start to get into MTB?
Or should we not worry… with the internet already making it even easier for gambling is it actually inevitable?
All this talk of gambling…my adrenaline is popping so now I’m off to buy a ticket in the next Lotto Jackpot.
And if I win, it won’t be a trip to Disneyland for the kids. Yes, I’ll make sure they get looked after, but on the cards will be a nice shiny bike and a world-class Bike Park somewhere in Sydney… Care to take a bet?
27 June, 2010 @ 9:54 am | Comments (1)
I saw a brief article about opening your own MTB B&B. And I thought: hmmm, what would you need? What would be ideal, and where would you build if you had the money? And how would you run it?…
What a great career opportunity… Hell, if you’re service oriented, what a great life! Anyway, I started to scope up some options for such a business plan and for the sake of the exercise, this is what I would consider…
Location: Mt Stromlo area? Blue Mountains? Southern Highlands? Adjacent to Sydney’s next MTB Park? Cairns, maybe if you like it hot? Near one of the popular and more distant race venues like Yellowmundee or Lidsdale?
Accommodation: Twin beds? Bunks? Single rooms for guys or girls who may decide to come on their own…definitely with own bathrooms. Put in twice the number of hot water tanks. MTB is a dirty business. None of those dinky little motel soaps either: have a huge liquid soap dispenser in each shower like the gyms.
Bike Storage: Secure garage or shed where bikes hang up & can be locked. Easily accessible, though, so riders can head out for an early one or do a night ride without disturbing everyone. Maybe a breath test on the locks to limit the, “Lesh go fuh a ride!” midnight drunken nudie rides.
Bike Cleaning Area: Rainwater Tank (gotta be green.. actually the entire business should be setup as a “green” tourism venue. It may take longer, but will bring benefits in time of more clients and lower costs); High & Low pressure hoses, over a draining grate so less clean-up, scrubbing brushes, vending machine with degreaser & lube…
Maintenance area with bolted down work stands: The ONLY place where you want people to work on their bikes (Maybe under a balcony or in a purpose-built garage with the bike storage?) This will keep lube and brake fluid out of your carpet (unless you’ve lived with bikers before, then you’ll probably already be planning floor to ceiling concrete).
Tools: You could provide a couple of captive (connected to something solid by a light cable) items - like a Phillips head and 4.5mm hex keys. Even the whole gamut … But you ARE going to lose them if they aren’t bolted down. OR you could rent out a fully stocked kit and it’s returned full or you start the deductions (Could be a very lucrative part of the business…) OR you sell tools from behind the counter or a vending machine. Or do a deal with the local bike shop to take bikes there. Nah, you’ll still need some crazy tool at 6am…and also, just buy a thousand you-branded tyre levers & mini bike pumps and give them away to each guest on check-in. See Marketing.
Compressed Air: Nice touch. Not essential, but otherwise tie down your floor-standing pumps.
Rental GPS Units: Unless you are good friends with the local Search & Rescue or enjoy spending hours on the phone to guys on bad phone lines… “Yeah, mate, I’m back in that in a valley with those 5 trails around me: which way do I go, again?” These are a potential revenue earner…
Maps: Free your-brand-branded trail maps of the local area. You won’t lose on this one. It will prevent someone becoming lost in the bush at dusk plus be a marketing tool when they take them home & pass them round. Don’t restrict yourself to MTB opportunities either. Trailflix website is frequented by runners and hikers all looking for similar trail info and they will be attracted to an outdoors-oriented weekend accommodation. E.g. if there’s a river nearby think about kayaking. i.e. ‘Safe’ kayaking…
Lounge with Fireplace & AirCon: Cover all the seasons. What a great place to sit back after a day on the trails & share war stories or wounds. OR set up your place near a couple of town bars. Don’t recommend serving alcohol yourself… that’s a whole ‘nother business…unless you do dinner in which case it’s obligatory. Have a heap of MTB mags and tourist brochures in the lounge. TV’s, if you have ‘em, strictly in the bedroom. Maybe run a loop of top MTB Videos if you have a recreation room. An internet connected PC in the corner is a good idea for resolving those late night “who won that race in Yellowmundee..?.
Gym: Lots of riders are sports junkies. Plus, unless you build it in Alice Springs, it’s gonna rain and they want some exercise before breaking open the 6-packs. In addition, riders will bring non-MTB partners who’ll want to do something. Have a couple of indoor bikes and maybe a few weights in a gym or have arrangement with a nearby gym… a few bits of kids play equipment in the back yard for families wouldn’t go astray. The Family Biker tourist might be a niche market which would call for a slightly different approach.
Rental Bikes: Someone will bust theirs on the first day of the long-weekend or will just want a change from their 10 year old rust bucket. Having 5-10 well-maintained bikes on hand (do a deal with a local bike shop or have a big brand sponsor their product) will be good insurance as opposed to arguing why an MTB Lodge “doesn’t necessarily have rentals and, no, you can’t “borrow” my Specialized Epic Pro…!”
Bike Shuttle: Dual use: At least some of the trailheads are going to be longer than a bike ride away and more importantly you need a way for guys to get their machines from the incoming transport hub (train/airport) to your location. Taxis won’t cut it.
Wi-Fi: These days the internet is essential. Everywhere.
Washing machine with a Drier: for the guy who brought only one pair of everything. Have branded or unbranded socks, nicks, shorts, suntan and insect repellent at the front desk or in a vending machine in the laundry. Overseas, vending machines are all over… we don’t have half of what they have over there but they can be a labour-saving and secure revenue generator. Coke and chips machine is obligatory. Free to set up too if you have enough revenue going through them.
Coffee Machine: Kick start in the morning or anytime.
Breakfast Bar: All you can eat buffet: cereal, milk, toast, juice, fruit. Then if they want they can pre-order a cooked breakfast. Have someone come in and cook only when you have orders.
Tours: If you are as mad about riding as most of us chainheads then you’ll want to be out on the trails at least some of the time. So long as you are a good all-rounder: convivial, good rider, can fix most things on the fly, very, very safe with OTHER people’s lives… then this could be a highlight and is certainly lucrative. You need expensive liability insurance to do this so treat it as a separate business plan.
Conference Room: Now we are talking big money. You want the weekend guys of course, that’s your bread & butter, but the great growth area is in hosting groups for conferences mid-week. Main requirement is a room with one or more tables & chairs for up to 20+ people, a projector and whiteboard and you’re away. Catering outsourced. This combines well with the bike hire, the tours, the gym, the breakfasts etc. You become part of the conference market AND tourist machine but service based industries are one of the fastest growing. Room nights is your key metric (Business reporting & analysis is another consideration). Again this requires a different “layer” business plan.
By now you are either getting interested, bored or backing well away from the computer. If you are in the former, don’t worry. You:
(a) can’t do this all yourself but
(b) can outsource a lot of this stuff (cleaning, cooking, café meals, tours, maintenance, gym, bike pickup, etc) to free up your time to actually get out and ride … choosing to do as much as you (or you & your wife/hubbie) have time for. The first couple of years is about building a business and these days, building a brand and a reputation. Whatever you do, do it well. And get a great accountant: the best can make a good business great.
Marketing: Plenty of opportunities: your own website of course, the bike mags, links to and from the tourist websites, NSW Tourism, Facebook, YouTube, Overseas Outbound tourism operators, blogs like this one. These days it’s as much as you have time for or want to invest in with a marketing/PR company. Tee shirts and 3 - 5 branded items for sale at the counter is a great way to help get your name out there.
Take a look at the websites from round the world and decide the elements that seem to be the most common; plus what are you already good at (eg I actually COULD organize a piss-up in a brewery, but apparently there’s little call for that as a business skill) and how this is going to fit in to your life. Don’t be 2 years down the track and burnt out like most new sole traders: the more you plan the better the outcome.
Like Will Levy did when he started mtnbike.com.au tours, call around and talk to as many people in and outside the MTB & tourism for ideas and filter the input, and then if you do decide to commit, create a business plan for the first 2 years, because its quite possible your ideas will be unprofitable. You are in this to make money unless you already have money in which case this is a retirement hobby.
If you do get started then let us know at Trailflix, we’d be happy to help promote (just because we’re into bikes) and as I said to the guy who was looking to build an MTB park, we’d love to film a documentary of the development…
18 June, 2010 @ 10:50 pm | Comments (0)
Flew over to a conference outside of Denver recently, near our Colorado Springs office, and through careful planning I managed to squeeze in a morning’s MTB before returning home.
The ride – organized by my mate – ex-colleague - Phil – was to head up, “The Chutes” Trail and then round Gold Camp Road and down “Captain Jacks” Trail. Just a 2-hour jaunt, this meant we could fit in lunch before I jetted my way home.
The Saturday morning was overcast and a chilly 8 degrees Celsius. Didn’t stop me from doing an early morning run along the “Pikes Peak Bike trail” that parallels Colorado Spring’s main creek. Actually, this was my second weekend creek run; I’d spent a night in Denver the week before and ran the “Cherry Creek Trail” which has a bike path on one side and walker-only trail along the other: a beautifully paved run & bike trail in the heart of the city. If you’re in Denver, don’t miss it.
But this Saturday we were up for a solid ride. It was still overcast and damp weather at 8am when Trev (also Colorado-based for a couple of weeks engineering) & I drove to Bicycle Village – where Phil had rented bikes - and after drooling over the latest $US bike prices, we headed to the trailhead.
Parking was on Ridgeway Ave in Cheyenne on the south side of town, and there in front of us next to the trailhead: a Pivot demo caravan with about 20 shiny loaner bikes..! Turned out we could have borrowed instead of rented, but who was to know… Hell, did they look good, though.
Denver & Colorado Springs are both “mile high” (2000 metres) cities, so riding up seems a tad more exhausting than on Sydney’s 500-metre-high Blue Mountains. The rarified atmosphere can cause altitude sickness* so we were puffing a little after riding just 2 miles up to Gold Camp Road, still managing to pass a couple of guys test riding the aforementioned Pivots (did I already say the bikes looked sweet?).
The views from the Gold Camp Road are spectacular but it was still overcast as we ascended, with just a little sun breaking through. Also great were the rental bikes; 3 near-new Trek Fuel EX machines. Beautifully tuned, with weight & height set before we left by the guys at Bicycle Village (www.bicyclevillage.com). I’ve had a Trek and wasn’t that impressed while I owned it but it may have been the setup (more likely the fool rider!) …because these were superb machines.
Gold Camp Road winds around “May’s Peak”, through Pike National Forest, going from tar seal to gravel, through a single lane tunnel
and then up to High Drive, about 8,000 feet. This last 1000 feet was accompanied by great views into the valley and by the time we hit the “High Drive ALT 7867” sign, our hill climbing was all but done.
Opposite this sign is a carpark, and ahead, parallel to High Drive you can see the trail: a narrow single-track cut into the side of a steep hill.
There’s not much room for error in places unless you like tumbling down hillsides in which case, hell, you can go ahead and make all the mistakes you want! As such, this is not a trail for your acrophics (fear of heights) but most will find it a balance of thrilling XC, a little technical and twisty but ultrafast downhill sections. This being my first go on the trail I approached it carefully, but next time….
The trail has a couple of perfect pitstop areas where you can stop for a drink (or a pee. The higher up you go, the more you want to urinate, apparently). The guys went ahead while I stopped a few times for photos and then they slowed down to check where I was.
This was inspiring riding, reminding me of the best of Stromlo; outstanding views while riding a magnificent trail: All in all, an unbeatable excursion. What’s more, the cloud cover had slid aside and we had full sun for most of the way back. Felt like a mild summer’s day, though they’d had snow in town just the week before. Colorado is like that; the weather can change in a few minutes so if you’re going far, take enough sunscreen AND winter gear…just in case.
On one of our pitstops, Phil told us this was only a taste of what’s available in this part of the Rockies, right next to Colorado Springs. Phil & his wife live outside of Denver just an hour north, but he reckons the Springs has the better riding, mainly because it’s is accessible, close to the city. Next time I’m there he said we’ll make a day of it and ride out on the 30 mile firetrail and come back on the 30 mile (48 Km) of mostly singletrack. Hearing that, I was tempted to put in for a US transfer!
Towards the end of Captain Jacks Trail are some steeper drops but nothing unrideable for your average Joe (eg. me). But if this (or just the altitude) doesn’t get your heart going, then there are plenty of steeper trails in the area.
Finishing off the trail at a superfast pace, we were back on Gold Camp Road for a couple of Kms before heading back down the Chutes, slowing down some as this ones a two-way singletrack i.e. you meet people (like we had earlier) riding up. It’s wide enough in places for two bikes and the berms are stunningly formed, so you are tempted to just push it …but then you come across some dude taking a wide corner and you appreciate the need to take it easier. Phil said he’d done a night ride race where the trail was set up as only downhill and reckoned it was even better, especially in near-darkness on your second loop.
The boys from Pivot were still there in the carpark but we were running out of time so no chance to sample the shiny hardware. Instead it was off to town for Pizza before doing the 1-hour drive to Denver Airport. In the end I needn’t have rushed. I missed my flight & had to catch a later one back to overnight in LA, missing my flight back to Oz… (and who’d’ve thought spending the next day inside a crummy LAX hotel doing email while waiting for your next flight would be so much fun?)
If you’re heading to Colorado Springs, the bike shop is worth checking out and if you want someone to show you the trails, they have organized rides or drop me a line and I’ll pass your details on Phil.
I brought back a couple of maps of Colorado Springs trails – $5 each at the bike shop, but free to a good home, so if you’re heading over and wanting to scout out some riding before you go, drop me a line and I’ll send you out a copy.
The Bike Shop:
Bicycle Village
2450 Montebello Square Drive
Colorado Springs
CO 80918
*Altitude Sickness: The causes of altitude sickness are not fully understood. The term ‘rarified atmosphere is ambiguous because percentage of oxygen in air, at 21%, remains almost unchanged up to 70,000 feet (21,000 m). The RMS velocities of diatomic nitrogen and oxygen are very similar and thus no change occurs in the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen. However, it is the air pressure itself, the number of molecules (of both oxygen and nitrogen) per given volume, which drops as altitude increases. Consequently, the available amount of oxygen to sustain mental and physical alertness decreases above 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Although the cabin altitude in modern passenger aircraft is kept to 8,000 feet (2,400 m) or lower, a large proportion of passengers on long-haul flights may experience some symptoms of altitude sickness.
Dehydration due to the higher rate of water vapor lost from the lungs at higher altitudes may contribute to the symptoms of altitude sickness.
The rate of ascent, altitude attained, amount of physical activity at high altitude, as well as individual susceptibility, are contributing factors to the onset and severity of high-altitude illness.
20 March, 2010 @ 9:16 pm | Comments (0)
(from Manly Dam)
Keep to the signposted route
Biking on walking tracks prohibited
Enter the park only from the access points indicated on the map
Give way to walkers and dismount when approaching groups. The bike route is a shared access
Do not make new trails. It is illegal and degrades the park
Dismount near children’s play areas
Do not ride around water bars, steps or other erosion constructions – they stabilize tracks by minimizing soil movement
Keep speed and skidding to a minimum. Sustained or repeated skidding causes erosion
Always ride on the left on blind corners. When riding on firebreaks behind houses, keep to the bush side to minimize grass and erosion damage
Wash your bike before entering Many Dam or any bushland reserve as mud carries seed – a real threat to bushland
Observe bike route closures
After heavy rainfall, please refrain from using the bike access routes until conditions settle
10 March, 2010 @ 7:29 pm | Comments (0)
As I wrote in an editorial last year, I spoke to Daniel Bishop of the Mt Annan Botanic Gardens, and he told me of significant plans to upgrade bike facilities, including MTB, in and around Mt Annan Botanic Gardens, located in south western Sydney.
How on earth did a botanic garden trust get mixed up with biking?
Good question. Mt Annan, Mt Tomah & the Royal Botanic Gardens in central Sydney, are operated by the NSW State Government within their Environment portfolio. The three Gardens and the Domain are administered by the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust.
Their primary aim is,
“…the appreciation and conservation of plants”.
Now they do have great conservators; the Mt Annan gardens have gone from strength to strength over the last 10 or 15 years since it was opened, but in practical terms you also need to get the public in the gates to do the ‘appreciating’…
In the 1800’s when the trust was first established, there were fewer opportunities to ‘recreate’ outside of the home, and the new botanic gardens in most Australian cities were a focus for families young and old. Just meeting there and seeing the flora was a significant break from the dusty city streets and hard slog of the times.
Leap forward to the 21st Century and while many may have more time, we spend it less and less in places like public gardens. Most of us are overwhelmed with the choices in technology; Facebook, Twitter, live cable TV sport, short-break holidays… you name it, it’s taking up time in most of our days. And besides, gardens are not seen as important places for the young anymore.
Unlike the old days, you can’t just “build it…” i.e. open the Botanic Gardens gates and “…they will come”, you need to make it relevant; gardens need to be seen as more than about fairly static plants; they need to be meaningful to people in ways that incorporate both interesting and useful aspects of their lives and our global community.
Looking around Sydney there aren’t many locations that enable young people to get back to nature while providing transport infrastructure, recreation alternatives and address their growing concerns of global warming, obesity and the disintegration of traditional family life.
Botanic gardens – though their original name perhaps belies aspects of their future opportunity – might be such a place. With cycling as one enabler…
Daniel Bishop told me plans are already drafted for Mt Annan to take a lead developing recreational biking in Western Sydney. Here are some of the plans:
PUMP TRACK
Mt Annan have started working with Brett Barnett from Dirt Tracks to build a Pump Track and Skate area. A Pump Track is like a groomed dirt BMX trail for MTB’ers; The track will be circular and will incorporate jumps, drops, and be designed for momentum… Location is planned for the Southern precinct, near the railway line. It’ll be part of an overall adventure park.
REGIONAL CYCLEWAY
Camden and Campbelltown Councils are working with Landcom – developers of the new Western Sydney housing precinct called Spring Farm Estates – and Mt Annan, on laying down a regional cycleway, that will go from the Nepean River, through the Spring Farm Estates development to the University of Western Sydney on the other side of the freeway from Mt Annan.
Landcom have put aside $4.5M for the cycleway – about half the required funding – and the parties have applied to the Federal Government for the rest of the funding under the recent Stimulus Package funds, a small proportion of which has been earmarked for cycleways.
Funding request went in, in June, and with projects needing to be completed by 2011, Dan says they should know soon enough if these have been granted. The cycleway would then form one of those new access points to Mt Annan, giving access to the Adventure Park…
ENDURO MTB TRACK
In yet another initiative, Mt Annan have already gained approval from the Trust for the development of 14km of single and doubletrack for a MTB Ednuro track, to be located at another area in the park.
The track would have three gradings;
(1) introductory - designed for family and learner riders;
(2) Fast – more challenging and
(3) Expert – with steep climbs and descents (I can tell you from experience they already exist at Mt Annan) .
The pylons that form part of the boundary for the park are being relocated and in this process Mt Annan were able to gain funding to implement this trail. The realignment funding will also allow Mt Annan to eliminate the Olive plant weeds that are a pernicious weed in Western Sydney.
The 3 projects would bring locals and regional people to the park alike and already there have been discussions with MTB Event organizers who would be keen to include the track as part of a calendar of events that take place in other parts of Sydney. That of course brings much needed ongoing funding to develop the rest of the gardens and in turn bring people to appreciate the rest of what Mt Anna has to offer.
As with any change, there are some for whom this is a straying from the original objective, but Dan feels that there is now an openness to new ideas. So long as the biking aspects are compatible with the existing aims and – importantly – can be income generating over time, he believes there will continue to be support.
This series of initiatives arrives at a time when many in our community are waiting for great ideas to help us ‘save the planet’. This conjoining of parks and biking could be a key element to start an ingrained biking culture right across Sydney, remaking parts of our structured recreation, transport infrastructure and livability of what we have begun to realize is a much more fragile world than we might have believed when botanic gardens were the recreational pinnacle of our cities.
We’ll look forward to sharing their progress.
24 February, 2010 @ 10:23 pm | Comments (0)
I’d driven to the Newnes glowworm caves about a year ago – after a bike ride at Narrowneck – and was determined to actually ride it at some stage. It was a 36km (one-way) firetrail with heaps of side trails I hadn’t tried, plus there were apparently great views of Wolgan Valley just beyond the caves, that we’d never reached on that day. So it was a must-ride.
Late January and the need to get some km’s under my belt was strong – I had a 100Km race in 3 weeks and had mainly done road miles in the lead-up. I needed long stretches of dirt and hills, to kick the thighs into condition. Plus I wanted to put the Newnes track up on the website, but had no gpx file to get the right map… and with all the side trails, plus the parallel road / ex-rail tracks, I figured it could be a guessing game for anyone else without some clear guidance.
6am on a Saturday morning. The weather report said “one-or-two showers” in the city and Blue Mountains, but I’d decided a bit of rain wasn’t going to put me off. After all, the trails are sandy-forest-firetrails driven hard by logging trucks, not your typical fragile clay single-track ecosystem.
There was sparse fog along Bells Line of Road as I drove up to Lithgow but by the time I unpacked the bike at a big open car park and took off, the rain had disappeared.
Like most small towns, Lithgow is pretty quiet early Saturday and there was hardly a soul around. The Workingmen’s club - Workies – looked pretty swish for a town of just 20,000. Must be some big drinkers (or pokie players) out here…
All my weekend rides are planned but something often turns up to make life a bit more interesting… Here I was on a solo 4-to-5 hour ride and as I turned onto State Mine Gully Road leading out of town I spot two MTB’ers – and a large white dog - about half a km in front of me.
I hoped they were heading the same destination.
Riding up, I introduced myself to Allen Park & Lauren. Yes, they were heading to the glowworm caves and yes, no problem - happy to have me join the trek. Both life-long bikers (aged 68 and 59 – fit as buck rats!) with Lauren – the local guy - showing Al – the Newcastle visitor - the route.
“Your dog?”, they asked? “Nope, don’t have a dog…” (that’s the plan for later this year, though). This one was a big, old, white lab; a friendly stray who took the tour with us for about the first 15Km…ran it like he owned it, too*
State Mine Gully Road is about 3-4 kilometers of steep, steady uphill. Not an encouraging start (but a fantastic finish later in the day). Al set a fairly steady pace, talking about his interesting and varied life. He regaled me with stories on biking, work, rugby (after he learned I was a kiwi) and countless other tales… like the time he rode from Seattle to Mexico, with his mate. On their last night in Seattle, they met two young Mormon brothers – at a pub - who were riding the Seattle to San Fran leg over their summer break and had hobo’ed up (i.e. hitching a train ride without paying) with their bikes to begin their journey. The boys had just 2 pair of nicks, 2 bike shirts, a sheet, and a pair of shorts & tee shirt & toothbrush - and next to nothing else - in the small backpacks. By the time the 4 hit San Fran 10 days later they’d done over 1300 km, had had a heap of fun and were exhausted & stunk. But it turned out the boys lived in one of San Francisco’s most exclusive suburbs and their Dad was a millionaire! Needless to say, Al & his mate dined out in style at the Dad’s Club that night and slept very, very late the next day, before the pair headed off to Mexico…
But, according to Al, the story didn’t end there… 2 years later the boys called up and asked Al and his mate to fly back to the US and ride the whole journey again for a documentary. They did it this time in better style (i.e. no canned bean dinners) and the resulting short film ran the festival circuit at the time. This was all 25+ years ago. (Sounds like a film project I could get stuck into…)
After the long uphill, my legs were aching for relief but I reminded myself this was why I’d come all this way. Al – very fit at 68 - meanwhile was taking it all in his stride while Lauren – much less so after a recent bout of pneumonia – was following more slowly.
From just after the ascent, State Mine Gully Road changes its name to Glowworm Tunnel Road and is mostly flat or downhill all the way into the Wolgan Valley, which lies between Newnes State Forest and Wollemi National Park. It’s a great ride and we reached speeds of 40+km towards the end…(Had Grant Byrne been there, he would have doubtless hit 60!)
There are two trails that run parallel at times (diverging at others) where the old rail track follows the old-road-next-to-the-rail-track. If you take a look at Google Earth maps you can see where they come together then part and you’re pretty safe taking either. Both vary between wide firetrail and single-track size but the narrower one (not the main trail) is pretty sandy and not so hard-packed, so it depends what trail base you prefer to ride on.
To the left (as you ride in) there are perpendicular, narrow tracks here and there that take you down to an escarpment, according to Lauren. He says some are worth the trip for the views. We didn’t divert on the day but I’ll return maybe next summer and scout a few out.
Past the Warratah Road intersection (an alternative route in from Clarence, about 8Km east of Lithgow) there’s a huge open area - the Bungleboori Picnic & Camping area - which has some large shady pine trees that’s semi-fenced in. From what I read in a couple of places, there is no water , so you have to bring your own in…The day we rode past there were a couple of caravans and trailers with several trail bikes. With countless sandy roads, this place is a mecca for Moto-X rides but we only saw a few all day on the main trail.
We had around 10 4WD’s pass us on the outward journey and a few on the way back. Lauren the local was pretty filthy on them saying “they speed…” and “they don’t give bikes enough room…” but on this day most seemed pretty fair: few slowed down but none came close enough to worry us.
Past parked lumber trucks, past sawn logs, new seedlings and old forests that looked ripe for cutting, it was an interesting pine-aroma-filled journey, especially with the 2 guys as company. About 25Km in the road splits into Glowworm Tunnel and Old Coach Road. Take the Glowworm one as you’ll come back via Old Coach if you decide to do the circuit.
From here it’s 8km of fast descent. This is fantastic great fun until you get to the sign:
TUNNEL AHEAD.
Eh?
This is the old rail tunnel and you can make it through without lights (as we did) but do take it easy as the last time Al said he rode a tunnel light-less, he smashed into one of the walls. Was a bit painful, from the telling. With this one, there’s just enough light (if you have good eyes) from the entrance behind you to get you to the mid-point safely where there’s barely enough light coming in from the exit on the way out. Being an old rail tunnel and not that wide, it could be a tad more scary with a car coming towards you.
From there its downhill again to the turning area/car park and the track to the glowworms. That last part is meant to be walked. I think we might have had a few cheaters on our outing who biked it, but I’m saying nothing. You can tell the track is a part time stream in the wet as it’s fairly rocky & technical, so anyone not walking it risks going arse over kite.
20 metres in front of the Glowworm tunnel entrance, the trail was overgrown and waterlogged and a few branches placed there were helpful in keeping the feet dry. I described the tunnel walk itself in last years blog and it hasn’t lost any of its magic but definitely take a torch because you’re not going to make it without something bright. This is pitch black and then some. The glow worms shine enough light for themselves but it’s faint blue and not that useful for illuminating much, unless you’re a tiny glowworm looking for a hot date….
Being EXCEPTIONALLY well planned I only had my red tail light – a 1-light-LED. Would have barely worked on its own so lucky I’d had met up with Lauren as he’d brought 2 so between the two guys lights & my red one, we were fine. Met a couple of couples on the way through – one with torches and the other with that old standby – an LCD screen on their digital camera, which is what I used last time.
Main rule: take the path to your right as there’s a wide ledge that’s easy. The middle is pretty rocky otherwise. The tunnel is not bikeable.
Out the other side into ferny overgrowth you follow a narrow – absolutely unbikeable - track that after about 500M takes you over the stream and up onto a ledge overlooking Wolgan Valley. The view is blocked by bushes but is still impressive. You can bike the narrow trail but only if you are OK riding next to a near-vertical 100M drop on one side. We walked about 50% of it then stopped for a feed. I’m not one to pack a big lunch on rides but these guys had ham, bread, cheese & even chocolate teddies (Mum musta packed right). Needless to say my protein bar & apple paled a bit in comparison but they had plenty to go round and being MTBers were more than happy to share. We all agreed bikers are (generally) good guys. Easy to get along with and apart from being fussy about our bikes, are fairly laid back unless we are competing… in which case we are all selfish bastards who only want to win….at all costs!! No? …Sorry, that must be just me then.
Round the ridge track and the views continue over the northern part of Wolgan Valley and Wolgan Road. The road is actually an alternative way back to Lithgow but we carried on round, past a few slips and then turned up the hill at the Old Coach Road. This was yet another steep ascent and here I split with the guys as I needed to be back at Sydney early whereas they were content to take it easy on the way back.
At the top of Coach Road are some good escarpment views which reminded me of Kings Canyon in the Northern Territory. Only not so red…
It’s a long way back. So take heaps of water. I took 3 litres and could have used another couple. As indicated above, there’s no water at the campground but I was on a roll anyway.
Great long ride. Worth exploring and if your kids haven’t seen glowworms, take ‘em for a light show they’ll never forget.
* the white labrador was there, waiting at the campground, when I biked back past; probably been trying to mooch food from the trail bikers. He joined me on the outward journey ‘til I hit the superfast downhill along State Mine Gully Road. That alone is another highlight…