Two routes in Australia

[AmyL]

I don't know anything more than this, but my curiosity has been piqued:

http://mundabiddi.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=35
The Munda Biddi Trail is half completed.  They plan to complete the second half in the next three years.  When done it will be a 600 mile "completely off-road" cycle route, well marked and with sleeping shelters and picnic tables along the way.

http://www.nationaltrail.com.au/index.html
The ~3300 mile Australian Bicentennial National Trail was developed as a Trail Horse route, but there's info on the site about mountain biking it also.

Amy

[Goatrak]

Your post jogged my memory about this other route in Australia that I'd read about a while back, called the Canning Stock Route. It was quite the solo feat by this person, so thought I'd include it here.

http://www.wildworks.co.nz/csr/route.php

[ScottM]

Your post jogged my memory about this other route in Australia that I'd read about a while back, called the Canning Stock Route. It was quite the solo feat by this person, so thought I'd include it here.

http://www.wildworks.co.nz/csr/route.php

Thanks for reminding of that trip -- a fun one to read about for sure.

[ScottM]

This reminds me...

Here's another Australian route I've been looking at for a while.  I even have the guidebook:

http://www.tasmaniantrail.com.au/

It goes the length of Tasmania, and from what I can tell, is mostly dirt roads.  Designed from the ground up to be multi-use and include bikes.

[chumbox]

http://www.nationaltrail.com.au/index.html
The ~3300 mile Australian Bicentennial National Trail was developed as a Trail Horse route, but there's info on the site about mountain biking it also.

I am currently looking into a trip on the Bicentennial Trail from the south end at Healesville (Melbourne) heading up towards the NSW border or at least some of it.  Would be looking to do it on singlespeed over a couple of days and just see where it goes.

Does anyone know have any experience on this route?

[ScottM]

I would also love to hear about any bike experience on this route...  could be a great opportunity for hike-a-bike.   

[mtb4x4mad]

I have done small sections of the Bicentennial trail, walking, cycling and in a vehicle. Due to it's length, the trail travels through a huge variety of trail types - in the couple of hundred kilometres or so that i've been on, some sections are well used tarmac roads, while others are likely to pose problems for cyclists...in saying that if you're not afraid of pushing I'm sure it's not a problem.

12 Guidebooks are available for the entire walk - the edition I have was printed in 1991 and as such it's likely that considerable changes have occurred in that time.

One thing that makes this 'trail' different to other trails is that is passes through a huge number of private landholdings over its entire distance, each requiring permission to enter. This makes it interesting, but may also pose a problem as far as contacts go - details are listed in the guidebooks, but again, it's difficult to confirm the accuracy of the details.

In saying that, it would be fantastic to have an organised 'race' such as those in the states which utilises a mass start, even if only a smaller section of the trail was used - from the sections of trail that i've seen, I really doubt that the average speed would be anywhere near that experienced in the GDR or TDR. Crossings of large rivers are very common, at least in the sections that I have travelled - these crossings would be impassable if wetter than average conditions are experienced.

Neverthless, the lack of bears, cougars and other various North American animals will be swapped for our infamous friendly snakes and spiders, which are bound to keep you moving along

[chumbox]

Which end did you experience on the trail... Healesville near Melbourne or other?

[mtb4x4mad]

I have guidebook 8, which covers Ebor to Barrington Tops, which is maybe a third of the way from South to North. It passes through some higher elevations at up to 1300metres, and passes through only 2 small towns on this section.

[scuppy]

Bikes are only allowed on roads, not trails. I asked one of the NSW park officials about riding sections, and really you're limited to small runs of the trail. Horses are allowed on more track than bikes, which I find patronizing but that's the way it is.

[ScottM]

Bikes are only allowed on roads, not trails. I asked one of the NSW park officials about riding sections, and really you're limited to small runs of the trail. Horses are allowed on more track than bikes, which I find patronizing but that's the way it is.

Grr... 

How many miles of the trail are in the NSW park?

[afie]

BNT:

I did the sections north and south of Jenolan Caves in 2007. The sections between Melbourne and QLD are meant to be the best for bikers - after talking to a few guys that have walked the whole thing, there are several sections that are too overgrown/reclaimed or rocky? to be ridden by bikes and that is why there are recommendations on alternates.

I used the newer guidebooks that have accurate maps and some GPS data. The older maps are just sketches, though they are being upgraded. Some of the remote sections hardly get used and predicting your pace having to bash through undergrowth (and getting lost) would be impossible. I wanted to ride the whole thing in 2008, but came to the conclusion that riding it quickly would be difficult. I was considering doing a pathfinding mission using a friend in a car as support, in order to determine which sections were suitable for bike racing, but that would have been too expensive.

The trail is designed to be used by horse riders and walkers (40km/day) that move at a slow pace. Moving through private and some state lands you are meant to ring ahead and get permission for grazing and such, but I never did. Biking is much lower impact than horses or walkers, there is no point calling a large number of owners to tell them you are going to cross a single gate or be on their land for 20mins. I was doing 100-150km per day but if you are moving slower, calling ahead may be in your interest.

I am currently in Townsville but am unsure of the trail quality. The trail is very remote at times, up here you would have to have major considerations for food, lack of water in winter, flood in summer, and salt water crocs. The Victorian sections are meant to be great for riders, have great views and alot more oppourtunities for re-fueling (am not sure of current conditions after bushfires).


The CSR:

Interested in this after reading that guys report, but its an expensive undertaking. Difficult to get to the start and from the finish, hard to organise the required drop can and slow going due to the amount of food and water you have to carry. The guy ended up catching and eating lizards.


Munda Biddi:

Not yet finished, but a decent (fireroad quality with sandy sections from my inquiries) quality, huts along the way, well used, but you would have to venture off course (or take a trailer) to get food.


Other trails:

If you are close to Melbourne, I can recommend a few rides:

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Stratford-to-Wangaratta-via-Alpine-NP
Catch Friday afternoon train from Southern Cross (pick up pizza from across the road), ride from Sale (or Stratford) to the National Park boundary by nightfall, ride Sat/Sun and catch train home from Wangaratta sometime Sunday. There are some fantastic trails and roads around Mt. Hotham/Buffalo and it works out to be a cheap weekend.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Ballarat-to-Melbourne219392
Train to Ballarat, ride dirt roads and singletrack through Brisbane Ranges or Lederberg.

Train to Ararat Friday night, ride west to Grampians (some sweet hilly road or mtb rides), train home on Sunday.

[camnrtn]

this thread may be unrevivable, but...

afie - that stratford to wangaratta route you linked to looks really interesting, just wanting to ask if you've ridden it yourself? Avon wilderness park is pretty remote from what I understand, just wondering if it's navigable, if there's water available etc.?? Also, how long did that route take you? cheers!

[afie]

Nope, didn't end up riding that one. I did heaps of research (looking at Google maps satellite and street view) to check that its a continuous route, but moved from Melbourne before I had the chance to spend a weekend on it.

Sorry, but I threw out the cue sheets and info on food sources. Water would be fine this time of year - if you carry fuel for melting snow, but I remember that the distances between towns were easily manageable.

Great profile though. The climb up the back of Mt Buffalo is 10% for 10km.

[angry]

afie - that stratford to wangaratta route you linked to looks really interesting, just wanting to ask if you've ridden it yourself? Avon wilderness park is pretty remote from what I understand, just wondering if it's navigable, if there's water available etc.?? Also, how long did that route take you? cheers!

Just thought I'd chime in to point out that afie's route doesn't go through Avon Wilderness Park (which is a designated wilderness area, no tracks, no vehicles of any kind), it takes Marathon Road up to the Alpine National Park. I can personally vouch for afie's route as far as about 103km (arbuckle junction). Awesome, awesome riding. I was up there a week or two ago and it was one of the best rides of my life. Here's some pics :

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21493482@N04/sets/72157645739978523/

Oh, and no need to melt snow, there's plenty of creeks and rivers up there, just check your maps.

[camnrtn]

Thanks for the responses folk, those photos are fantastic! I've been planning a little 3-4 day route north of healesville in Toolangi state forest, pieced together from various rides from the Keiran Ryan mtb melbourne book and was pretty excited about it, but I'm thinking it'll be incredibly muddy and wet up that way for when I've planned going, which is towards the end of august. Hence the search for another option!

Angry - any chance to get a bit of a route profile/report about your trip? It looks like a good old trip! How was it with the cold? those buildings in the photos - are they huts?

cheers

[angry]

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/541092425

It wasn't that cold, I was (almost) always on the move and had a few layers to keep me warm (short-sleeve wool jersey, Marmot Dri-Clime vest, Patagonia puffy jacket). Those buildings in the photos aren't huts unfortunately - there's the fire tower itself, the dunny, some communications equipment building and what looks like accommodation for the fire lookout dude maybe? Anyway, they were all locked up except the loo.

Marathon Road is a great climb, would def ride again. Wonangatta Valley is rad - met some deer hunters on their way home after being out there for a week. Heaps of sambar deer round there, and lots of wild dogs apparently, though I've never actually seen one - those tracks in the snow are the only sign I've seen of them. Freestone Creek Road back into Briagolong is awesome too, I'd love to ride that in daylight one day. Can't go wrong out that way.

I used to do wordy writeups of my rides but I've got out of the habit lately. Here's an old ride report from last year that covers a similar area :

http://therewillbedirt.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/traralgon-to-bright-day-1.html

[camnrtn]

angry - what an awesome blog, it's giving me lots of ideas for trips, looks like you go pretty hard on your rides! Thanks for the tips. That's the best resource for bikepacking trips in Victoria I've come across so far. To anyone else reading, a guy commenting on angry's website describes another route through a similar area to what's being discussed with some photos which looks pretty interesting
http://www.flickr.com/photos/felixdance/8612143531/#in/photostream/

I think I'll get me some rooftop maps of the area and map something out between sale and wangarratta that looks manageable in 4 days or so and accessible by train. It's a shame there's not any singletrack through that area, or if there is that it's not better advertised. I'd bet you could make some mean multi-day mtb adventures in the area.

[jdremote]

I did about half of the Tasmanian Trail two years ago. It was great, but I wasn't able to complete the route due to time constraints and bush fires at the time. I tried to follow the guide, but it seemed quite out of date in parts and the trail is overgrown and not very well marked - which makes it a great challenge. I plan to go back next year to try and map the complete route with gps. It would make a great route for a multi-day bikepacking race!