Bowden Spur Kinglake - Shepherds DH trail.

[Yippee_Ki_YayMF]

Wow, this thread is an awesome read, and the track looks really fun. Well done to the guys who built it and it looks like Yippee got the naming rights. I would like to go ride it, but I don't have a driver. Do you think my Giant Reign will be OK on this track going up and down? I only moved to Melbourne last month from Adelaide, hope to see some of you out there. :very_drunk:

Thanks mate, but I only road the coat tail of Watkins. As far bike choice I think you would be fine cause I used to ride there alot on my 6" Nomad, and it looks smoother now. Might be a bitch if you case the jumps on a shorter travel bike, but casing jumps is a bitch anyway. I should now, I am the king of the case!!

 

[blackmamba]

do you reckon just your average dual suspension bike would struggle out there or would you need more of a serious dh set up ??

Mate some chick was riding it on a rigid sat! You can roll or b line everything. As Wisey said, unlikely you'll slay everything first up or even 8th ride but your always* gunna have a mint time. Primo track to hone your craft and hit warp 6 under the transmission lines...when it drys out.




*denotes may not always have a rad time. Dumb hurts. Plenty of opportunities to score a ride in a meat wagon and get some bonus hospital time

 

[Wisey]

Of course the obvious was going to happen with heavy rain and a new track, the official PV word is the Bowden Spur MTB park is closed until further notice due to substantial rainfall. Signage will be placed at the trail head.

Maybe I jumped the gun a bit this morning. Shortest track opening ever.

 

[Yippee_Ki_YayMF]

Of course the obvious was going to happen with heavy rain and a new track, the official PV word is the Bowden Spur MTB park is closed until further notice due to substantial rainfall. Signage will be placed at the trail head.

Maybe I jumped the gun a bit this morning. Shortest track opening ever.

Haha! Thanks for the heads up. Wouldn't have ridden it anyway with the rain. Hope everyone adheres to it.

 

[Brown Dog]

Of course the obvious was going to happen with heavy rain and a new track, the official PV word is the Bowden Spur MTB park is closed until further notice due to substantial rainfall. Signage will be placed at the trail head.

Maybe I jumped the gun a bit this morning. Shortest track opening ever.

Just put it up on our face book page, i probably shouldnt have put the helmet cam up just yet, oh well.

 

[rustysteel]

Just put it up on our face book page, i probably shouldnt have put the helmet cam up just yet, oh well.

Haha gotta love Melbourne weather - any chance with the conditions improving throughout the week that she'll be open by the weekend?

 

[zstreetco]

Haha gotta love Melbourne weather - any chance with the conditions improving throughout the week that she'll be open by the weekend?

Not with the way the weather is looking i'd imagine.....but one can only help (when one lives in Melbourne ) - Super keen to check out the new track!

 

[crim 87]

what's 'average'? I reckon you could ride it on just about anything, with varying degrees of success and enjoyment. Anything that's too big looks to have a line around it.

This expert opinion is based solely on 2 helmet cam vids I've seen and isn't really worth sheizer.:very_drunk:

ha ha cheers man its a scott spark 70 , just a basic dually far from a serious dh bike though

 

[crim 87]

Mate some chick was riding it on a rigid sat! You can roll or b line everything. As Wisey said, unlikely you'll slay everything first up or even 8th ride but your always* gunna have a mint time. Primo track to hone your craft and hit warp 6 under the transmission lines...when it drys out.




*denotes may not always have a rad time. Dumb hurts. Plenty of opportunities to score a ride in a meat wagon and get some bonus hospital time

sweet thanks man cant wait hopefully this rain lets up

 

[Whippy]

super keen on riding this track i was just wondering if there is any chance
that it is going to be open this weekend on saturday or monday.

 

[dunndog]

super keen on riding this track i was just wondering if there is any chance
that it is going to be open this weekend on saturday or monday.

Check the weather forecast mate. You'd have to assume not.

 

[nickmann]

I was up there today and didn't see any signage at the trail head indicating closure.
We just went for a walk, but it was pretty slippery, and I could already see a few ruts forming plus some pretty chewed up off camber sections.
Can't blame them for shutting it due to rain, although not sure if it actually is open or not :/

 

[indica]

The track looks tops.
From what I rememeber the original crossed the fire road again? And ended in something well steep. Is this bit off the cards now?

Top work though, see some classic World Trail features there.

 

[You Yangs Ranger]

Bowden Spur

The Kinglake Park staff are in the process of working out means to communicate closures to riders, and they will soon have a login such as we do for the You Yangs to provide you with updates. The You Yangs staff involved in Bowden Spur, have returned to the You Yangs and although keeping a close eye on how things are going there, communications will come from Kinglake NP staff and You Yangs MTB Inc members associated with the track. In regards to the old track, it is closed, the new track does not cross the road, and the proposed tracks for the future do not cross the road. One of the underlining principles in the the development of this site, was to remove the road crossings.

In the mean time, if its wet stay off it, ideally the track still needs plenty of drying and hardening time, If its been raining all week, and its sunny on the weekend, its still no good to ride, please give it some time.

Mark

 

[indica]

In regards to the old track, it is closed, the new track does not cross the road,

Top job though, amazing to see legal and funded tracks being pushed through, pity you can't change the weather in Victoria as that is what holds it back... Hahaa..

 

[Jaydawgz]

Top job though, amazing to see legal and funded tracks being pushed through, pity you can't change the weather in Victoria as that is what holds it back... Hahaa..

Not to mention it being in a national park!
Hopefully it's success can help lead to more legal tracks, such as Mt Dandenong..

 

[Mywifesirrational]

Not to mention it being in a national park!
Hopefully it's success can help lead to more legal tracks, such as Mt Dandenong..

I went for a XC ride through Dongalla on Sunday - just cruised around on the fire roads enjoying the tranquillity.

Had a look at a few places were the DH track crosses the fireroads, the erosion damage is appalling, the dickheads who made this track should be ashamed (and fined and made to fix it). This sort of thing will ensure that Mt Dandy is never going to be pro-MTB, which is a shame as it has some great riding and views.

People are still riding the Mt D DH track - with fresh skids and tire tracks...

 

[Whippy]

open or not

will the track be open this weekend or is it still to wet to ride.
just don't want to rock up there and it be closed.

 

[Jaydawgz]

will the track be open this weekend or is it still to wet to ride.
just don't want to rock up there and it be closed.

Considering the rain from the weekend, and the forecast for showers for most of the week, it looks unlikely I would think.

 

[Yippee_Ki_YayMF]

Still Closed

Yep still closed. Went up there today thinking that the dry weather the last few days would have made it ok to go, but I was wrong. There needs to be a better notification system on this. Also the signage at the site doesn't stand out. You can easily walk into the track from the top car park and not start at the start gate. If so, you wouldn't even know it was closed.

Anyway, I tried not to waste the drive so I walked it.

A couple of things, I saw moto tracks in the dirt. grrrr. No damage caused, but it still isn't nice to see.

A few of the south/east facing slopes are still wet as they don't get enough sun at this time of the year. Interestingly it appears that some of these spots were chosen to make some of the off-camber parts. Now I'm no trail builder, but making an off-camber section, where the dirt has no purchase and is almost clay based and that gets no sun is asking for trouble. There are 2 or 3 sections like this, and with the little traffic that I imagine the track has seen so far, it is already really chopped up, rutted and slippery under foot. I'd hate to see it after being ridden more.

There is also a section under the power lines with some rollers into a sweet left hand berm. Only thing is this berm is right on top of a 5 meter bank above the road. If someone gets bumped on the rollers and goes over the lip of the berm, wowee carnage.

Anyway the track looks pretty good otherwise, wont know more until it's open. Fingers crossed it will be sooner rather than later.