Derby in Tassi

nzhumpy

Googlemeister who likes bikes and scandal
I think that's half the problem on newly built jump lines, instead of going full pelt and trusting that the trail builders have done a decent job people are doing their first run in at about 75% just scoping it out and come up well short. With the new trails being built now the speeds leave very little margin for error and consequences...well.

In an ideal world (for me) I'd love to follow a local down any jumpy track as I'm a shocker for doing exactly above but I'm sweet as if I get a tow in.
 

JTmofo

XC Enthusiast
Air ya garn was the one that got me.
I ended up over jumping one of the doubles, landed to flat and washed out the front. The froth was at defcon 6 and my enthusiasm outweighed my ability.

This was my forth time in Derby, first big stack. Can't complain really.

Lesson learned.... don't ride full bore until you've scoped out the riding conditions.

Lucky for me I didn't have a punctured lung, otherwise I was getting the spirit of Tasmania back to Melbourne and a train to Sydney.

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nzhumpy

Googlemeister who likes bikes and scandal
^sounds ugly, at least the lung was ok because that trip back would've been an absolute nightmare.

Heal well.
 

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
un/Fortunately punctured lungs or a pneumothorax get over diagnosed . They can be very nasty .
unless you have injured your chest/ribs before, people dont realise how much strained/ broken ribs hurt and then you get really sharp muscle spasms after .
Yeah anticoagulants for something else dont help .
I saw a rider once who didnt realise what happens when there is delayed clotting and lost about 1.5 litres of blood into the thigh.
Naturally he was in shock , didnt feel well and needed the blood drained to save the leg.
His mistake was to keep ridng after the fall, not use a compression bandage or a cold pack.
Unevenly spaced jumps can catch you out until you know them, same thing happened at Bright on Hero.
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
Yeah, Air Ya Garn is one of those trails that you really need to scope out for a few runs just so you know where all the lines are that match your ability.
I'll be heading down with a group of 11 friends (some as Derby virgins) in a weeks time for the weekend. Got a Blue Tier shuttle booked and the bike all ready to go.
 

ktastrphe

Likes Dirt
Yeah, Air Ya Garn is one of those trails that you really need to scope out for a few runs just so you know where all the lines are that match your ability.
I'll be heading down with a group of 11 friends (some as Derby virgins) in a weeks time for the weekend. Got a Blue Tier shuttle booked and the bike all ready to go.
I'll be there mon-thurs. If you see a black 29er Foxy, that is likely me. Unfortunately no mates available short notice, but have a week off before starting a new job and the missus gave the tick for me to go!
Non-virgin to Derby too

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rstim

Likes Dirt
Got a friend coming along that isn't riding. Is Derby explorable by foot? Are there any decent walking trails nearby?
Sounds like you've got a free shuttle driver There are some great walks at the start of the blue tier, Mt Paris dam is worth a look, little blue lake is cool too but you'll need a car for all these places. If they have a car and like bush walking I can suggest a few more too or some cool waterfalls. As for Derby you can walk around the old mine hole now Ave check out the recently opened tunnel but the rest of the trails are bike only really.

Cheers,
Tim

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ttnguyen133

Likes Bikes
Sounds like you've got a free shuttle driver There are some great walks at the start of the blue tier, Mt Paris dam is worth a look, little blue lake is cool too but you'll need a car for all these places. If they have a car and like bush walking I can suggest a few more too or some cool waterfalls. As for Derby you can walk around the old mine hole now Ave check out the recently opened tunnel but the rest of the trails are bike only really.

Cheers,
Tim

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haha me and another friend already booked shuttles. This third guy will have access to the car while we are shredding and is willing to drive out a fair bit. Would love to hear some more suggestions from you. Thanks!
 

Miguel75

Likes Dirt
Probably worth a quick summary of my trip to Derby (with a day at Maydena):


My +1 and I just spent a bit over a week in Tassie – drove over via the boat. Mostly Derby with a day riding in Maydena.

Have to say Derby was awesome for us – amazing riding, really well set up, great mix of accom options, good local infrastructure. It’s a model for other areas in my view in terms of a community growth project (as opposed to a private bike park project). As riders neither of us are that crash hot but we get through most stuff. We aren’t really into (capable of!) gaps and airtime. Both like rocky stuff despite not being great at it. Also don’t mind a climb, especially if it has a good reward at the end. I’m on a SC HTLT, she’s on a Bronson. Both a tad overbiked and totally over caring :D Local for us is the Gong / southern sydney, with occasional trips to Thredbo or CBR.

Accom was a combo of camping (free – with good facilities, clean loos, some covered areas, water, next to a lovely river, and $4 showers) and a small cabin behind the shops (neat as a pin, warm, dry, cosy, and easy location). Food was a combo of eat in, coffees out and a meal at the Dorset pub. For a tiny town in the middle of nowhere services were great. A mini-mart / IGA is in the next town west and a full blow supermarket in Scottsdale a bit further west.

We rode pretty much every tagged trail bar the double blacks (detonate/shearpin/kumma gutza), Krushka’s descent and Atlas ascent tracks with a mix of trail and uplifts. The trail maps at key locations are a bit hard to follow, Trailforks is probably the go; the blue marker posts however are really well located and following their guidance pretty much always worked.

Riding scenery is great, which is not always the case for forestry lands. Forests, ferns, rock slabs, boulders.

Up tracks are all really well put together – in fact this is a feature of all the tracks – well conceived, well executed, good consistency.

The Blue Tiers / Atlas day is amazing and a must do. Quality tracks, endless pedalless flow, simply fkn awesome riding, not too much up, lunch at a pub, well organised shuttles. What’s not to love?

Favourites? Roxanne, upper Black Stump, Flickety Sticks in full, Trouty esp the rock slab portions.

I rode the Derby round of the Tas enduro series on the first weekend (it was on and enduro events are often a pretty good way to ride a few good trails and links in a new area). Well run event, nice folks and I managed to avoid the wooden spoon in my category (despite blowing a jockey wheel at the end of stage 2 and doing 3-6 +transitions in 3rd gear singlespeed), and won $100 of free shuttles in the presentation giveaways :D It was hot and I was sure glad to finish in one piece and not melted into the granite. This was a great way to get a good feel for the layout of the area. Despite an event being in full swing huge parts of the area were open to general riding and a bunch of shuttles were in operation. Was also great to ride a lot of things later with more than one gear.

We will be back.
Thanks for the write up mate, very helpful as I’m looking to head to Tas for a few days riding and need to decide if Derby or Maydena will float my boat. How were the trails at Maydena compared to Derby? Better? Worse? Crazier?

I’ll likely get 3 days riding and figure I’ll hit one spot. That gives me more reasons to get back to the untrodden places next time;)
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
I’ll likely get 3 days riding and figure I’ll hit one spot. That gives me more reasons to get back to the untrodden places next time;)
If you are a DH'er, Maydena, if you like flowy trails, Derby.

Taking the family ? theres loads to keep them occupied in Derby, whereas Maydena has nothing currently.

If I had a choice of 3 days in either, it would be Derby.
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
It may stay that way too as Maydena is a private business, so if the business fails, the town may disappear back into obscurity... apart from a mountain full of steep knarl and a shuttle road.

The fact it's a private business makes investing in the place hard.

Now if the Council was to take over the running of Maydena, they could boost the town and house prices, may be a win-win for all.
 

silentbutdeadly

has some good things to say
It may stay that way too as Maydena is a private business, so if the business fails, the town may disappear back into obscurity... apart from a mountain full of steep knarl and a shuttle road.

The fact it's a private business makes investing in the place hard.

Now if the Council was to take over the running of Maydena, they could boost the town and house prices, may be a win-win for all.
Yeah...the town of Maydena doesn't have the buy-in that Derby and Weldborough and Scottsdale have in what has been created. Until it does... Maydena trails are not sustainable unless everyone is happy to drive up from Hobart.
 

rangersac

Medically diagnosed OMS
It may stay that way too as Maydena is a private business, so if the business fails, the town may disappear back into obscurity... apart from a mountain full of steep knarl and a shuttle road.

The fact it's a private business makes investing in the place hard.

Now if the Council was to take over the running of Maydena, they could boost the town and house prices, may be a win-win for all.
If you have a look at the house prices pre and post bike park I think you’ll find they have increased substantially. One of my mates bought a place up there for an Airbnb about 6 months before bike park opening. In that same week four other houses sold without inspection over the phone.

Maydena is always going to be a more difficult place to invest in for eateries and the like compared to Derby, because there’s very little existing high street shop fronts that can be easily converted. A decent pub/ bar/ bistro in town would be a godsend as you have to drive to the National Park Pub. A shuttle service on the railway line would be awesome!
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
If you have a look at the house prices pre and post bike park I think you’ll find they have increased substantially. One of my mates bought a place up there for an Airbnb about 6 months before bike park opening. In that same week four other houses sold without inspection over the phone.
Without a doubt they will have increased substantially and anyone taking the risk on investing before the park opened will be happy.

Until its a permanent venue like council owned and run and not a private business that can close at any time, those house prices could return right back to where they were before the bike park as Maydena has absolutely nothing in the town.

In Jan this year, we stayed at the Left of Field caravan park and ate at the NP Pub which is a 300m walk, we have booked an Airbnb in Maydena town for Jan 2020 and will have to drive the ~12km to the pub as there is nowhere else to eat.
 

Stinky

Likes Dirt
There is a group of cabins in Maydena that has recently been purchased. (down the hill from the bike park) It also has a large central building and the owners are planning on opening a pub / restaurant. Should be up and running in Spring.
 

dirtart

Likes Bikes
Maydena is absolutely a permanent venue- the park is no different to a ski resort as a model (we also use a similar lease agreement for park’s land to council’s such as at Blue Derby- except we pay for our lease where most councils don’t). Council’s make strategic decisions as voted on by a random cross section of elected members, who change every election. A council’s absolute priority will never be mountain biking, even though it may be important to the council of the day. Does this mean councils will close major trail destinations? Of course it’s unlikely but there’s nothing to say it won’t happen. As opposed to this, Maydena is owned and operated by a team 100% committed developing the sport of MTB and to the venue itself- operating and growing the best possible mlubtinnnike facility is our sole focus.

Maydena is the result of significant private investment, whereas most councils rely on millions in grant funding (not that there is an issue with this)- why would you think that a council would have any more incentive to retain the resulting facility than a private company (who has invested their own money), when the facility is not their primary priority and their investment in the facility is often very minimal. As a private company who has invested millions of dollars into Maydena, believe me, we won’t be walking away from it.

Councils in most cases commit significant ongoing funding to maintain trail destinations, often with little to no revenue to offset this. As opposed to this, Maydena has a sustainable revenue model where safety and maintenance are covered through trail use and uplift fees- there is no ongoing burden on a council or other body for maintenance. By virtue, Maydena (and any similar facility) is and always will be more financially sustainable than any public trail network as the trails generate direct revenue.

Derby is four years older than Maydena- third party investment in the town is happening at a rate equal to or in some cases faster than happened at Derby, these things just take time. We will be opening a brand new restaurant option in town next summer and have plans in place for a major camp ground (on private land owned by the park) and other facilities. Unlike places like Derby we receive zero funding from Council, but this doesn’t stop us continuing to grow the facility and town around us.

Maydena will never be a council owned facility, but this has absolutely no bearing on the long term viability of the operation- if anything it puts us on a more stable footing than many public facilities.

Simon- MBP Managing Director

Without a doubt they will have increased substantially and anyone taking the risk on investing before the park opened will be happy.

Until its a permanent venue like council owned and run and not a private business that can close at any time, those house prices could return right back to where they were before the bike park as Maydena has absolutely nothing in the town.

In Jan this year, we stayed at the Left of Field caravan park and ate at the NP Pub which is a 300m walk, we have booked an Airbnb in Maydena town for Jan 2020 and will have to drive the ~12km to the pub as there is nowhere else to eat.
 

ozzybmx

taking a shit with my boobs out
Cheers for chiming in Simon ! I was not questioning you or your teams 110% commitment to making Maydena bigger, better and more awesomer !

It was more aimed towards the councils making money indirectly from rates increasing, town investment, land being bought ect... and if the business itself was running close or even in the negative, they can justify the investment being offset with other areas of their 'business' making money.
 
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