Bowden Spur Kinglake - Shepherds DH trail.

[dienamics]

Looking at the footage from this trail I wondered about the possibility of Moto's getting in there...not good at all.

 

[Wisey]

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..

It will take some time for the KL guys to get the communication happening from their end, so be patient. But, the trail has been declared closed in this forum by myself and the ranger and until it is declared open it will remain closed. What more can we do??? When it is OPEN, we will let you know. If you jumped in lower down you would know it was closed at the start of your second run...no big deal.

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

Not much we can do, just hope they use some common sense. It appears to be the same guy riding the track, we will stop him over time. Once the area is busy with DH'rs, they'll stay away.

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...

It's winter, it's high up on a hill and it's been wet. As I have said before, now was never a good time to open the track, it needs time and a summer to harden. Please give it that before passing judgement here.

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.

Be careful and ride in control. This is a double black run, treat it as such. Everything on that track is IMBA approved and risk assesed apart from some small adjustments that are still to be made.

And apparently I need to say this again, the track is still CLOSED. You will all be the first to know when it opens...right here, in this thread.

 

[Yippee_Ki_YayMF]

Not much we can do, just hope they use some common sense. It appears to be the same guy riding the track, we will stop him over time. Once the area is busy with DH'rs, they'll stay away.

It's winter, it's high up on a hill and it's been wet. As I have said before, now was never a good time to open the track, it needs time and a summer to harden. Please give it that before passing judgement here.

Agreed and taken on board. Like I said, I'm no track builder so what the hell would I know

But it does look good overall. Can't wait until the entire trail network is complete.

 

[Howie66]

Looks fantastic!

Great job guys, cant wait for the opening!!!!!

Will it be ride days only or open to public?

Cant wait, and once again, great job!!

Howie

 

[dienamics]

3 slippery off camber sections...AWESOME!

Cant wait to ride this track once its open!!

 

[Ian M]

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.

The Kinglake rangers are in the process of organising better trail closed signage and putting a system in place to ensure the latest information on the trail is easily available (like the You Yangs Regional Park)

As part of the project Parks Victoria engaged the serivces of IMBA to assess the track and give the final OK that the build is complete. IMBA have docummented a couple of sections that World Trail are required to return and change so they are more sustainable. Not sure of the exact areas but I know there are some tweeks that will be made. World Trail are also required to return at a specified time in the future and complete some maintance work once the trail has been worn in. While a lot of riders enjoy riding off camber sections they are a nightmare to maintain.

The future trails planned for Kinglake will be built very different from the first trail to offer variety in the area and also something that will stand upto the cold wet winters. (there is no start date for these yet)

At the opening weekend members of You Yangs MTB Inc already recognised the issue of the berm you are talking about and have passed our concerns along to the ranger in charge.


For the moment if anyone is planing to head up to Kinglake and not sure of the conditions check the Parks Victoria Website, this forum in Rotorburn or put up a post up on the You Yangs MTB Inc facebook page and you should get some quick replies.

 

[redbruce]

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...

Yep too many bikes with no brains attached (no, not a Specialized joke).

 

[Yippee_Ki_YayMF]

Thanks for the informed update mate. Time is a great equalizer of things and I'm sure it will be no different up there. It will be a great zone soon enough.

Can't wait until its cherry ripe to try.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[You Yangs Ranger]

The Kinglake Rangers would like to thank everyone for their patience and cooperation while we get the trail network up and riding, unfortunately we can't help the weather.

 

[markhood01]

Is it open?

So the National Parks page says it's open, in comparison to last weekend where it said it was closed due to weather conditions:

http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/p...k/things-to-do/bowden-spur-mountain-bike-area

World trail's website says it's open.

http://www.facebook.com/WorldTrail?ref=ts

But as of yesterday, the You Yangs Ranger is saying thank you for your patience... suggesting that it's still closed.

Is it open??!!!

If the track is yet to receive the final go ahead, why was there a (unpublicised) opening day?

I walked the track last friday as I was driving past. Looks amazing. I personally love the idea of chopped up off-camber sections sorting the wheat from the chaff... it is a DH track after all...

Again. Is it open?

Thanks

 

[Brown Dog]

No it is not open, parks web site will be updated shortly

 

[markhood01]

Is it closed due to weather, or because it's still not officially open?

Who decides if it's open or not? Is there a decision rule (i.e. >5mm in 1 day = closed), or is it up to the discretion of Parks?

 

[Whippy]

damaged or not

i was wondering weather or not the track is damaged in anyway
and if it needs to be worked on further e.g. deep ruts, wash outs etc...
and if it is closed this weekend when will it be re opened
would be great to know ASAP.

 

[indica]

Fucks sake.
CLOSED.
Ride somewhere else and pretend it was never there you ungrateful idiots.

 

[dunndog]

Fucks sake.
CLOSED.
Ride somewhere else and pretend it was never there you ungrateful idiots.

I know right?? Some people must lack a grasp on the basics of the English language, either that or a complete lack of common sense. How can you possibly not understand KINGLAKE IS CLOSED? (That's unopen). The way I read it, and correct me if I'm wrong, KINGLAKE IS CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. I'm pretty sure this further notice will be hard to miss when it's delivered, so for all you folks who can't read just keep an eye to the sky for fireworks and meteor showers.
Let's see if we can keep this thread to useful updates and information instead of creating pages and pages of useless "is it open yet? the sun was out this arvo" type questions. It ain't rocket surgery.

 

[markhood01]

Last time we waited for "further notice", the 'opening day' was held without any notice at all.

I understand that the track is closed, I was simply pointing out that for those that check the apparently official channels (Parks Vic Website), the track is open. Lots of people are going to drive to Kinglake for nothing...

Let's see if we can keep this thread to useful updates and information instead of creating pages and pages of... insults

Cheers

 

[dunndog]

It will take some time for the KL guys to get the communication happening from their end, so be patient. But, the trail has been declared closed in this forum by myself and the ranger and until it is declared open it will remain closed. What more can we do??? When it is OPEN, we will let you know. If you jumped in lower down you would know it was closed at the start of your second run...no big deal.


It's winter, it's high up on a hill and it's been wet. As I have said before, now was never a good time to open the track, it needs time and a summer to harden. Please give it that before passing judgement here.


And apparently I need to say this again, the track is still CLOSED. You will all be the first to know when it opens...right here, in this thread.

Where are the pages and pages of insults? It's not an insult mate and it wasn't aimed at legitimate queries. The last few pages are getting a bit bogged down with 'will it be open this weekend' questions. It's been wet and not warm and will take ages to cure. I'm sure the powers that be are keener than anyone to see the fruits of their labour realised and will let everyone know when it's open (unlike the last 'opening' you mentioned which was an invitational pre opening bash). All I'm saying is it's spelled out here in about as plainer English as there is. What to look for, and where to look for it. Until there is further notice here, it is closed. If other avenues of information say differently, they should be contacted. But they are all represented on here, in this thread, so they should be getting the message to update.

 

[Wisey]

A combination of people make the decision on the status of the trail, this will become clearer as PV Kinglake get a better understanding of monitoring the situation and the communication required. This is the first MTB trail in their area and they are learning how it all works so lets cut them a bit of slack. It's highly likely that this issue will only be relevent this winter, once it has a summer to bake and harden it won't need the close attention we are giving it now.

The bottom line is I can understand everyone is eager to get out there and ride the track, we all are, but some patience and a little restraint is required in this situation. We are dealing with a new track that has been finished at the worst possible time of year, it's really soft in places and it's high on a hill that recieves a lot of moisture due to not only rain but mists as well. Even if it was open all the time most riders DO NOT adhere to the unwritten rule of staying away from tracks when they are wet, most people do not care and will just ride where ever they feel like which causes all sorts of damage and especially here on a fresh tread, this is what we are trying to avoid. This is why the aprehension with the trail, we just don't want to see it get hammered.

As far as the "Opening" was concerned, it was always planned to be that date set by Parks and the interested parties involved from an "Official" point of view, we decided late in the week it would be a good opporutnity to get some tyres down the track to see how it worked and to try and pack it in. Some sections rode in OK and some got really buttery and soft, heavy rain followed that weekend and it was decided after some enthusiastic posting on here to keep it closed. Further more, the track is still having some work done on it to iron out some teething problems, WT will be back this week to make some adjustments.

So regardless of the is it-isn't it open situation, winter is not the time to ride DH anyway, even XC riding this time of year is hard without tearing up trails and doing damage, we have 9 months of the year to ride, find something else to do in winter, get of your bike and give all our trails a break...do what we do, build and maintain trails instead...

Edit - I sound like a broken record!!!

 

[Timbot]

Build not ride.

I second that one Wisey.Winter is a time for building and maintaining trails and not riding them.Winter is short in Australia and summer is long so get behind your local trailbuilders/club and get involved in making Victoria a better place to ride instead of wanting to ride at all costs to satify yourself to the detriment of our beloved trails.It will not be long before the sun gets high in the sky again and all of our trails will be good to go.

 

[dunndog]

So regardless of the is it-isn't it open situation, winter is not the time to ride DH anyway,

Yes it is, just do it on a board or skis!