Buxton and Lake Mountain Thread

[Chriso_29er]

Can't wait to get back out there again!

This was a little external view video I made of the first half of Cathedral trail a little while back. Might give those thinking of heading out an idea of whats there.

Or this is the full version which has a bit more external footage of up the top and includes gopro of the full lower half and bigger jumps up the top.

 

[Boom King]

I'm hangin' for tommorows Cascades ride day at Lake Mountain. 25km trail all single track down to Marysville, 420m of climbing and 1320m of gravity.....

 

[Daniel Hale]

I'm hangin' for tommorows Cascades ride day at Lake Mountain. 25km trail all single track down to Marysville, 420m of climbing and 1320m of gravity.....

so ma i, i have been the last 2-3 yrs, the extra descent i’m hoping will make it one of best trk’s in vic

 

[Chriso_29er]

I'll be trying out the new Lake Mountain trail tomorrow, will be trying to get started at 9:00.
Any burners around, say gday if you see a bright orange Trance

 

[OCD'R]

Any reports back from those that went?



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[ttnguyen133]

Any reports back from those that went?



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It was quite a slog, don't underestimate the climbs in between, they were quite brutal. The new track past the ticket booth has two or three long sections which were pure descending heaven, the speed and flow was pretty sick. Trail was quite loose and very dusty though.

 

[Wake Jake]

Having done the top sections a bit over the years I knew it would be a challenge. The new climb is quite fresh and slow. Our 2nd run we did the fireroad all the way to the descent which alot better. The descent was an absolute hoot! The dust and loose rocks kept you on your toes. The 2nd run the track condition had deteriorated considerably. I think marketing this descent as XC as management stated is a mistake. There were alot of riders out of their depth on the trail. The climbing also was alot more than people thought which may affect some riders return.

 

[Boom King]

Well worth it although the trail is pretty blown out after a massive turn out. I agree with @WakeJake, plenty of cross country types going down, particularly in a loose rocky section where the rocks were fist sized, plentiful and bouncing you around good and propper.

Awesome descents, like a mogul run for Mountain bikes. Needs a good winter to bed in though, so should be sweet come opening in October.

 

[caad9]

Went though the full Cascade trail twice. The top original stuff was running pretty sweet after a mountain of clearing work.

The new stuff was pretty decent, it’s definitely got some seriously steep sections in it. With a bit of rain it should bed in nicely. It needs moisture and more riding to truly come together.

As mentioned, the 400m of climbing doesn’t look like a lot on paper, but there is a lot of stupidly steep climbing. At times it felt like things pointed straight up or down only, with very little continuous flowing sections.

I rode with a mate on a 120/100mm XC bike and I was on a 140/130mm, he was fine and I only used 70% of travel at best. Yes it’s steep, but there isn’t any big hits or drops.

Overall, I think it adds another decent option to the east of Melbourne, minus the travel of Mt Buller for something similar in the epic. This isn’t anywhere near as long or as much climbing, but it’s a marginally better ride overall in my opinion as it’s entirely single track.

 

[caad9]

Needs a good winter to bed in though, so should be sweet come opening in October.

I don’t think the October date is true, they are desperate for riders up there and the feeling amongst the staff is that the prime time to ride it will be now through to June.

Apparently that decision is being retracted

 

[ttnguyen133]

Went though the full Cascade trail twice.

Wow props, got quite some legs on ya to do two full runs!

 

[Boom King]

I don’t think the October date is true, they are desperate for riders up there and the feeling amongst the staff is that the prime time to ride it will be now through to June.

Apparently that decision is being retracted

Club told me they don't have all relevant permits for a full opening yet.

 

[caad9]

I got told it was a decision from the top dog up there to close it. Everyone has pleaded to keep the momentum while they have it and leave it open. Watch this space.

Enormous turn out today, 400 riders registered and I’d guess another 50-100 who self shuttled (noticeably, the guys from a competing mountain, who would absolutely spit chips if it happened on their mountain)

Same weekend as Otway Odyssey, Mt Beauty Gravity Enduro and Thredbo. If people think racing is the heart of mountain biking, it’s certainly not anymore

 

[OCD'R]

I got told it was a decision from the top dog up there to close it. Everyone has pleaded to keep the momentum while they have it and leave it open. Watch this space.

Enormous turn out today, 400 riders registered and I’d guess another 50-100 who self shuttled (noticeably, the guys from a competing mountain, who would absolutely spit chips if it happened on their mountain)

Same weekend as Otway Odyssey, Mt Beauty Gravity Enduro and Thredbo. If people think racing is the heart of mountain biking, it’s certainly not anymore

This is on the money - good to hear the feedback... I probably loaded your bikes on to a trailer


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[Daniel Hale]

i agree could be the best trail bike descent in vic if someone can sweep it, 2nd run on my ti hardtail was getting insane, couldn't see the rims as they were buried in bull dust.(seemed like had been used for a big DH race).heavy rain should clean it up. first run 24km took 2 hrs, shortcut the first 4km on thr 2nd run,,,could b awesome & would b no reason to do stonefly at buller if its damp & clean

 

[shmity]

I think a lot of the dust and damage came from inexperienced riders dragging their brakes down the first of the two new descents. It's a steep track if you're not a regular gravity rider. I came out it to the fire road to find 10 or so people on a variety of ebikes and xc rigs. They were letting everyone know that they could ride down the fire road so they didnt have to do more of "that" They all beat me down after riding the fire road, I took the second descent and it was in much better condition, probably from having only half the traffic the first one did. I also had more fun than them.

 

[Chriso_29er]

I absolutely loved it. Been going over some of my footage, I have a 12 minute video of just nonstop full on, flat out berms and me laughing like a school boy!

I was one of the first down it, first thing in the morning. Entire ride took me 2:10 on the trail bike. Climbs didn't seem to bad but you did have to earn the magnificent descents.
I loved the contrast of the two halves of the trail. Raw rocky at the start and machine flowy goodness down the bottom.
Also had a minor stack about a 3rd in on one of the powdery flat turns after the first flowy section lol.

 

[Travis22]

My first time at LM. Personally i loved the first half more then the machine cut bull dusty ‘flow’ section.

Give me techy rocky climbs and descents any day over the flow. Dont get me wrong tho, the main descent in the new section is probably the best ive ridden of that kind (havent been to Tas) but it was so blown out it wasnt funny, half the time i could barely see the trail through the dust.

The drive out there from SE Melb (well the drive home really) just sucks, id much rather drive to Buller for Epic or any of the Gippsland trails.

Travis.

 

[Chriso_29er]

This was my run down the main new flow descent. Starts slow but gets a bit more interesting from 2:00.

 

[kbekus]

I turned up to the ticket box at LM at about 11 to be told that they weren't selling shuttle tickets any more Was absolutely gutted and sorta wandered around in a daze for about a minute trying to process the news that I'd driven nearly 2 hours to be told I couldn't go. In the end decided I'd ride the old section with my son and nephew then ride back up the road to the car and pick them up at the bottom. Ended up being a good ride and I have respect for the roadies I see riding up from Marysville, it's a tough old slog.

Thanks to the club and volunteers on the day, I saw the last shuttles loading up at 4.30 (plenty of room on them but who could have predicted?) so it was a long day for many people. I'm curious to see what happens in the area, will this be a one off trail? There are some other tracks up at the top I've never ridden, and with Buxton nearby and Warburton coming online in the near future it seems like this area has a good future for us.