Yarra Trails regulars

[green_chairs]

And really neither does any other trail user. Let's all not forget that these are multi use trails and if you don't have visual confirmation of what is ahead, then assume that there's another trail user ahead standing in the middle of the track with his back to you and both ears full of music ear buds while waiting for his dog to finish pushing out last night's feast of Pal and dinner plate scrapings.

In other words, please be mindful of others and respect the track (don't ride around the muddy bits and widen the track).

Message received George, all good. Not a rude rider, just an example. Cheers for the fast replies guys.

 

[gcouyant]

Message received George, all good. Not a rude rider, just an example. Cheers for the fast replies guys.

Enjoy mate. Our trails bring much love to a lot of riders - except for the straight descent to the leaking dam where if it's wet, the trail wants to kill you.

 

[bardles]

Melbourne Migration

Hey guys,

The answer may well be in here - but at 105 odd pages, I am probably not going to find it.

Can anyone recommend some suburbs to start looking at for my new place in February? The Yarra Trails sound the most suitable. I'm working at the Austin (Heidelberg) and Ivanhoe is sounding like a good spot. I'm looking for a good combination of a nice area for the wife and kids, close enough to work, and close to some trails if possible.

Looking forward to some new trails and making some new friends.

 

[gcouyant]

Hey guys,

The answer may well be in here - but at 105 odd pages, I am probably not going to find it.

Can anyone recommend some suburbs to start looking at for my new place in February? The Yarra Trails sound the most suitable. I'm working at the Austin (Heidelberg) and Ivanhoe is sounding like a good spot. I'm looking for a good combination of a nice area for the wife and kids, close enough to work, and close to some trails if possible.

Looking forward to some new trails and making some new friends.

Welcome to the area Bardles.

Ivanhoe is worth looking at as is Kew, West Heidelberg is still a bit rough. Anything near Burgundy street gives you easy access to the cafe scene there. Viewbank, Banyule and further East to the leafy suburbs like Templestowe. If you try to keep within a couple of hundred meters of the yarra trail network then you will be encouraged to ride to and from the hospital. The trails and facilities are also nicer for the family as you head East.

 

[green_chairs]

Enjoy mate. Our trails bring much love to a lot of riders - except for the straight descent to the leaking dam where if it's wet, the trail wants to kill you.

Went for a ride this morning and discovered this lovely section of trail - Pete 1 Mud 0!

Are there any plans to do some track maintanence? There is a lot of mud within the first 10 mins, lots of hopping off and walking through!

 

[gcouyant]

Are there any plans to do some track maintanence? There is a lot of mud within the first 10 mins, lots of hopping off and walking through!

Yes I'm just speaking with parks at the moment. When it's more that just light maintenance or we need to use tools then Parks people must be involved.

 

[gcouyant]

There is a lot of mud within the first 10 mins, lots of hopping off and walking through!

I should add that mud alone is not reason for maintenance on these trails. Mud is part of the life cycle of our trails and we must accept it. After all, when out doing real mountain biking in the bush, it's not all groomed trails. We like to leave that sort of thing for the dedicated MTB parks out there.

 

[bardles]

Welcome to the area Bardles.

Ivanhoe is worth looking at as is Kew, West Heidelberg is still a bit rough. Anything near Burgundy street gives you easy access to the cafe scene there. Viewbank, Banyule and further East to the leafy suburbs like Templestowe. If you try to keep within a couple of hundred meters of the yarra trail network then you will be encouraged to ride to and from the hospital. The trails and facilities are also nicer for the family as you head East.

Thanks gcouyant. I'll be bringing a roadie and my Spec Epic. Is there anything local enough to warrant lugging a Giant Glory down for? (Currently seeking expressions of interest). I'll be down to check out the area in a few weeks (and to do the Around the Bay in a Day).

 

[mtb101]

Hey guys,

The answer may well be in here - but at 105 odd pages, I am probably not going to find it.

Can anyone recommend some suburbs to start looking at for my new place in February? The Yarra Trails sound the most suitable. I'm working at the Austin (Heidelberg) and Ivanhoe is sounding like a good spot. I'm looking for a good combination of a nice area for the wife and kids, close enough to work, and close to some trails if possible.

Looking forward to some new trails and making some new friends.

yes as George has said they're good areas to live, ride and drink coffee. if those areas are too pricey have a look at Thornbury, Preston, Northcote, Fairfield, close to YTs or Merri Creek which gets you good access to YTs. Downhill bike is only useful if you travel to You Yangs or out of Melbourne.

The good thing about working at the Austin is the Main Yarra Trail (& YTs) is only a K away so as long as you can access bike trails somewhere you will have a good commute to work, you don't really want to drive if you can - a lot of congestion around Austin.

 

[Big JD]

I should add that mud alone is not reason for maintenance on these trails. Mud is part of the life cycle of our trails and we must accept it. After all, when out doing real mountain biking in the bush, it's not all groomed trails. We like to leave that sort of thing for the dedicated MTB parks out there.

Hi G, while I agree that mud is part of life as a MTBer - what 500 odd tyres a week are doing to particular sections of single track is tragic. Whether the areas of mass destruction hold enviroment significance or not surely something should be done. It is too late flying down towards the dam on Hans Loop to take another route - they are all f*cked.
What is it - if we conduct maintainance are we accepting responsiblity for an area that is not legally permitting of MTBers.
I rode the loop on Sunday morning and it is a mess in the dam valley area - should we all simply accept it is part of riding MTBs and that is is not santioned so ignore it.
I am not having a go mate but where do we as a collective draw the line? I apprieciate the Yarra trails are not a MTB trail centre like You Yangs, Lysterfield, Forest or Woodend.
regards
JD

 

[felixmtb]

Trail conditions in the fairfield/ivanhoe and studley park area?

 

[gcouyant]

Hi G, while I agree that mud is part of life as a MTBer - what 500 odd tyres a week are doing to particular sections of single track is tragic. Whether the areas of mass destruction hold enviroment significance or not surely something should be done. It is too late flying down towards the dam on Hans Loop to take another route - they are all f*cked.
What is it - if we conduct maintainance are we accepting responsiblity for an area that is not legally permitting of MTBers.
I rode the loop on Sunday morning and it is a mess in the dam valley area - should we all simply accept it is part of riding MTBs and that is is not santioned so ignore it.
I am not having a go mate but where do we as a collective draw the line? I apprieciate the Yarra trails are not a MTB trail centre like You Yangs, Lysterfield, Forest or Woodend.
regards
JD

Yes John I do understand what you're saying and I've spent time today organising things with PV. There's more to it than just drying up the muddy bit. The plan is twofold. Firstly modify the descent so that it doesn't carry so much water and this needs PV approval. Next is to replace this straight section completely.

On the liability issue John, it lies with PV. They cannont transfer to another party (riders).

I'd also like to fill in several of the mud holes along the trail but only because riders insist on taking a wide line as soon as they encounter a puddle. And this is what I speak of - that as MTBers we must accept riding through a muddy hole. Please do stop and assist with the drains that are so obvious. In the bush there's a lot more mud than this and I think that what MTB parks have done is to condition riders to be intolerant of anything but groomed conditions. We see this often and I'm afraid is something that is going to cause more and more concern for the relevant authorities. The thing is that most often, the best line is straight through the middle.

I can tell you from experience that if we close a section of trail that needs time to rehabilitate in Candlebark, the bunting tape will be torn down or ridden around by riders within hours. The level of cooperation is pretty poor. Drives Parks and us crazy.

 

[Big JD]

Yes John I do understand what you're saying and I've spent time today organising things with PV. There's more to it than just drying up the muddy bit. The plan is twofold. Firstly modify the descent so that it doesn't carry so much water and this needs PV approval. Next is to replace this straight section completely.

On the liability issue John, it lies with PV. They cannont transfer to another party (riders).

I'd also like to fill in several of the mud holes along the trail but only because riders insist on taking a wide line as soon as they encounter a puddle. And this is what I speak of - that as MTBers we must accept riding through a muddy hole. Please do stop and assist with the drains that are so obvious. In the bush there's a lot more mud than this and I think that what MTB parks have done is to condition riders to be intolerant of anything but groomed conditions. We see this often and I'm afraid is something that is going to cause more and more concern for the relevant authorities. The thing is that most often, the best line is straight through the middle.

I can tell you from experience that if we close a section of trail that needs time to rehabilitate in Candlebark, the bunting tape will be torn down or ridden around by riders within hours. The level of cooperation is pretty poor. Drives Parks and us crazy.

Thanks for the reply. If an area requires closing then we should all support that decision and police it. This shouldn't be left to one person and if help is needed - please ask (with maintenance rather than PR with PV).

 

[Coaster]

Trail conditions in the fairfield/ivanhoe and studley park area?

Hi. Rode on Sunday from pipe bridge up to Rosanna golf course. Pretty crappy still so we rode the path home. Definitely drying out but still a lot of bog holes that shouldn't be riden.

Cheers

Graeme

 

[Beej1]

....West Heidelberg is still a bit rough.

I'm a bit late to the party (been absent from the forums a while) ... but hey G - you're dissing my 'hood there mate!

Well ... technically, they split West Heidelberg down Waterdale Rd in the 50's (so I'm lead to believe) and the east side was renamed Heidelberg Heights - where I live. But all my Melbourne friends over 40 still tell me I live in West Heidelberg ... only at 'the Paris end' of West Heidelberg.

Regardless, the Liberty Pde end is still a little .... socially diverse, yes. But I'm guessing only for another 5 - 10 yrs at most until gentrification well and truly changes the area*. Whereas the Rosanna end (and pretty much the whole corner closes to Austin/Mercy/Xanadu centre) is not much different to Rosanna/Heidelberg.

Back on topic - rode to work along the trails on/off as conditions permit today. Pretty dire in places. Lower river near SP boathouse still seems to have the most dry patches.

* Note that this area also backs onto Darebin Creek, which I reckon has the potential to have a pretty nifty network of singletrack put into place - similar to the trails parallel to the MYT we all know and love. Once they finally complete the missing Darebin trail link, it could potentially mean singletrack from about 1km from home to 1km from work.

 

[jathanas]

Yes John I do understand what you're saying and I've spent time today organising things with PV. There's more to it than just drying up the muddy bit. The plan is twofold. Firstly modify the descent so that it doesn't carry so much water and this needs PV approval. Next is to replace this straight section completely.

On the liability issue John, it lies with PV. They cannont transfer to another party (riders).

I'd also like to fill in several of the mud holes along the trail but only because riders insist on taking a wide line as soon as they encounter a puddle. And this is what I speak of - that as MTBers we must accept riding through a muddy hole. Please do stop and assist with the drains that are so obvious. In the bush there's a lot more mud than this and I think that what MTB parks have done is to condition riders to be intolerant of anything but groomed conditions. We see this often and I'm afraid is something that is going to cause more and more concern for the relevant authorities. The thing is that most often, the best line is straight through the middle.

I can tell you from experience that if we close a section of trail that needs time to rehabilitate in Candlebark, the bunting tape will be torn down or ridden around by riders within hours. The level of cooperation is pretty poor. Drives Parks and us crazy.

Hey G,

Nice to read your post mate.

My take on things is that if the singletrack turns into a bog for 2 months after 1 wet week it's not designed right or exists in a wrong location.

Mud is a natural part of MTBing and I agree that we shouldn't extend the trail by riding around bogholes, but some parts of Hans are goneski. We should just accept it, and work with Parks to modify the loop as appropriate. Our best YT resource (Hans) no longer recovers as well as it used to so we have a problem.

No easy solution imho, because it requires Parks to realign their thinking. I wouldn't mind turning it into a proper MTB park because that is how it is actually getting used the most.

The current approach of adding drainholes to unhealthy trails and encouraging riders to ride through bogholes that are getting deeper by the week isn't sustainable.

Tough times call for tough measures.

 

[cleeshoy]

Rode YT for a few hours yesterday morning from Richmond to Wilsmere Park and back. Definitely wetter then last week! Stuck to mainly the higher, rocky sections.

Strava segment "River Singletrack" had a number of puddles near the Chandler Highway end.

 

[mtb101]

riding in this morning around Pipe Bridge, saw arrows pointing to ST sections so someone must have run an event around the YTs, looks like bikes by all the tyre marks on tracks.

 

[Big JD]

riding in this morning around Pipe Bridge, saw arrows pointing to ST sections so someone must have run an event around the YTs, looks like bikes by all the tyre marks on tracks.

no i think it was a running event. Last week those arrows were for 250 smoking hot female runners out to do some laps and test the latest figure hugging sporting attire.

 

[jathanas]

no i think it was a running event. Last week those arrows were for 250 smoking hot female runners out to do some laps and test the latest figure hugging sporting attire.

Did they see you hiding behind the bushes John? The drooling might've been a bit spooky for the poor girls.

Edit: I got on the MTB for the second time in months, rode like it too. Hans was OK but I didn't ride the dam section at all.