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Well with a late call made from a mate of mine (Matt) it was a very last minute decision to head out for a little ride and to show the wonders of fun that can be had in Meryla forest and surrounds, particularly for an inexperienced rider like Matt. Well, to be fair it is not so much that he is inexperienced but moreso that when Matt rides he goes at his own pace which is often to slow for some and he has in the past been put under pressure to ‘speed up’ (in a road bike forum when he had his Bandit).
But sometime back about the same time as a few in the same circle found or returned to the wonders of the dirt, Matt decided that he would go back to dirt riding which he had done as a kid, but like me he bought a Weestrom to test the waters. That didn’t last long though as the weight was to much and he quickly bought himself a DR. But as has been mentioned he doesn’t get out a lot and still is a bit nervous that he may slow people down, although he and I have ridden together a lot and he knows that I won’t pressure him to do anything but have fun.
With Meryla being a great place to practice as it has a bit of everything without being to difficult he was finally able to get the Saturday off work at the alst minute and so phoned to make last minute plans. So after some rushed preparations it was out to the chosen meet place of Fitzroy Falls visitor centre where Matt was dutifully found waiting the loss of his Meryla virginity, he even looked keen.
Now it needs to be borne in mind that Matt hasn’t ridden a lot of dirt and had not even seen the trails he was about to ride first hand, so this was a new experience, but one I think he enjoyed.
The idea of the ride was very ‘take it easy’ with no rush, no plan, no route and no time limits, so leaving FF Visitor centre we entered Redhills FT and took it easy down to the first lookout where a little stop to admire the views and have a little chat about the track ahead.
Leaving the lookout we headed at Matt’s request to the old hut that I found on a little explore a few months back first we had to traverse the raging torrent of water that crossed out path, which Matt did with sublime ease.
From here I did kind of do a runner as I like this piece of track but never did I stray to far (unlike the reverse trip ……. ooops) and always indicated turns as we made our way to the turn off to the old hut. With Matty on my tail I took the turn and headed along the track although we had to stop to move a few fallen branches at one stage, but we still got there. So after a look around, a few pics from Matt it was time to make our way back to the main track so I shot off ahead to get a few pics of Matty battling through the overgrown track.
But my bike looked good as well so I just had to get a pic or two.
Once regrouped at the main track was Matt’s second test of the day (the first being to put up with me) and was a small hill with a couple of very insignificant rock ledges and steps. Seriously it was nothing to difficult and can be taken at a reasonable speed but Matt had not yet ridden anything of this nature. So we parked and got off the bikes to walk the hill so that he could see the hazards, the line and the possible options that awaited him. With that over I headed to the bottom to get the camera ready as Matt built up to the effort and started on down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnzbUeoh0lw
As is obvious in the video, he did it easy and then just continued on along until the FT meets the road with hardly a care in the world. Once on the road the idea was to take Gunrock Creek FT and then head onto Meryla FT to create a kind of loop that would eventually see us back at the hill again.
So it was onto Gunrock Creek FT and we eventually found our way onto Meryla FT which I do tend to do to infrequently as it is a quick little Firetrail. Just as it was today as I just got into a rhythm and seemed to fly along, albeit with a few lock ups into corners and all, nothing dangerous nor that felt our of control, all damn good fun. Matt seemed to be enjoying himself as well.
Once at the end of the Meryla FT we had a little rest and recuperation so took in some drinks before continuing along Meryla Road, although I did have plans.
Finding what I was after on the left we headed in towards the little track that I do enjoy as it is full of whoops and ruts before it flattens past the turn to a little play area, but today we continued on up the slight hill. Once at the top it was a quick stop as Matty was acquainted with what lay ahead before we headed down and out to a little known or used look out at the end of some seriously fun track, as was evidenced by my constant sideways action to leave markers for Matt to follow.
Once again at the end we had a stop for a drink and to admire the view from the small rock platform on which we sat around 200ft above the valley floor. Despite being a little concerned with heights Matt even found it a great little spot and I reckon has made plans to return with that good book he kept mentioning (come on mate, what is the book).
Again however there comes a time when you have to leave and so with only one way in we had to head back the same way, but I wasn’t about to complain as it meant the need to leave more markers for Matt to follow.
At the end however is a little hill which had to be climbed with Matt did with absolute ease despite the looseness of the surface,
Of course Matt stopped at the top to admire his dust so I got another pic which was to be my last, although Matt got his camera out again.
So from here it was the easy straight out return to Meryla Road where we took a left to head for the entry point of Gunrock Creek FT to start our way back and complete the loop. This little piece of ride back to Gunrock Creek FT whilst usually nothing did have one interesting sight when we came upon a group of guys unloading their KTM’s at a spot I did not recognize as being track, so single track possible found one could say.
Taking the turn for Gunrock Creek FT we had a little fun on the whoops and small rutted hill, all of which Matt did like a seasoned pro and continued along, although I did send Matt ahead to get a pic (I do have an ego to massage
).This is another piece of track I enjoy, as are all of them in this place as it offers fast open track, rocky surfaces, sand, undulations, everything that makes me really enjoy the ride and all of this in amongst forest. What more could someone want short of …………….. nah, lets not mention that.
Suffice to say we completed the loop and returned to Redhills Road and eventually the Firetrail which was followed with incident back to Fitzroy Falls. You may pick up on the ‘with incident’ comment, well it was nothing just that Matt got a little, well, kind of lost.
You see at the top of the hill that he had gone down earlier (that in the video) that track takes a sharp left followed by a sharp right, but straight at that point is another off shoot track. Now, whilst I had been stopping at all intersections thus far, given that we had stopped less than 150 metres beforehand at the top of the hill I mistakenly figured that Matt would see the direction I took.
Wrong.
He saw the dust but went straight ahead down the off shoot, meanwhile I was oblivious and was having a blast scooting along the track back to the raging torrent photographed earlier. So I wait for Matt before continuing.
And I wait.
I even waited some more and then thought crap, he must have taken a second side track that I had forgotten to stop at (well it has a great corner and I just kind of got in the flow, besides that track is blocked) so I quickly retrace to that track. Get off the bike and check for tyre tracks, none found.
Remount the bike and keep going back the way we had come only to see Matt coming the other way. He comes to a halt, I u-turn and he explained what happened (which he can later as well).
So back as a group for a short time admittedly, we headed out all the way to Fitzroy Falls where we grabbed a drink at the old Service Station before continuing to Robertson via Belmore Falls and on our separate ways home.
There, not that exciting but hopefully Matt will have some pics and story to add.
And a few of Matt’s pics below.
The view from the lookout we headed to first off.
My DR tackles the raging torrent and emerges unscathed.
Matt wanted pics of the old ruined hut, and one of the bikes.
Another off the track lookout that I love and Matt seemed to enjoy.
And proof that DR’s can fly as well as land.
Gaz
Good on ya for not only getting out there and riding, but also taking the time to share with the rest of us!! Looking forward to the next one.
AnonymousAnother good report Garry
The lookout and the ruined hut looks ace! It’s nice to go explore some of the Aussie bush, it’s great that we can actually do it. Some people aren’t so lucky.
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