The new Epic trail beckoned. After its opening on Dec 7 last year, I've wanted to get out and have a look. And that opportunity presented this weekend. Always trying to cram in as much as possible, plan was to head up late Friday and be ready for an early start Saturday. Sure enough, the adventure started before we even left, with melted headlight wiring requiring some cross brand spare parts, installing superior Toyota parts onto a plainly inferior Nissan and fixing the problem! :) Now illuminated, we hit the road for a late night death march to the hill.
Bonnie Doon was the perfect spot for a lake side break and snack. A super clear night provided the poor mans TV whilst we sorted a roadside meal.
One of the many benefits of having 240v means that a steamer is no problem to take along for the journey, as who doesn't like fresh steamed dim sims by the side of Lake Eildon!
Perfectly civilised. One day I want one of those hot dog makers too, the one that heat the bun on the go. Wouldn't that be the go! Either way, we hit the road again, and headed up the hill with our trucks enjoying the icy cold air and providing the soundtrack of the night. A nice clear road up the hill meant stress free driving, and we arrived at the top and into the cloud. Within 15min of our arrival however, the cloud blew through and left us with an amazing clear night.
Morning dawned fresh enough to gel the diesel in our cars, resulting in some lumpy idle and a lot of smoke, but we got going and headed into the village to meet the others. After of course my bacon and egg toasted sandwich in the toasty maker, 240v for the win once again!
7am kick off on the trail was brisk but super worthwhile to see the mountain waking up. Straight into the fun stuff and out into the bush!
After a wandering bolt came loose on one of the bikes, and threatened to collapse the whole rear end, we had jury rigged it to continue, then stumbled onto this little gem. A working coffee shop and mechical station at TBJ near Stirling. In what is truly a first for me, I actually stopped and actually had a coffee. On a ride! Well, someone bought me the coffee (appreciated) as I had no cash... Needless to say, it was awesome!
And to further my diversion from correct athletic practice, we're rocking hoodies, boarding and grazing on pizza. Trail riding for the win!
Loved the Virtue as always - 3 virtues in the group, all prepped to perfection by GVRaceTech and not missing a beat! We rolled off the end of the trail and headed to the shuttle point only to find that we were 5 mins late, after they had graciously held the bus for 30 min for us. Not to be I guess, and after a short period of attempting to sit still and wait, I decided to ride back up the road. Boring, yes, but better than sitting in one spot, and I certainly don't have the legs to ride the dirt back up. Matt pulled on his big boy pants and put his hand up to join me, and off we went. Yes it was slow, and torturous, and we could have quit multiple times, but we both made back to the top.
And promptly sat down on the ground. Sweet sweet ground. And drank a coke.
And then we were human again.
Bit of a tough drive early in the piece before we settled back into the drive had us rolling back in the house at 8pm, just 24hours after we left.
Awesome day, excellent trail with phenomenal descent at the end, and I can't wait to get back there. Anyone interested in seeing some moving pictures, just youtube Epic trail Buller and there is the full guff on what its all about.
I found this image as well - just imagine that line goes all the way back to the top, and I'm sure Matt will appreciate why he's a bit tired today, haha!
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