biking

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The Old Beechy- riding not paddling

“Busted flat in Baton Rouge , waitin’ for a train.
When I’s feelin’ near as faded as my jeans.”
Janis Joplin 1943-1970

Sometimes a song just jumps out of the shadows and into your head. There is no stopping it, no getting rid of it, no stopping the urge to hum it and no respite from the only lines you remember.

It was mid-morning and the fog had lifted enough to see the track more than a few metres ahead. Janis was banging around in my head, at least until I nearly rode off the leaf covered track and into a tree. That smartened things up a bit.

We were riding the Old Beechy Rail Trail in Victoria, a 40km mountain bike trail along the disused rail corridor. Camped at Gellibrand we were riding out and back towards Colac to avoid logging work that had closed part of the trail.

The morning started a little above freezing and stayed there for most of the ride. The fog was like soup for the first hour and then lifted enough to admire the view across the ranges. Janis was back to replace the fog.

There were minor creek crossings and lots of climbing to reach the 103 mile marker on the train line. Great views on either side of the track and a few startled kangaroos who jumped out in front of us. Anyone would think they had never seen a bike rider before. Actually, we didn’t see any other bike riders either.

We did come across two local women walking their dogs along the trail, wrapped in long down jackets, beanies and scarves half covering their face. The women that is, not the dogs; they were au natural.

We slowly warmed as the sun hit the trail and we enjoyed the ride and the views.

What goes up must come down, so we certainly enjoyed the return mainly downhill run, although my frozen toes didn’t seem happy. Back in Gellibrand we raided the General Store for coffee and apple pie and later wandered around the old train station and small town.

“Feelin’ good in Gellibrand, waitin’ for a train.”
Apologisies to Janis

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MANNANARIE TRAIL

We were outside the Jamestown Bakery. Why is it that all bike rides start or finish at a bakery ? It’s true all calories consumed before or during a ride are not counted in your dietary total and bike riders like sticky buns and coffee.

Anyway, I had our map stretched out and was checking it against a basic PDF that the local council had online. Not a lot of detail but it seemed a simple loop around agricultural land and then heading over the range of hills past the Hornsdale Windfarm.

Robyn gave me a nudge and said “here comes Harry”. I looked up and stopped devouring my particularly sticky bun and saw it was indeed Harry Have-a-chat making a bee line for us. He would surely know the ins and outs of the Mannanarie bike ride. Indeed Harry was the repository of all knowledge and once he had finished educating me on ebikes, weather, Covid and world politics I was able to pop in a question. What’s the road like up around the Hornsdale Loop ? “Boggy red clay roads and windy” was his only information.

Off we set through the town and into open farming country. The track was on well made backroads and easy riding on a slight incline. The most noticeable colour is green. At this time of year and with excellent Winter rains everything is green. The crops are sprouting green, the roadside weeds are green and the moss on the rocks is green; everything is green.

Lots of green allround
Might be windy up on the ridge

We hunted around and eventually found a trail marker, so we knew we were on the right track.

Trail marker found

Stopping to admire old stone wall fencing we discovered that this was the site of the original Belalie School.

Dry stone wall hidden under the grass

Further on we found other historical markers.

Lots of old buildings and objects for Robyn to photograph.

Remnants of the old power system

The first 20km or so were uneventful but that changed when the trail crossed onto a farm track. All red clay and lots of water pooled on the road meant it was no go for us. The red clay will quickly stop any wheels turning if you venture onward. Out with the map and we were able to find an alternative route that would only add a couple of kilometres and bring us to the next section.

Once you start on the Ngadjuri Mail Track the landscape is very different, changing from wide open cropping land to remnant woodlands and steep inclines. The wind was more prominent which is not surprising for a place that has a large Windfarm.

We passed the remnants of farm houses that were abandoned many years ago and they made an interesting backdrop to the huge wind turbines.

This was a majestic homestead in its’ day

The road climbs to the top of the ridge where you can enjoy views across the plains.

After more than 5km of climbing the road heads down onto the foot of the hills and then follows along southward. Huge turbines are all around and makes for an unusual ride.

The last section makes a turn eastward and back over the range to connect with Three Chain Road which is a red clay track. Luckily it was mainly dry and we only had to negotiate a few bog holes.

The old and the new
Fruit trees from the past in blossom

From there it was a straight forward ride southward to join up with the main road into Jamestown and the local Bakery.

All up around 58km most of which was on solid dirt roads. Definitely not a ride to be done in wet weather or after recent rains. A great gravel grind that we found comfortable on mountain bikes.