Bike local this autumn
SINGLE TRACKED
Now, more than ever, is the right time to finally get to that bike trail
you’ve always wanted to check-out. Outdoor’s mountain bike columnist,
AshGray explainswhy.
ByAshGray
T
he sound of thunder in the
middle of the day on New Years
Eve seemed innocuous enough.
So too did the vibration of my
phone signalling a notification from the
Vic Emergency app. I get these
notifications many times a day, for all
sorts of events, so I didn’t think much
more about it. The sirens from the
approaching fire truck speeding through
town seemed pretty normal, too. Even
after the third tanker came past in as
many minutes, lights and sirens blaring,
I wasn’t too concerned. After all, it was
New Years Eve and my focus was
elsewhere.
Little did I realise, the dry lightning
storm that had just passed through my
home in North East Victoria, would
ignite a number of fires in very remote
terrain. And that these would quickly
join up and would threaten lives, homes,
entire communities and wreak havoc for
the weeks and months to come. For my
family, this would see us evacuated from
our home for a few weeks but, thankfully,
we would suffer nothing more than thisinconvenience. We were very fortunate,
but sadly, many others throughout our
region, state and country were not as
lucky. The loss of life is tragic and the
extensive damage to property is
devastating.
For many weeks, the 24-hour news
media cycle was overloaded with
shocking images, harrowing stories and
warnings. Thankfully, the imminent
danger has now passed for most and the
focus has shifted to recovery. But with
the area burnt estimated to be over
150,000km2, this is a mammoth effort.
The economic cost is expected to exceed
$4 billion. With figures like these, it’s
hard to comprehend where to start such
a huge job. But there is actually a simple
way to help this epic recovery effort, and
it’ll be a heap of fun, too! Come visit!
Pack your bike, surf board, hiking pack,
4WD or whatever you’re into and plan a
trip to a fire affected region when it’s
safe to do so.
For much of rural Australia, tourism is
the lifeblood of the local economies. The
loss of tourist numbers both during and20 / Outdoor