CLOCKWISE
FROM LEF T:
Derby's rainforest
is the perfect
setting for its new
trails; the restored
lake, once a tin
mine; grippy dirt
makes for great
trails.CYCLING TASSIE
I
t’s late on the third day of our mountain biking jaunt
around Tasmania’s north-east when a last-second detour
seesmy12-year-oldsonandI ridingdownthe
rollercoasterthatis DeadlyBugga,inDerby.
Already today I’ve managed to come off my bike on numerous
occasions, and after clipping a tree fern with my handlebars
and ending up f lat on my back, I’ve just added to the tally. I’m
banged up, embarrassed and, as the trail name hints, feeling
decidedly buggered.
“You’re not having a good day, are you Dad?” Finn says, an
observation I can hardly dispute.
Ever since I’d first visited Derby 18 months earlier, all Finn
ever wanted to know was when I was going back, just so I could
take him with me. I’d come home raving about its grippy hero
dirt and its gorgeous rainforest scenery. And I’d spoken
glowingly about how long and varied some of the trails were
and how seamlessly they connected. Three days just wasn’t
enough, I’d told him, and promised to return one day.
“Well, I’m coming with you,” he demanded. I smiled, without
promising anything.THE PROPOSITION
In the meantime, I kept an eye on developments in the region,
knowing that the local Dorset and Break O’Day Councils had
ambitious plans to expand upon their existing trail network.
Additional tracks were gouged from the earth in the hills above
Derby’s Black Stump shuttle point, including Kumma Gutza
and Air Ya Garn, which racers on the 2019 Enduro World
Series program would name their favourite leg for the year,
following on from Detonate’s victory two years earlier.
In an effort to attract families to the town, a beginners’ trail
was also built around the lake that was mined for its tin
deposits before it was filled with water and revegetated. And a
bitumen pump track was laid by the riverbank, alongside the
council depot. Mountain bikers staying in the neighbouring
town of Branxholm will also benefit when a purpose-built link
trail to Derby opens in or around March this year.42 / Outdoor