While I was content to roll over
bumps withmy tyres kissing
the dirt, Finn was forever
looking to get some air. Those
daysof holding him back are
now long gone.
Furthereast,a 66kmstackedloopnetworkwasbeingbuilt
fromscratchjustsouthof StHelens,Tasmania’sgamefishing
andoysterfarmingportthatalsoservesasa gatewayto theBay
of Fires.Butthepiècederésistanceinallthistrail
development,andtheonemosteagerlyanticipated,hasbeena
42kmcross-countrytrailthatwouldlinktheBlueTierRanges
withtheBayof Fires.
When it was announced that these latter two developments
would open on the same day last year, November 22, Finn’s
wish to visit Derby – and more – would be granted. I asked him
to accompany me down to Tassie for three days of riding, first
in St Helens and then on the Bay of Fires trail. And finally, we’d
finish with a day riding around Derby, just two weeks after the
other two trail networks had opened to the public. Needless to
say, I didn’t have to ask twice.
All up, by June this year, the two shires will boast some
245km of mountain biking trails. It’s a figure that’s
unsurpassed anywhere else in Australia and indeed exceeds
many renowned mountain biking destinations globally. Surely,
mountain bikers would be stampeding towards the place, I’d
thought. But on our first afternoon, as we tore downhill from
the top of the Loila Tier on a run called Seeya Later, I was
surprised to discover that we were on our own. In fact, we had
the trails to ourselves all afternoon.STARTING IN LOW GEAR
After f lying into Launceston early that morning, we’d driven for
two hours out to St Helens then parked outside the newly
opened Giant bike shop on Cecilia Street. We collected our
dual-suspension rentals and loaded them onto the trailer
behind the Gravity Isle shuttle bus that ferried us directly to
the top of the Loila Tier, the 364-metre apex in the Flagstaff
Trail Network, overlooking St Helens.
Murray Gofton was driving the shuttle bus for his first time
and Finn and I could choose whatever seats we wanted. Being
a Sunday, so soon after the trails had opened, I’d expected it to
be packed with locals and out-of-towners alike. But Murray
wasn’t bothered.
“I think it will gain momentum. It’s just a matter of time,”
he’d s a id.
Trail builders, World Trails, had advised residents who had
opened mountain biking-related businesses in St Helens to
temper their expectations until word-of-mouth about how good
the trails are had swelled.Outdoor \ 43