Bikehireandshuttleservicesrespectivelycanbe
arrangedthroughGiantStHelens(giantsthelens.
com)andGravityIsle(gravityisle.com)in StHelens,
orthroughVertigoMTB(vertigomtb.com.au)and
PremiumMTBTransfers(premiummtbtransfers.com.
au)in Derby.
FurtherinformationcanbefoundontheBlue
Derby(ridebluederby.com.au)andStHelens
MountainBikeTrails(sthelensmtbtrails.com.au)
websites.
Stayin StHelensattheBayofFiresBush
Retreat(bayoffiresbushretreat.com.au), andatTin
Mountain’s(tinmountain.com.au)self-contained
accommodationin Derby.
Forfurtherinformationandtoplanyouritinerary,
seediscovertasmania.com.au.RIDING IT
CYCLING TASSIE
“Are you Mark?” he asked. “I’m Tim Cafe, your shuttle driver
for the Bay of Fires trail.” It was an instant reminder of how
small Derby really is.
Finn and I collected our Specialized e-bike rentals from
Vertigo MTB then loaded them onto Tim’s Premium MTB
Transfers trailer.
“I got a young bloke who lives with me and my wife to guide
you for the day. We’ll pick him up first,” he’d said.
When Tim stopped in the parking bay outside the Derby
Trail Head, Jarrod Teal was astride his bike, balancing on his
rear wheel on top of a waist-high boulder. I glanced across at
Tim, who shook his head.
“I’ve already told him to take it easy today,” he said. “He
came off his bike and concussed himself two weeks ago.”
Jarrod piled into the van’s front passenger seat and we drove
through Weldborough to the top of Mt Poimena. I told Finn I’d
started the Blue Tier trail there 18 months earlier, and then
pointed 90 degrees to the right to where the Bay of Fires trail
commenced.
Before we set off, Tim instructed Jarrod to stop a kilometre
down the track. “The views down towards the coast are as good
as you’ll get all day,” he said.
It’s also the trail’s highpoint at 786m, which Finn and I
reached with unexpected ease on our e-bikes, having tackled
countless smallish boulders along the way. From that point
onwards, the trail was pure, unadulterated downhill fun,
twisting and turning through damp rainforest until we paused
in a clearing that doubled as a rest stop. It was in this clearing
where Jarrod confessed to aspirations of one day joining the
trail building crew.
“I helped build this next part a little while back,” he
explained. “I reckon it will be good.”
And so it proved to be. The trail is fast and f lowy, punctuated
by big rollers and sweeping, 180-degree berms that weave
between man ferns and white gums on some of the grippiest
dirt imaginable.
“That’s the best bit of track I’ve ridden. Ever,” Jarrod said at
the bottom, his face beaming.
46 / Outdoor