Video Feature: Ride High Country, The Mountain Bike Road Trip
Grab a coffee, or perhaps an ale (as that’s certainly the theme here), and settle in to watch the full Ride High Country Road Trip
There’s a lot to explore in the Victorian High Country, and so we put our minds to pulling together the road trip to end all road trips. All killer, no filler – seven destinations, each worthy of a riding holiday in its own right, all packed into a week to remember. And so off we went.
The destinations we’d mapped out for our Ride High Country road trip all lie in a pretty tight little cluster in the north-east of Victoria, and our plan was to tackle it from east to west: Falls Creek,Mt Beauty, Bright, Dinner Plain, Beechworth, Yackandandah and finally Mt Buller to wrap it up.
Have a gander below for some of our favourite moments on the Ride High Country Road Trip, and make sure you click the links through to each destination’s own editorial piece to learn more.
This is what Falls Creek does best: incredible vistas. You spend a lot of time riding above the tree line, giving you views forever.Hooking into the eerie snow gums on High Voltage, one of the star trails at Falls Creek.Flow Town is the newest addition to Falls Creek, and this trail alone makes it worth the trip. Blasting into the perfect lower berms. From the end of the trail, you can jump on board the shuttle service run by Blue Dirt Mountain Biking right up to the peak of the mountain and do it all again.
When the rain came down too hard in Falls Creek, we retreated to the spa at QT.A fine way to end the day on the trails at Falls.
That iconic Mt Beauty view, looking north up the Kiewa Valley.Mt Beauty’s very own World Champ, Paul Van Der Ploeg, was on hand to lead us into the wild trails of Beauty.The trails of Beauty are the anti-flow-trail; 100% tech! These are old school, hand built single tracks, and you need to be committed and alert to ride them well. You can see why this place breeds some exceptional riders.Rocky, loose, unforgiving! If you’re having a bad day on Mt Beauty’s trails, you’re going to have a lie down or two. But when you’re riding well, these trails make you feel like a ninja!Mt Beauty is one of Australia’s original mountain bike towns, the trails have been here since the 1980s… which is why team Flow donned some genuinely vintage mountain bike jerseys for the occasion.Dragon’s Head is one of the Big Hill MTB Park’s newest trails – you won’t find it on the map, it’s too fresh. It’s one of the trickiest trails around, but such a buzz to ride.Lots of body language here in Beauty!Mt Beauty, like most of these great High Country towns, has its own brewery – the Sweetwater Brewing Company is right in town, about 500m from the trails. Drop on in for a tasting.And right across the road from the brewery, you’ll find the Rocky Valley Bike Cafe. Good smoothies!
Hello Bright! This town is home to one of Australia’s most progressive new trails, the aptly named Hero Trail. It’s a monster, and you’ve got to come check it out.Lofting into the opening straight of the Hero Trail.It should be no surprise that Bright is producing some crazy talented riders. Kaia Ellis is one of them. This kid is definitely one of the next generation of Aussie mountain bike super stars. He lives at the base of Mt Mystic and rides here everyday, shuttled by his dedicated (and fast) dad, Pete.You can shuttle Mt Mystic, or there are climbing tracks too, if you’d rather earn your turns.Bright Brewery is a real focal point for the town, and they’re all mountain bike mad too. With a huge beer garden on the river, it’s the ultimate place to wind up your day.Bright isn’t all about the Hero Trail. There’s a huge network to ride on the mountain’s lower slopes too, with perfect corners like this.Kaia Ellis, Phil Roubichard and Aaron Gungal.Phil from All Terrain Cycles. Always stoked.
Dinner Plain is on the cusp of a mountain bike explosion. The setting is superb, and the bones of a great trail network are already in place. Big things are coming here.Local guru Karl Gray, of the DP Riders, leads us down Kenny’s in some perfect alpine light.Golden alpine meadows. Take us back!A setting to die for. Dinner Plain is extraordinarily beautiful.The Blizzard Brewing Co calls Dinner Plain home. Yes, another mountain bike town with a brewery. You couldn’t make this stuff up.Dinner Plain’s bike rack is heavy duty. How cool is that?!Another golden day in the bag.Good night, Dinner Plain. See you again soon, we hope.
Beechworth is classic Australiana at its best. This is bush ranger country.Evening razzing in the Beechworth MTB Park, just a couple of minutes from town.Blowing out the cobwebs, and some corners, in Beechworth.We love the unique, rocky terrain of Beechworth.The Don’t Be a Hero Trail is a new addition in Beechworth.Away from the mountain bike park, there are loads of other trails to discover. Grab a local to unearth some gold.Ben Kraus, head honch of the famous Bridge Rd Brewers.
Mt Buller, last stop for us.Glorious Mt Buller evenings.Shannon Rademaker of All Terrain Cycles. Solid bloke, and a very solid rider too.Shannon on the charge in perfect conditions on Misty Twist.We couldn’t quite believe how good we got it in Buller. Unreal!
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