The 19th edition of the Otway Odyssey is on the calendar for February 22-23, 2025 and is expected to attract thousands of riders to Forrest, Victoria, for a weekend of racing.
The quaint logging hamlet of Forrest, nestled at the bottom of the Otway Ranges, is one of Australia’s original trail towns. Built in the early 2000s, the trail network at Forrest has played home to the Otway Odyssey from the very beginning.
With ribbons of singletrack twisting through the rainforest, epic climbs, and flowy descents that take you buzzing by tree ferns and grass trees, the Forrest trails have been a staple of Victorian mountain biking for over 20 years. Over the following two decades, the 100km epic has grown to be one of Australia’s preeminent cross-country marathons on the racing calendar, regularly drawing in extremely competitive elite fields and upwards of 2,000 overall competitors across the weekend’s events.
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The 2024 edition of the Odyssey saw the course record fall at the hands of Tali Lane-Walsh in a blistering fast pace of 4:27:38. That’s an average speed of over 22.4km/h! With the gauntlet well and truly thrown down, the elite field will undoubtedly be chomping at the bit to raise the bar again in 2025.
The women’s field is already looking to be hotly contested, with the likes of Samara Sheppard, Peta Mullens, and current dual XCM and Gravel National Champion Courtney Sherwell already registered.
While the trails at Forrest have been around for a long time at this point, the Odyssey course has evolved a lot over the years and the mountain bike park at Forrest has recently received a revamp and a bunch of new trail.
So, as the crew over at Rapid Ascent gear up for the 19th edition of the race, we caught up with Event Director Sam Maffett to find out what is in store for riders for the 2025 race.
“We’re really looking forward to getting back to the heartland of cross-country marathon in Victoria. I think you’d have to say that Forrest would have to be that,” says Maffett.
Who is the Odyssey for?
While the centrepiece of the Otway Odyssey is undoubtedly the long course, the team at Rapid Ascent has cooked up a series of events across the whole weekend, which means there’s an adventure to suit every rider.
“The premier event is the 100km Odyssey course,” says Maffett. “Then there’s a 50km mountain bike race…Those two races on the Saturday form the backbone of the Odyssey event itself.”
There’s also a shorter 30km race for newcomers and first-timers to mountain biking. Rapid Ascent also runs a female participation program within that shorter distance course called The Odyssey Angels.
“There we try and remove any barriers, or defeat barriers to women’s participation in mountain bike races,” says Maffett
The Odyssey Angels program offers support to female riders in the leadup to race weekend, extra facilities, a women’s only start on the 30km course, and a whole host of other considerations to help make the event as accessible as possible to everyone.
“There’s a 10km race for the kids on Sunday as well,” Maffet continues. “We do what we call our groms race, for little kids on balance bikes and trainer bikes, which is just sort of fun and games….and a cross country style course around the football ground”.
The Great Otway Gravel Grind
But the Odyssey weekend has grown beyond just mountain bike racing. The Otway region is home to some incredible gravel roads, and the Rapid Ascent crew has added the Great Otway Gravel Grind to the mix on Sunday.
“We’ve got a 97k race and a 49k race all through the beautiful gravel roads of the Otways,” says Maffett
The two gravel races use a unique rally format, similar to Gravel Muster, to encourage a balance between the social and competitive sides of the event.
“There’s timed segments and there’s untimed timeout zones,” Maffett tells us. “It’s cool because it allows people to race hard and chase a good time, but then wait for their mates whilst having a coffee or chill out and pedal slowly and rest up before the next timed segment.”
Every year there’s a group of riders who do The Double — backing up the 100km MTB marathon on Saturday with the 97km Gravel Grind on Sunday.
The riders with the fastest combined times over the two long courses are crowned the King and Queen of the Otways.
Previewing the 2025 Odyssey Course
The Forrest Footy Ground, just north of town, plays home to the Odyssey. The tree-ringed oval serves as the start and finish line and the feed/tech zone as riders pass back through on the three legs of the 100km course.
“It’s three clover leaves that all come in and out of the Forest Football Ground,” Moffett tells us.
On the 100km, half the total distance is on singletrack, and riders climb an eye-watering 2,500m, with each loop of the course taking on a distinct flavour.
After the start gun sounds, riders head onto the 43km Michelin Loop. There’s absolutely no easing into things. It’s an 11km, 350m climb up Kanlaang Road to the top of the Otway Range right off the bat.
The open gravel road allows plenty of time and space for riders to get into their rhythm and start thinning out before things start to turn up a notch. A steep 4WD track descent takes you down to a creek crossing at Noonday Creek before a leg-burning climb out of the gully exceeding gradients of 15%.
These opening sections allow for selections to form and riders to self-seed based on speed. From here, the fun really begins as riders hit the first singletrack of the day with the famed Red Carpet descent before entering the Forrest trails, hitting Follow The Dog and some of the brand-new flow trails.
Once back through the footy ground, it’s onto Skratch Lab Super Loop, and while it may have less climbing than the first sector, it’s not to be underestimated, heading for the Yaugher network.
The second “leaf” of the clover is 33km of near-continuous mountain bike trail, taking in Forrest classics such as Super Loop, Grasstrees and Marriners Run, so the physical demand on the body is high.
If you’ve made it this far, you’ll want to fuel up well on your final trip through the footy oval and hope you’ve still saved something in the tank for the Focus Loop.
As Moffett puts it: “The last loop really kicks you in the teeth… Starting at the 75km mark you’ve got a massive climb probably right when you least need it.”
He’s not wrong. The climb up Thompsons Track totals 500 vertical metres by the time you top out on the crest of the Otways for the second time. From here, the 89km mark, the good news is that the only direction from the top of a ridge is down.
And down you go. A ripping, steep descent down Newcomb Spur Track carries you directly back towards town for the final time.
The bad news is that with 4km to go, the “Sledgehammer” final boss climb still stands between you and the finish line. Once up this steep grind, it’s a short descent and a flat drag back along Yaugher Road for the final sprint to the finish line at the oval for glory.
The separation is in the preparation
Whether you’re racing for the win or just challenging yourself to get around the course, so much more goes into pulling off a day on the bike as epic as the Otway Odyssey than just the physical training.
Although if you do need help with that, Rapid Ascent have teamed up with Hero Dirt Coaching to provide free 50km and 100km training plans that can be found on the event website!
But beyond that, you’ll need to have your nutrition dialled in, especially for those doing The Double, and potentially have accommodation sorted for before and after the event so you can perform at your best and enjoy the weekend to its fullest.
Riders will have access to feed and tech zones each time they pass through the Forrest Footy Ground. That’s at the 43km and 76km, and an optional bag/bottle drop at the 30km point before entering the West Forrest trails.
Additionally, three more aid stations stocked with water and Skratch Labs hydration will be available at the 18km, 62km and 80km marks to ensure you can stay on top of your race nutrition throughout the day and give yourself the best chance for success.
Rapid Ascent has some local suggestions for accommodation in Forrest and surrounding areas, such as Apollo Bay and Colac, on the event website.
Sign me up!
Entries are now open for all distances of the Otway Odyssey and the Great Otway Gravel Grind. Head to the Otway Odyssey website to register or for more information.
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