Raw Tasmania - Hauling through Hollybank

The trip to Tassie is not an arduous one for me, an hours drive to Kingsford Smith and a direct flight of just over an hour and a half has you in Launceston by 9:00am. Again there was no extra charge for taking a bike and I easily managed to take everything I needed. Just after touchdown I was greeted by Buck who was positively effervescent about the project. On the way to the Best Western Hotel in Launceston Buck did drop the bomb that Nathan Rennie was here and, among other après riding activities there was a new craft beer bar in town.

It’s been almost 18 months since my last trip to Tassie and in that time the trail building has continued due to the combined efforts of local and state council, trail builders, Forestry Tasmania and of course the irrepressible Mr Gibson. The trip out to Hollybank is about 20km’s, it’s on sealed road so there is no need to worry about not being able to get there.

FROM FORESTRY TO FRESH TRAILS

The Hollybank Reserve was purchased by the Tasmanian Forestry Commission in the mid ‘50’s. Prior to that it had gone through an unproductive farming and plantation period with various exotic species being planted, this combination of now controlled growth gives Hollybank its unique atmosphere and greatly adds to the whole wilderness feeling.

Tall Eucalyptus Stringy Bark, White Gum and Black Peppermint dominate the landscape in varying degrees of dry forest and dense woodland. Outcrops of dolerite rock stand out, either bouncing the suns rays or hiding in the shadows of the craggy bluffs. The elevation changes about 400m between the bottom trail head and the peak of the shuttle point at Juggernaut. Judging the environment on potential alone, you’d have to back it.

The ‘base camp’ and parking is at the Hollybank McNeil Village, a collection of wooden huts built as a centre for forest education in the mid ‘80’s and named after Professor Roger McNeil, the then head of the Architecture school at the University of Tasmania. Just before the huts the dirt jump park and skills area were awaiting their final modelling and looked like it’ll have a good mix of beginner and progressive lines.

There are many components in play to make the Hollybank a reality, just like the Blue Tier and Derby trails (in construction) and previously completed Kate Reed and Trevallyn trails on the outskirts of Launceston. But to my mind, I don’t think that the funding that has been made available to fuel the project would have been as successfully sourced had it not been for the partnership that has formed between Forestry Tasmania and Dirt Art. Their joint belief has driven the project to a point where a far larger community is going to see the benefits.

RIDE TIME

After a quick bike assembly at the huts, Tony Scott, Community Liaison Officer for Forestry Tasmania, welcomed us to the site. Tony was clearly both proud and passionate about the project and stated ‘there can be no clearer demonstration that production forestry and recreation and tourism can work so well together. It’s something we’ve known for a long time despite some views that they are mutually exclusive.’ That symbiotic relationship has turned ideas into plans and plans into trails and in the process has served to enhance mountain biking, tourism and local business in the North East.

Having ridden in Tasmania’s North East before, my anticipations were quite high. The combination of varying terrain, the blend of natural, constructed or imported riding surfaces and line choices makes riding exactly what it should be, fun! At Hollybank the riding zones centrally link together but all have their own personalities and suitability for all riding levels.

Down at the huts the first trail is called “No Sweat”, described as an easy, one way, Green loop of about 4.5 km’s, consisting of mostly resurfaced trail, with the surface being locally harvested crushed dolerite rock. The trail weaves in and out of the trees with light berms and cambering contributing to create a fun and non-intimidating trail suitable for both beginners and families. For those who want to turn up the heat, simply ride it faster and try linking lines out of the berms, there is even a wooden wall ride to have a play on so don’t forget your camera. The builders make no excuses for the generally easy flow of the track as it is primarily a beginners loop designed to attract new riders and not scare them away. It’s also a great warm up track to play on while you’re waiting for the guy that’s always late, we all know that guy.

“Tall Trees” is an intermediate Blue graded one-way loop, of just over 3 and a half clicks. You thread a bit deeper into the sumptuous greenery of the woodland, which adds to the wilderness feeling. It’s darker, damper and less forgiving. There is no chance of getting lost but the trail does have a very deep forest feel to it and flows over mostly natural and less manicured terrain. I was fortunate to ride it with the builders, Nathan and Rob who pointed out a few of the spots where loose rock outcrops had had to be re laid by hand, thirsty work they tell me.

These two lower tracks are more of a traditional cross country trail with a bit of extra gnar thrown in for good measure. But on Juggernaut, with the Reverb extension at the top, the trails take your riding experience to another level. If you really, really want to, you can ride up Juggernaut, as it is a two way track but I wouldn’t recommend it. Take the fire trail up but it’s still 13km. The best option is to shuttle up there. The fire roads in Hollybank are open to the public so road rules apply, I wouldn’t take a regular road car up them myself but a 4×4 or van with some decent ground clearance shouldn’t have any problems. The Juggernaut Shuttle could save you the hassle.

WRESTLING THE JUGGERNAUT

The shuttle up takes about 10 to 15 minutes, enough time to check your kneepads are tight and smash a Red Bull if you are so inclined. From the drop off point a single track rolls into the windswept terrain taking you to a quick rocky pinch climb that puts you onto a rock platform ready to rumble. The track is challenging from the start, it’s rocky, loose and steep. The line is obvious enough to keep you out of trouble but tight enough to keep your game face focused. The top has line options, keep left for the slightly easier option, which is still challenging, rough and fast. Or take the right fork and hit up ‘Reverb’. A rocky line which drops into Juggernaut by way of a series of semi blind landing drops, which then lead to a steep slick rock with an off line step down near the bottom. It’ll be interesting to see how this line develops and I’m wondering who will be first to gap the whole lower step down, mountain biking is a very progressive sport, it’ll happen.

“You thread a bit deeper into the sumptuous greenery of the woodland, which adds to the wilderness feeling. It’s darker, damper and less forgiving.”

Slamming back into the main Juggernaut trail, you follow natural lines with the trail, which means plenty of rock and kickers as well as purposely carved out dirt lines. All the way down the track I noticed a signature ‘Rob Potter’ feature, the high inside line turn, where a bermed corner also has a negative camber berm on the inside. This negative camber forms a slight lip so for the more daring riders the inside line has the potential to become a gap jump. However, the gaps aren’t manicured and usually have the corner stones of the bermed trail exposed so if you are game enough, you had better be confident.

The trail is littered with gaps and jumps anyway, and as the trail compacts and dries out some of the doubles will become triples, the berms will become chutes and speed traps. Juggernaut crosses the fire road about two thirds the way down and takes you into a slightly less rocky, dark and tight section. After this section you cross an unused fire road and link into more singletrack which eventually joins with the Tall Trees trail. If you are shuttling it’s become favourable to turn off here and rejoin the shuttle bus as it’ll give you a quicker turnaround, then save the full trail for your last run.

BE THE GINGER NINJA

Another detour option is to ride Ginger Ridge, a Double Black Diamond, short downhill route of about 1km, which has undergone a rebirth after being put in by Rob a few years back. The trail consists of steep rock chutes, heavy drops and gnarly turns. It’s not a trail for the faint hearted and is only possibly on a heavy duty all mountain/enduro bike or even a Downhill bike. It doesn’t directly link onto Juggernaut, you have to ride a few kilometres on the fire road to link it.

RIDE, EAT, SLEEP, REPEAT

Tasmania has a wonderful array of fresh produce, wine and beers to try. We had a highly recommended lunch at Lilydale Larder along with a quick wine tasting from their Leaning Church vineyard, along with locally made pale ale. All good fuel to aid the afternoons riding, because, as a friend once said to me, ‘A Ferrari won’t go anywhere with no fuel in the tank’. After a pretty full day it was back to the hotel with arrangements to meet and eat at the Black Cow Bistro, George Street, Launceston a short distance from the centrally located Great Western.

The Black Cow sits centrally in Launceston on a street full of period architecture. A fantastic menu led me to a treat of seafood all complimented by a few local brews. After dinner, we went to Rob and Buck’s new hangout, St Johns bar where the selection of craft beers, both on tap and bottled were beyond my memory capabilities Both Nathan and Rob don’t mind a beer or two, so by the time the night was over, we were in an advanced state of refreshment, fully hydrated for Sundays riding activities.

GETTING THERE

Tasmania offers much more than just a mountain biking trip. It can also easily fit into a weekend with flights out of Sydney from 7:00am Saturday and leaving Launceston at 5:00pm. Good connections are also available from Melbourne.

TWO IS COMPANY

It’s a suitable destination to go to with your significant other and let riding just take up a small or large part of the trip by either packing a bike or hiring one while you are there. Food and drink lovers will not be disappointed. Launceston also hosts more cultural and historic tastes with museums, architecture and scenic vistas. Hollybank now adds another arrow to Launceston’s quiver of riding destinations, along with Trevallyn and Kate Reed reserves.

WHAT BIKE

For this trip I’d brought my all conquering Santa Cruz Bronson which turned out to be perfect for the trip, recently slacked out with a few off set bushings and a 160mm fork I couldn’t have asked for a better ride. Rennie was also riding a Santa Cruz, quickly putting together his recently acquired Nomad which did look ready to rock. Nic chose to ride one of Buck’s Rocky Mountain hire bikes. www.vertigomtb.com.auWHAT BIKE

“You thread a bit deeper into the sumptuous greenery of the woodland, which adds to the wilderness feeling. It’s darker, damper and less forgiving.”