We got the opportunity to ride the new Derby mountain bike trails (stage 1) on Wednesday afternoon in conjunction with the Launceston Mountain Bike Club (LMBC) social ride. I had a preconceived idea that they would be like a lot of the recent mainland tracks we road last year all nicely groomed and not a lot of natural features used.

I must say the track was quite varied and ranged from a smooth groomed compacted base to dropping down rock slabs into some great berms to a slippery gravelly descent. There were plenty of sections of riding on the natural rock base that could be interesting in the wet. One section crossing the Cascade River on a small bridge was followed by a trail across the rocks that had been power washed into the surface by the looks of it. This section was tricky and it will be interesting to see how it fairs once a bit of slime forms on it and when it is wet.

http://youtu.be/80l3VrPCA8s

There was a bit of climbing in a full lap of around 430M but nothing very steep and manageable by all those who rode it. Sharon had no troubles apart from a small kiss with the ground after baulking on one of the rocky berms. There is a small waterfall, a huge tree, a monument and a couple of lookouts along the track so our first lap around was as much sight seeing as riding. I went for a second lap by myself and had a bit of fun riding it a bit quicker second time around. I got back to a great BBQ to refuel before heading home.

There is another section of track (stage 2) to open before the national championships in May almost doubling the amount of trail available at Derby. With another 37KM of trails announced for the Blue Tier just over the hill the whole area is going to get some MTB attention over the coming years. We will be back again. Lookup Ride Blue Derby and Ride Tasmania for more online info.

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