Making the Grade

Devines Hill may sound like a pleasant way to start a trip, but for the Men on the trip, it could mean heartbreak.  Can they, and their equipment, make the grade?

In order to determine if they will make the grade, it is first necessary to determine what the grade is.  Fortunately, we have a fleet of civil engineers ready for the calculating activities.  Does it comply with the necessary council regulations for access?  Is it graded sufficiently for wheelchair access unassisted?  Did the chain-ganged convicts building the road allow sufficiently for the water erosion caused by the velocity of run-off down this slope?

Devines Hill Grade

    At its steepest, the Devines Hill track climbs 80m over 1km.

The maps

View MvMTB in a larger map

The Plan

The wait is over ! The MvMTB13 plan has been chiselled into the sandstone cliffs of the mighty Hawkesbury Valley.

We are meeting at the Wisemans Ferry pub and staying there on Thursday 14th March. On Friday we will ride the convict built road to Mogo campground. On Saturday we will ride from the campground to St Albans pub for lunch then on to Wisemans for Saturday night.

The Friday ride

Any bike in good working order will do. You do not need suspension, but, you must have knobbly tyres. Slicks will not cut it on this track.

We will be riding all day unsupported (no shops or bottlo) so you will need to bring the following items in a day pack or panniers.

• Lunch - essential
• Water - 3 litres minimum
• Snacks
• Sunnies or clear glasses for eye protection from branches and flying dirt
• Bike helmet, 
• spare tube, 
• sunscreen
• (rain) jacket ?

If you have any of the following communal items feel free to bring them along. A GPS, a small first aid kit, tyre levers, multi-tool and a pump.

Note that there is very limited mobile phone reception on this track.

Friday Mogo Night

We will reach the campground late Friday afternoon.
The campground has a toilet, a small shelter and wood BBQs.
There will be a car the campground with your gear in it. This gear will include

• Tent
• Sleeping bag
• Sleeping mat (Thermarest)
• Change of clothes
• Folding Chair
• Torch
• Toilet paper
• Plate
• Cup
• Eat utensils
• Nail file

Your camping bag has to be ready for transporting Thursday night by kind volunteers.

Mogo BBQ

The car will also have the following items for the Friday night Mogo BBQ

• KB
• Esky
• Ice
• Meat

plus

• Jerry cans of water, thanks to Bruce
• Wood for BBQ thanks to Glenn
• Espresso maker thanks to Ian

Bacon & Eggs for brekky on Saturday.

Saturday Ride

Saturday ride is an easy downhill roll along a dirt road back to Wisemans via the Settlers Arms for lunch.

Accom in the Wisemans Pub for Saturday night also

The Sting

Although the track is easy there is a b!tch of a hill at the start of the ride on Friday. It is about 4 km long and 200m high. No harder than Beechworth (11km long and 280m climbing) but it is a hill that, unfortunately, can’t be avoided.

Should be a doddle for the 5,500m Everest Base Camp Faction or the 2,200m Kokoda Klimbers.

Time to spray some dust !!

Riding Dirty

Make sure you have leave on Friday 15th March. We will meet on Thursday night (14/3)  in the, as yet, undisclosed location.  The exact route is a tightly held secret of the MvMTB13 committee, but word has leaked out that this year the Boys from Mv are ‘riding dirty’.

Time to pull the old clunker out of the shed, drop on a set of knobblies and buff your skills by riding up and down your hallway ‘cause we are set for a Massive Mountain Epic. The surrounding sandstone monoliths of the Great Dividing Range will provide a jaw dropping backdrop to the awesome, dust flying, adventure about to unfold

Part one of the ride is gnarly. Pack your climbing legs and prepare to enter the chamber of hurt as we are going vertical. Maintain focus on traction as we rise up through the lung-busting, sharp, forest spur.

But it isn’t all fun!! The brutal ascent soon gives way to a technical, twisty, adrenalin pumping, gully run full of bunny-hops, drop-offs and monos.

And the hits just keep on coming!! In the afternoon we will be dirtsurfing the body punishing, angled, unmarked trails that will leave you begging for more. And that is just Day 1 !!!!

Day 2 brings more mind blowing jumps, skinnies and tabletops. After a morning of hammering the single track, we drop like a stone. Ricocheting down the bone-jarring rocky face, we put our equipment and our courage to the test.

Cranking it up another notch, we do the final white knuckled descent through swooping berms, over wooden logs and treacherous bridges. A cold, gold, tube of KB awaits the men who have met and conquered this year’s challenge.