Two-wheeling Tassie

Picture four cyclists reclining under the shade of shimmering, silver-leafed eucalypts. All four are meditating on the remoteness of these backwood mountain trails, not a hamlet or lonely homestead within 15 miles...and on the spirit of adventure that brought them to these 'extremes'.
            Somewhere on the hillside a kookaburra cackles out a mocking laugh and one of the riders - apparently taking it as a personal insult - groans loudly and turns to look uphill at his companions. The scene is not quite as idyllic as it might sound at first glance. The four riders are strewn about 50 metres apart up the rocky slope and all of them are writhing in the dust, trying to massage painful cramps out of their thighs.
            We are about 25 miles into a gruelling 41-mile off-road mountain-bike ride through Snow Hill Forest Reserve, near Tasmania's east coast. With its fantastic landscapes and tough pioneering tradition Apple Isle could qualify as home to the most hardcore outdoor fanatics in the world...and I'm sorely beginning to regret the rash decision to measure myself by their standards. In Tasmania the annual back-breaking, shoulder-jarring, butt-bashing mountain-bike marathon that I'm now involved in goes by the unassuming name of 'The Quiet Little Ride.'
            Tasmania boasts some of the best professional mountain-bikers in the world and the QLR front runners are already sipping isotonic fluids and heartily tucking into energy bars at the finish-line. I take a small measure of consolation from the fact that the rider rolling around under the ghost gum farther up the track is an experienced Canadian cyclist who has completed a 75km uphill Mt Whistler challenge (touted as the toughest race in the world). Even he seems to be regretting the decision to mix it with the Tassie boys. To add insult to injury we've both, for the first time in our lives, been forced to enter in the 'Veteran' category.
Happily, cycling in Tasmania does not always have to hurt. Whether you want to enjoy a leisurely two-hour descent of Hobart's Mount Wellington, a 3-4 week circumnavigation of the entire island, or a 'Quiet Little Ride,' Australia's island state has almost unparalleled potential for cycling. Just peruse a map of Tassie and you can link together a tour through a chain of intriguing communities from 'Bay of Fires' to 'Baghdad' or from 'Swampland' through 'Paradise' to 'Promised Land.' Take a peaceful pedal around 'Doo Town' and check out the house names - Gunadoo, Doodle Doo, Love Me Doo, Wee-Do, Xanadu... - or for the real bon vivant there are even bicycle wine tours.
Tasmania is just a little smaller than Ireland, yet across its whole area it has less than half the population of Dublin city. With the exception of the countryside around Hobart and Launceston much of the island is almost uninhabited and in the isolated south-western region there are vast areas that have yet to be fully explored.
Roads are in good condition and (apart from the odd logging truck) totally stress-free and, with distances being relatively short, cycling is one of the most popular ways to get around. As far as the cyclist is concerned the state is conveniently divided into three sections. They could be described as easy, medium and hard but are officially known as the 'Historical Route' (up the centre) the fairly hilly 'East Coast Route' and the man-eating 'West Coast Route.' If you are keen to get off-road and see some of the less accessible parts of the wilderness, the whole country is riddled with mountain-biking trails. There are no less than 441 reserves in Tasmania and almost a fifth of the entire state has World Heritage listing. The horizons are virtually limitless for somebody who wants to have a lot of room to 'go play outside.'
Since bicycle travel is relatively soundless and, for the most part, you are taking time to look around, it is an unbeatable way to enjoy the landscape and the Tassie wildlife. Mainland Aussies sometimes refer to Tasmania as 'The Road-kill State' and it frequently shocks visitors to see just how many animals are killed by vehicles. Paradoxically, this is often seen as good news: in many parts of the state naturalists gauge the healthy population densities of certain species by the numbers of road-kills. On rural roads speed restrictions are enforced between dusk and dawn, yet during the course of one two-and-a-half hour drive I counted no less than thirty-four fresh road-kills...and had to assume that the area must be over-flowing with suicidal wallabies and possums.
Wallabies are almost ubiquitous along the roadsides at dusk and possums barely deign to give up their comfortable seat on the warm tarmac. Cuddly wombats give you the merest sideways glance as you cycle past and if you come across a Tasmania devil chewing on a carcase he is more than likely just to give you an angry snarl. These cuddly little bundles of fluff are said to have the strongest jaws of any animal (relative to their size); tall tales are told of mountain-bikers who were unwise enough to momentarily abandon their vehicles in the woods (while they tried to hobble away cramp agonies, for example) and came back to find that their bikes had been eaten!
Cycling has been a Tassie tradition almost since man first discovered the fun that is to be had on two wheels. The Northern Tasmania Cycle Club was founded in 1884 and the village of Evandale is the home of the Velocipede Society of Australia. You might be relieved to hear that a velocipede is not some sort of killer insect but the vehicle of choice in Australia's National Penny Farthing Championships. Every February, scores of Penny Farthing enthusiasts from all over the world gather in Evandale for the 'Century Ride' - 100 miles in a single day on what these delightful lunatics fondly refer to as 'boneshakers' or 'highwheelers.'
An official from the Guinness Book of Records actually visited Evandale Village Fair a few years ago to confirm that they did indeed have 'The Greatest Number of Penny Farthing Bicycles Free Standing and Held Together by Hands Only.' A certificate in the village hall testifies that there were 69.
As far back as 1920 a pair of cycling journalists by the names of Hogan and Gye wrote about their experiences of a tour through Tasmania, in The Tight Little Island.
'We became acquainted with the 'Tasmanian Boy' as we cycled along the coast,' they wrote. 'He is the same tough, cheeky and carefree young terror as his species on the mainland. The traveller is fair game to this young imp. Seeing us toiling slowly uphill, he would jeer "Aw, it's the pace wot kills ain't it mister?" And once, on a terrifying downhill run, a young Tasmanian of twelve summers of so, liberally festooned with dead rabbits, popped up over a stone fence and yelled "Hey mister, got the time on yer?"'
            Some things may never change. As the struggling Canadian and I finally puffed our way down the home straight a similar youngster (having swapped rabbits for a draping of baggy Paul Smith threads) cycled heartily up to us: "C'mon ya bludgers, is that the best you can do?"
            "Slow down," I managed to gasp, "you're making us look bad."

Tasmania's Top Biking Areas

1.
Name/location of trail:
Mt Wellington, backdrop to the city of Hobart. 30 minutes drive to summit from the city.
Length/grade of trail:
Variety of easy to moderate trails and, if you wish, a pure descent to Hobart.
What's great about it:
Proximity to Hobart, views from the summit. You can ride to the start (about an hour), or get a lift up then finish in Hobart. Advanced riders can ride from Big Bend along the East West track and come out at Glenorchy Mountain Bike Park for a full day of riding.

2.
Name/location of trail:
Montezuma Falls, on Tasmania’s west coast.
Length/grade of trail:
A good fast trail, suitable for everyone. 25km, but finishes with a great 6km downhill. The fast guys can finish in about 50 minutes, the rest about 2.5 hours.
What's great about it:
A muddy, tear-away, hooligan ride through rainforest, with a couple of challenging creek-crossings. You cross a narrow suspension bridge - pure Indiana Jones - just below Montezuma Falls (at 104m, the highest in Tassie). Since it follows an old railway line, this ride is not too steep.

3.
Name/location of trail:
Near Friendly Beaches on Freycinet Peninsula, east coast of Tasmania.
Length/grade of trail:
All the trails here are fun and fast, with some single-track and a few climbs, but nothing too heartbreaking. This is a good half-day ride area, or take it easy and spend the whole day.
What's great about it:
Follow a network of 4WD and fire trails through generally dry, sandy ocean-side bush. You can take a dip at the southern end of Friendly Beaches during your ride. You can start and finish from Coles Bay (where you can hire bikes), so no car drop-offs required and it's impossible to get lost because this is a narrow strip of land between the main road and the ocean.

4.
Name/location of trail:
Trevallyn Dam just outside of Launceston.
Length/grade of trail:
Loads of cross-country trails for all riders.
What's great about it:
It’s so close to the city of Launceston. There is a huge mountain bike population in the north of the state who use this area, so there's always friendly people around to ride with. There are great views from up the top. You can finish with a downhill in Launceston via the Gorge. This is a good half-day ride area.

5.
Name/location of trail:
The Tasmanian Trail
Length/grade of trail:
This is a 300-mile trail from Devonport in the north of the state to Dover in the south. Most people take around 7-8 days but locals tend to divide it into stages of 1-3 days.
What's great about it:
You can ride for a week and not see another person. You can camp on the way or stay at accommodation along the way. There are no guided tours through here yet, so you have to do it all yourself. It’s long and tough, with muddy sections, and some road sections to link the trails.

For more info check out www.biketas.org.au or (for bike hire and tours) www.islandcycletours.com

The End