Margaret River Wardandi Country
We have breakfast at Melo Velo, a cool little bike shop and cafe, set up in an old house on the main street of Nannup, before making the short drive across to Margaret River. The sub hour drive, although rainy, is uneventful and I spend most of the time hoping for finer weather when we get there.
Margaret River is probably most well-known to most Australians for its surf and wines. For Australian mountain bikers, thanks predominantly to the popularity of the Cape to Cape, we know there is more than that to do in the surrounds of this bustling coastal town in the southwest of
Western Australia.
Driving through Margaret River you know you’re not in Nannup anymore. The main street is busy. Cars with bikes and or boards abound. An RV is parked out the front of the tourist centre, and the traffic going the other way is at a standstill as a grey nomad’s four-wheel drive towing a caravan slowly turns down a side street. It’s school holidays and the town is pumping!
We regroup right on the outskirts of Margaret River at The Hairy Marron. Here, in a shady spot on the banks of Margaret River, you can grab a coffee and some food, hire a bike, get local info about trail conditions, and anything else you’d expect from a fully functioning bike shop. Given that it is still raining, we drive to the Wooditjup trails rather than ride out. There is a multi-use trail that snakes its way along as well, which as an ideal way to cruise to the the mountain bike trails where we are heading. I sneak glances over to the trail as I drive, hoping to catch a glimpse of the trail and maybe a rider on it.
WHERE IS WOODITJUP?
Wooditjup Trails? I hear you say. Built under the
name Compartment 10, the trails and the National Park they are in were renamed to Wooditjup in recognition of the traditional Wardandi owners of the region. At the trail head we meet trail builders JD and Brendon from Magic Dirt Trailworx, Damian Barton the president of Margaret River Off Road Cycling Association (MRORCA) along with a crew of locals including, Gus, Tony and his boys Oliver and Reeve, Steve Lane of On Track Mountain Biking and Di from Margaret River Mountain Bike Tours. Introductions made and a plan as to what we are riding is made. Damian tells us about the network and MRORCA’s role in fundraising for trail maintenance and construction. Then we hit the trails. First up, Line Manager.
It’s been a while since I’ve ridden Margs and Line Manager hasn’t been the trail I’d usually make an effort to ride. I love how green and lush this part of the forest is, but I usually ride other trails. Hooking into the first couple turns, there is something different. The dirt is damp and grippy, and the radius of the berms feels right. Although I’m not hitting all the down ramps cleanly, I feel more comfortable than I have previously. Perhaps it’s the Trek Fuel Ex test bike. Perhaps it’s six days straight of riding trails. Perhaps the maintenance Magic Dirt Trailworx has just done to the trail. More likely than not, it’s a blend of all three and I’m not complaining. It is inspiring to watch Gus, Oliver and Reeve rip through the berms, manual rollers and throw shapes on the step ups and step downs along the trail. These kids can ride. We climb High Horse back to the top; the gradient is just right to get us there with minimal effort. It being a short loop, I can see myself lapping this loop more often in the future.
If you have ridden the Pines in the past you will probably remember trails like Lilly Trail, Aunt Lou, The End, Mr Nice and others. With harvesting nearly complete, the Pines and these trails are no more. In their place we have a new series of trails; Black Pearl, Pineoccio, Gullivers and Angry Dolphin, among others. We ride Pineoccio a couple times, and it has a similar feel to the old trails; wide, with good flow out of the bermed corners into the rollers and tabletops. Without the pines and the needles they drop, there is a little
more slip and the trail surface is a little more on the gravelly side. This change in soil type is consistent through the clear-cut sections of the Pines, but with the lack of pines, we gain a greater visibility of the upcoming trail making it easier to read first run through. The new pines are growing fast though, it won’t be long, and visibility will be reduced again.
As we get to the end of the ride, we head across to the western side of the Pines to ride Gullivers and Loosey Goosey. It is nice to be back in the forest where the trails are narrower. I grin as we speed down a ribbon of loam. The locals know what they are doing, saving some of their best trails for last.
Our ride done, we head to Margaret River Brew House for lunch. The food is tasty, and the beverages post ride encourage conversation. We sit outside in the sun and talk about the trails we’ve ridden over the last six days and how much progression there has been in the last couple years. Our road trip is over but there are plenty more trails you can ride in the Margaret River Region. The MRORCA website has everything you need to work out what to ride.
“It is nice to be back in the forest where the trails are narrower. I grin as we speed down a ribbon of loam. The locals know what they are doing, saving some of their best trails for last.”